The “Candidate Experience” is the latest trend in recruitment, and it’s an odd concept that shows how quickly we, collectively, are losing our touch with humanity. The “Candidate Experience” is intended to measure a company’s recruitment process by asking potential candidates for feedback. Fundamentally, however, it in itself lacks humanity and balance. For example, I received a questionnaire after not proceeding to the next round in an interview process. First, a question – why would I fill out this questionnaire? What’s in it for the candidate that didn’t get moved on in the recruitment process? But, lets continue, the first question in the questionnaire is: Based on your experience interviewing, how likely are you to encourage other people to apply?

On the surface, that may seem like a fair question, but here’s the issue.

1. I am still trying to understand why I was not moved to the next round. I have yet to receive feedback. Why would I bother giving the company feedback when I received none?
2. I gave the company hours of my time, and now they want more of my time. (In other words, they are asking more from me than they were willing to give me…and I’m not talking about a job; I’m talking about the time it takes to write feedback (or give something other than a form response) – something I can learn for the next opportunity.
3. The Survey itself is flawed—I don’t know how I could score higher than the lowest score, as I’m not interviewing for the experience of interviewing but for the job, which I didn’t get. And I wouldn’t want anyone to have an empty interview with no feedback or discussion and, as far as I know, no chance of landing a job.
4. I’m not submitting the survey for the above reasons—which is the best I can do for this Company. So, if my experience and rationale are consistent with all other candidates who didn’t get moved on, the only survey results they’ll receive are people who did get the offer—which completely skews the actual metrics this Survey is trying to obtain. The candidate’s experience is not represented in the survey; the future employee experience is.

Learning: Companies are attempting to ask more of candidates while giving them less, calling this “The Candidate Experience.” If you want to improve the experience, talk to the consumers of that experience. If it’s more than just the illusion of caring, that is.