3 Ways Fairygodboss Improves the Candidate Experience

For over a decade now, the recruitment industry has been talking about the candidate experience - the way in which companies treat job seekers during the hiring process. While there are many reasons to emphasize the candidate experience, a big reason for the focus is because 68% of employees reported that their experience as a job candidate reflects how they are treated as an employee.

With the candidate and employee experiences so closely connected, it’s important to get the candidate experience right. 

As the talent acquisition industry gathers to celebrate #CandExperienceDay2021, one thing less talked about is the fact that men and women need different things from an organization’s candidate experience. Until those needs are addressed, companies will struggle to connect with women at work. 

Here at Fairygodboss, our mission has always been to advance gender parity at work. With that, we not only understand those differences, we’ve helped hundreds of organizations overcome challenges to attract and hire talented women.  As part of our Candidate Experience Day celebrations, check out 3 ways Fairygodboss helps organizations enhance their candidate experience to hire more women. 

#1. Up-to-Date Research and Job Search Best Practices 

As the largest career community for women and a space where millions of women are finding their next job, FGB makes it our business to research what women care about at work and how organizations can apply that research to hire women. That’s why we conduct quarterly research on the topic of gender equality and the workplace. 

Our latest study How 2020 Changed the Job Search Landscape examines the ways in which men and women search for jobs. The research went well beyond what we already know: that women only apply for jobs for which they are 100% qualified and men apply if they are only 60% qualified and that women apply to 20% fewer positions than men. More specifically, we found clear differences in both the resources men and women use to search for jobs, as well as critical factors that men and women use to evaluate companies, jobs, and offers. 

A couple differences we found include: 74% of Black women utilize Indeed to find a job, whereas only 50% of White women and 47% of men leverage the same platform. Additionally, 40% of men leverage LinkedIn as a job hunting tool, compared to 30% of women. Even more, women don’t even consider LinkedIn as a top-3 tool for finding jobs.  Beyond that, women are much more likely than their male peers to care about remote and flexible work options and “title and responsibilities” in a position, as well as a company’s commitment to diversity. 

Needless to say, as an organization dedicated to understanding differences like these and developing best practices, we are able to advise organizations on the best ways to turn research into action.  

#2. Employee Value Proposition and Job Description Convincers

Outside of understanding candidates, another key component of the candidate experience is helping job seekers understand why they would want to work at your organization. With many options for employment, organizations are having to think hard about developing a creating value proposition. 

As an example, leading insurance provider, Zurich, realized that the best way to attract and retain talent is by offering flexible work options. Prior to the pandemic, they did a test to see how their hiring process would change by adding language around their flexible work offerings to their job descriptions. With their gender-neutral job descriptions and flexible work options front and center, Zurich doubled applications from underrepresented and women job seekers and actually achieved gender parity in new hires in leadership in one year. 

At FGB, we understand that women need a little extra push to apply for jobs. That’s why we add “convincers,” essentially TLDR highlights, to the top of every job description to highlight the key benefits of employment. These convincers pull key insights from women who want to help others get the information they need to make the decision to click “apply.” We’ve found they are a great way to engage both active and passive job seekers!

#3. Voice of the Employee 

We already know that a critical component of the candidate experience is understanding what it’s like to work at the company. However, that message can get lost if it’s not delivered from the right person. What do we mean? Every CEO will say their organization is “the best place to work,” which is why no one really believes corporate leadership when they say that. What job seekers do trust, however, is employee stories and reviews. Gathering and sharing stories and reviews is a great way to show candidates what it’s like to work at a company from sources they trust. With over 250,000 reviews and diversity hiring experts to help guide the way, we help organizations source, develop, and share voice of the employee content in an employer brand. 

In Summary...

The candidate experience is an important part of the hiring process - and especially critical for companies that are trying to become more diverse. Employers of choice understand that if they want to attract and hire a diverse workforce, they need to adjust their approach to create a fast, friendly, and tailored experience. That includes everything from what content they share, who they share it from, and even where they share the content to!