Consumer Minded Candidate Experience | @AshNicholeBush on The #SocialRecruiting Show

Ashley Bush found employer branding before she even knew what it was.

Recalling her earlier years, she says, “It was pretty funny I thought I coined the term, but obviously I did not.” After doing technical recruiting at different tech companies, she got into social media and employer branding. She then joined Audra Knight’s team at Tenable.

When it comes to the candidate experience, Ashley has some tips for us.

Just like Yelp, many candidates only write reviews online if they have a bad experience. This can lead to a higher number of negative reviews left online. Instead, doing internal surveys and contacting candidates who have given referrals can lead to more positive reviews.

Still, those bad reviews have an online presence and candidates see them. “We’re pretty transparent,” said Ashley, recognising that the interview process might not be for everyone. It’s still something they can actively work on and improve based on the negative reviews left by disgruntled candidates.

“People just want you to listen. If someone says, “I had a bad experience.” you say, “what can we do and improve upon so that this doesn’t happen to somebody else?”

The problem here, though, is that those bad reviews seem to be talked about more than the positive ones. So how do we get candidates to talk more about the good experiences? On top of surveys, Ashley recommends reaching out to candidates who have been working with the team for a few months and asking for feedback.

“We can’t say, ‘We want you to write a really good review!’

We want them to be honest and genuine.” Instead, we can send out certain communication just to remind them, “Hey, if you had a good experience, let us know.” We want to know what we are doing well and what we need to improve upon.

The positive candidate experience reviews let you know what you’re doing well. The negative candidate experience reviews let you know what you need to improve on. Sometimes it’s just a matter of getting the positive candidate experience to shine through, too.

If that wasn’t enough, below you’ll hear Ashley share more: