Candidate experience is a booming business. Anyone with the ability to create a more positive experience for a company's job applicants is in a great position right now, and that won't change any time soon. In the last ten years, interest in the candidate experience has grown exponentially, as evidenced by Google Trends data.

On top of that, we're seeing more evidence that the candidate experience is more than just a “nice to have” for businesses serious about profitability. One HR Open Source case study of Virgin Media highlighted the company's transformation, detailing just how the firm was able to attribute more than $7 million in revenue to its improved treatment of candidates during the hiring process. This combination of factors is most likely why “candidate experience” was one of the top three priorities for recruiting leaders in the latest Lighthouse Research Talent Acquisition Sentiment Study.

In 2019 and beyond, we expect to see some specific ways this part of the talent acquisition world continues to evolve.

Video is integral to hiring processes

Video is huge, both for businesses and consumers. YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world (with greater traffic than AOL, Bing, and Yahoo combined!). Netflix and other video streaming services now account for the majority of internet traffic worldwide. We have come to expect and appreciate video on many levels, but it hasn't yet made its way deep into the hiring process.

In one 2017 study, our team at Lighthouse Research found that candidates most want to see hiring managers in videos, not the stuffy “company overview” content that the majority of companies share. Additionally, with greater competition for talent, some companies are now offering video tours of workspaces to help attract the interest of potential candidates. Video is a powerful substitute for in-person experiences, and it's infinitely more scalable, as well.

Video is going to be increasingly woven throughout the hiring process, creating a more personalized and seamless experience for all candidates.

Assessments are appreciated, but…

We've long been told that candidates hate assessments in the hiring process. They slow things down, they muddy the waters, and they don't add any perceivable value to the overall experience.

The truth is, though, candidates actually do like assessments, but only if they actually give them a chance to show how qualified they are for the job. In other words, don't throw them a generic personality test and expect them to be happy. Instead, look for ways to allow them to demonstrate their job-related skills and knowledge.

For instance, don’t ask software engineers to…

Check out the rest of the piece over on Clara Labs.