You'd be wrong if you think candidate experience is just about what candidates think of your recruitment process.

At any point in a recruitment process, a candidate will predict what they expect of you from their experiences of other processes.

When you say £competitive salary, they think about that time they were cynically offered less than market rate, not what you mean.

When you describe your business, they think about similar descriptions that evoked the strongest feeling: that toxic business who said 'hit the ground running' and resilience were part of the family. Where buzz words hide pain.

When you lend ambiguity to your words, they'll find their own meaning, no matter how far from your truth that is.

Which is why good candidates withdraw from what seems to you a great opportunity, for surprising reasons.

Which is why gainfully employed people don't respond well to generic words.

Which is why the arrogance of a one sided process can work against you.

Think about the experience you need to give candidates so they can find the right meaning, to make the right decision.

That's where candidate experience is the consequence of good recruitment.

And you do want to recruit right, don't you?