Optimizing Candidate Experience: Four Areas Where Employers Can Improve

There’s a familiar tension in recruiting today: hiring teams are under pressure to move fast, automate more, and do more with less. But in the rush to improve efficiency, something critical often gets lost, how candidates actually feel during the process.

An Expert Take on Optimizing Candidate Experience

Our recent webinar on “Optimizing Candidate Experience” tackled this head-on. This event featured:

Tom Hacquoil | Co-Founder & CEO, Pinpoint‍

Tom created Pinpoint after experiencing firsthand how messy hiring workflows lead to poor candidate experiences. Today, his team helps companies modernize how they attract, engage, and hire talent—without losing the human touch.

​Dr. Keri Ohlrich | Co-founder, Abbracci Group

With over two decades in HR leadership, Keri embodies a passion for transforming workplaces into thriving ecosystems. As co-founder of Abbracci Group, co-author of “The Way of the HR Warrior”, and co-author of “Whatever the Hell You Want” her mission is clear: empowering people to excel.

​Daniel "DanFromHR" Space | HR Content Creator, Author and Speaker‍

Dan dispels common myths about work and HR, providing detailed content about how companies function and has become a strong advocate for employee engagement, transparency, mental health and fulfillment. He worked for companies such as WebMD, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, and Spotify before transitioning to an HR Business Partner Consultant.

Facilitated by Phil Strazzulla, Founder of SelectSoftware Reviews

According to these experts, there are four key points where the candidate experience can go wrong. Let’s unpack these and the actions companies can take to fix them.

Lack of Communication

For most candidates, the experience of applying for a job today is mechanical at best and demoralizing at worst. You apply, wait, and often never hear back. You show up for a full-day interview, only to be ghosted. Or, as Dr. Keri Ohlrich put it, “It’s like the company just went out of business. You hear nothing. No rejection, no update. Just silence.”

These gaps damage employer brand, tank candidate trust, and turn potential advocates into vocal critics. “Everyone has a story about being ghosted,” Ohlrich added. “And they’ll tell ten people about that company.”

Over-Automation

It’s not just about ghosting your candidates, sometimes the process is so automated that it leaves candidates feeling invisible. Recent recruitment data reveals significant candidate unease regarding the use of AI in hiring, with 40% expressing discomfort. Furthermore, nearly half of candidates (47%) feel that AI chatbots introduce an impersonal element to the recruitment process.

One example that came up in the session is instant rejection emails sent just minutes after a resume is submitted. Even if it’s an auto-filter for work authorization or location, the effect is cold.

Companies need to be intentional about automating their hiring process.

Tom Hacquoil, CEO of Pinpoint, shared how his team designs workflows that strike a balance between efficiency and empathy.

“We delay rejection emails by 48 hours. It’s a small thing. But it makes the candidate feel like someone actually reviewed their profile.”

Pinpoint also automatically notifies applicants when roles receive overwhelming interest, and lets them know to expect delays. “We don’t want people to feel like they’ve been dropped into a void,” Hacquoil said. “A bit of transparency goes a long way.”

A Poor or Inaccurate Representation of Your Company

Ultimately, the hiring experience is a reflection of a company’s culture, whether that’s intentional or not.

Ohlrich emphasized that “If your company is scrappy and blunt, don’t pretend you’re nurturing and warm in the interview process. The candidate will figure it out once they join, and that mismatch leads to churn.”

This also ties into the idea of using interviews to filter out, and not just in. “We spend most of the interview trying to convince people not to join,” said Hacquoil, speaking about Pinpoint’s approach. “We tell them the hard stuff. And if they still want in, that’s a good sign.”

It’s a reversal of the usual pitch-heavy process, and one that’s better suited for long-term fit and retention.

Daniel Space shared a memorable example of a company that rejected him but left a lasting impression.

“They included personalized feedback from each interviewer. Eight years later, I still remember it as the best experience I’ve had.”

That’s the ripple effect of doing it right. Even the candidates you don’t hire can walk away feeling respected and become advocates of your company.

Unintentional Candidate Experience

Candidate experience is not a side project. We need to give it as much consideration as we do for employee and customer experience.

The big takeaway from the session was this: Candidate experience needs due consideration and intentional improvement. It touches everything from employer brand to offer acceptance rates, and, ultimately, employee retention.

The good news is that offering a high-tier candidate experience doesn’t require massive investments. But it does require processes, infrastructure, clear ownership, and executive support.

As Hacquoil put it,

“Each applicant is a person. They’re not a number in your ATS. They could be relocating their family, leaving a job, starting something new. That deserves care.”

And in a hiring landscape where trust is fragile and attention spans are short, that care is what makes all the difference.

Bonus: Get Help Choosing the Right ATS‍

All webinar attendees get free access to SSR’s Advisor service—designed to help you find the right applicant tracking system without wasting hours on research or demos. Tell us your hiring needs and goals—we’ll send you a personalized shortlist of ATS solutions that actually fit.