How to Find Candidates Using a Visual Candidate Map

Knowing how to find job candidates for your job openings is not easy, especially in high-demand occupations. Many parts and processes in recruiting require the right amount of attention to succeed at each step. That’s where the visual candidate map comes in.

What is Candidate Journey Mapping?

Put simply, Candidate Journey Mapping is a visual representation (map) of the candidate’s journey from finding your job ad to applying for the position.

Creating a candidate journey map aims to depict all of the touch-points that candidates have with your company’s employer brand throughout their recruitment process at various stages.

There are six journey stages job seekers go through to land a job:

• • Awareness
  • Consideration
  • Interest
  • Application
  • Selection
  • Hire.

The following are some questions employers should ask themselves based on the candidate‘s journey stages:

Awareness:

What is my company’s employer brand? How is it portrayed in our job postings, website, social media pages, etc.? Where can candidates find more information about my company? How will I reach out to these candidates?

Consideration:  

This consideration stage is when the potential job candidates think about whether they are qualified for the position. How will I show these candidates that they meet the minimum qualifications? What new information can I provide to separate my company from similar companies? How do these job seekers compare with other potential applicants so far?

Interest:  

Candidates at this stage are not only looking for an excellent company to work for, but they are also considering whether the position is right for them. How do I show these potential hires that this job is exactly what they’re looking for? Can I provide more specific information about the hiring process and requirements?

Application:  

Many candidates often wonder how to get their resumes to the hiring manager’s desk.   How will I communicate with job seekers on how they can apply for my company? What are some powerful keywords that candidates should include in their resumes?

Selection:   

How do I make sure that only qualified applicants move forward to the next step of the process? Will the hiring manager be conducting the interview? If so, what questions will they ask? At what stage can I ask for a follow-up?

Hire:   

I’ve made it through the interview process! Now what? Will there be other steps after this one, or is this “the end”? How should I communicate with candidates on the next steps?

Why visualize the candidate’s journey?

The following are the benefits of using a Visual Candidate Map:

1. 1. 1. Improves a candidate experience

         By using a visual representation of a candidate’s journey, hiring managers can see gaps or missing touch-points in the process. These gaps may enhance their employer brand and improve the candidate experience.

      2. Helps you understand candidate’s needs betterAnother benefit of visualizing the candidate journey is that hiring managers can see opportunities to personalize it for each job seeker. People have different needs throughout their recruitment process, so it’s essential to cater to them by providing information on how they can meet these needs.

          

      3. Improves the recruiting process

         Hiring managers often put together this map after they’ve hired someone. Why? Time is wasted on employees not meeting expectations or leaving the company when there are opportunities to improve the recruitment process. By creating a visual candidate map, hiring managers can prevent future disappointments by understanding job seekers better and seeing where applicants struggle throughout their journey with your company.

      4. Personalized job alertsHiring managers can connect their applicant tracking system (ATS) to an email marketing platform like HubSpot. This allows them to generate personalized email templates that will send targeted job alerts to subscribers at regular intervals, based on candidate journey stages.
2. Analyzes recruiting process

   Another benefit of visualizing the candidate journey is that it allows hiring managers to understand which touch-points are more effective than others. For example, how many candidates drop off at certain stages of the process? How can these drops be prevented by changing the company website or social media pages?

How to map a candidate’s journey?

The following are steps you can take to map the candidate journey for your company:

• Figure out the candidate’s persona.

The first step is to determine what your ideal candidate looks like. This can be based on demographics (age, sex, location) or psycho-graphic (personality traits).

An example candidate persona will be “potential hires that are tech-savvy professionals in their twenties who live in the United States.”

That way, you will determine how they prefer to communicate and what information they need at each stage of the process.

• Identify their needs at the different stages of the recruitment process.

The next step is to identify what your candidates need at each stage of the process. Based on the candidate’s journey stages, you will determine what information they need at every step.

At first, your ideal candidate may not know about your company or even the type of job they’re interested in. They might not have a resume prepared yet, but their needs will vary because everyone is different. Some candidates may create a resume independently, while others will need help.

• Create a list of touch-points.

Create a list of all the touch-points you’re using to communicate with potential hires. This can include email marketing, your website, social media profiles, job boards, and more.

Through these touch-points, you may identify what information needs to be communicated at each stage of the candidate journey.

• Create a Visual Map

Based on the above steps, you will create a visual map that shows how your ideal candidate interacts with your company through its various recruitment touch-points.

In the end, focus on creating a comprehensive list of questions you can ask yourself throughout the process. This allows you to understand why job seekers interact with your company and what information they need at each stage of the process.

• Improve the hiring process

Finally, once you’ve created a visual map of your candidate journey, find improvements to your recruiting process by leveraging data from ATS systems. By using this information, you will understand which touch-points are more effective than others and what changes need to be made.

You can also work with online marketing agencies to further analyze your data and see where job seekers have the most issues throughout their journey.

This process will not only help you find candidates that are more likely to be interested in the positions you have open, but it will also improve your recruiting strategy as well.

Conclusion

A visual candidate recruitment journey map is an effective way for companies to understand how job seekers interact and what information they need during the process. This visual map allows you to find candidates more quickly and improve your recruiting strategy. Hiring managers are more successful when they have solid data to back up their decisions, so finding the best methods for finding talent is essential.