What is Candidate Journey Mapping?

By Abhishek Kathpal | Updated 26 July, 2022

Keeping track of the milestones of potential employees during the recruitment process to have insights into their recruitment experience is paramount. And just like customers' experience during a transaction, potential employees also have their tale of experience with an organization during the recruitment process. And it is only through candidate journey mapping that recruiters can figure out what candidates' experiences have been and how to improve on them.

What is Candidate Journey Mapping

Candidate Journey Mapping meaning and definition

Candidate journey mapping is the process of analyzing and illustrating the interactions and touchpoints that occur during an applicant's typical hiring journey with an organization. It is aimed at having a better grasp of the queries, worries, or even obstacles prospective candidates might encounter along the hiring process. It provides organizations with the opportunity to understand critical and frustrating moments that candidates go through, and to create content to encourage, excite and convince candidates that the company is worth working for instead of a different organization. Simply put, candidate journey mapping is aimed to improve candidate experience before, during, and after the hiring process.

Candidate journey touchdowns

Several stages make up the employment process which include:

  1. Awareness: being informed of what the company does.

  2. Consideration: considering what the company has to offer.

  3. Interest: identify what makes the company unique amongst others.

  4. Application: the process of submitting an application and waiting on a call for an interview.

  5. Selection: hoping one has a lasting impression on the recruiter enough to be selected.

  6. Hire; being employed.

  7. Onboarding: understanding specific roles and activities.

Use of the candidates journey map

Quite a lot can be accomplished using candidate maps.

  1. To enhance the candidate experience first and foremost. One of the most important criteria in hiring the greatest people is candidate experience. Bad candidate experience can affect a company's brand.

  2. It gives a clear picture of how the hiring procedure operates and identifies areas where candidate experience could be enhanced.

  3. To help make recruitment processes more efficient and effective. It allows employers to identify bottlenecks within the process and get a good idea of which parts of the process aren’t going well.

About the Author

Abhishek Kathpal

Abhi is the co-founder at Longlist.io. Funded by US based OnDeck, Longlist is currently enabling 50+ businesses to increase their candidate and client reach outs, automating the workflow across stages.