How to improve the candidate experience in 2025: 10 best practices for a great hiring journey

Candidate expectations are sharper than ever. Post-pandemic shifts, remote-first mindsets, and growing transparency demands have redefined what “a good hiring process” looks like. Today’s candidates won’t just evaluate your salary or job title. They’ll judge how efficiently you communicate, how well you clarify expectations, and how respectful your process feels.

And the stakes are high. According to our ‘The State of Hiring in 2025’ report, hybrid candidates now drop off 14% more often in later stages compared to fully remote roles—often due to vague or mismatched expectations. Meanwhile, companies that invest in candidate experience are reaping the rewards: faster time-to-hire, stronger employer branding, and significantly lower drop-off rates.

This article is your practical guide to improving candidate experience. It includes guidance on simplifying applications and creating clear, human-centric communication. Whether you’re scaling your team or tightening processes, these 10 data-backed best practices will help you stay competitive and win top talent.

What is candidate experience, exactly?

Candidate experience refers to how job seekers perceive your company’s hiring process—from the moment they come across a job ad to the final communication, regardless of the outcome. 

It’s shaped by every interaction they have with your brand, team, and tools throughout the recruitment journey.

This includes the clarity of your job postings, the ease of applying, how interviews are conducted, the responsiveness of your communication, and how feedback or decisions are delivered. Even a candidate who isn’t hired can leave the process as an advocate—or as a critic—depending on their experience.

And candidates are paying attention. According to a recent LinkedIn industry research, 78% of candidates say their hiring experience is a strong indicator of how a company treats its employees. In the European market, where candidate expectations around transparency, efficiency, and respectful treatment are particularly high, crafting a positive experience is no longer optional—it’s a strategic imperative.

Why is candidate experience so important?

We explained the importance of candidate experience above, but let’s dig a bit deeper into how a positive, or negative, experience can impact your chances of hiring success. 

Candidate experience isn’t just about being polite. It’s a business-critical factor in attracting and retaining top talent. In a competitive hiring market, where candidates often juggle multiple offers, the smallest misstep—like slow follow-up or unclear communication—can cost you the perfect hire. It can also have impacts on your future hiring efforts.

77% of candidates who have a negative experience will share it with their network, potentially deterring future applicants and damaging your employer brand. Conversely, a smooth, transparent process makes candidates more likely to reapply, recommend your company, or even become customers.

Positive experiences also increase your hiring efficiency. Our ‘State of Hiring’ report shows that slow, disjointed hiring processes drive top candidates away. This is especially true in hybrid roles, where expectations are often unclear or uncommunicated early in the application process. But when your process is fast, transparent, respectful, and candidate-friendly, it boosts offer acceptance rates and improves overall quality-of-hire.

A great candidate experience doesn’t just make hiring easier. It makes it smarter.

What’s considered a “bad” candidate experience?

To understand how to improve, we must first know what a bad candidate experience looks like. In 2025, job seekers expect clarity, respect, and efficiency. Yet many still encounter processes that feel outdated or dismissive. 

Here are the most common pitfalls that lead to the perception of a bad candidate experience.

• Lack of communication: Candidates are left in the dark—no updates, no feedback, and no closure after interviews.
• Complicated application processes: Overly long application forms, duplicate data entry, and required tests before speaking to a human. Tellent Recruitee’s ‘State of Hiring in 2025’ report found that such complexity is a top reason candidates abandon applications early.
• Unclear expectations: Vague job descriptions or interviews that skip key info (e.g., salary, remote/hybrid policies, number of interview rounds) can create mistrust in candidates and cause them to lose interest. 
• Slow or disorganized hiring process: Delays, reschedules, or endless interview loops—especially frustrating when candidates have other offers—are a surefire way to spike drop-off rates.
• Impersonal or disrespectful interactions: Interviewers who show up unprepared or send generic rejections without feedback leave a lasting negative impression. 

As Yulia Bondar noted in our report, “When candidates aren’t sure what to expect regarding salary or next steps, they’re more likely to abandon the process.”

Each of these missteps not only causes resentment in the candidate who received this poor experience but might also spur them to share it with others, further negatively impacting your employer brand. 

10 best practices to improve candidate experience in 2025

Improving the overall experience in your hiring process requires you to start out by thoroughly evaluating every step in your hiring process. By doing this, you will be able to identify areas for improvement. 

There’s no set recipe for a great candidate experience, but there are a few ingredients you can use to make sure yours is great. Here we’ll cover ten crucial, but often missed, components to improve your candidate experience.

1. Streamline your application process

First impressions matter. If your job application is long-winded or confusing, top candidates may abandon it entirely. 

Keep forms short and focused on the essentials. Use an ATS to auto-fill details or offer one-click apply via LinkedIn. According to Tellent Recruitee’s ‘State of Hiring in 2025’ report, lengthy or complex applications significantly increase drop-off rates, especially among mid-career professionals.

Be transparent from the start. Clearly list the salary range, location (remote/hybrid/on-site), and expected hiring timeline in your job ad. In regions like DACH and France, pay transparency is increasingly expected or even mandated. Clarity builds trust.

Useful tip:

Useful tip:

Limit your initial application to must-have questions. You can collect more details later.

2. Communicate early and often

Silence is the quickest way to lose a great candidate. Set up automated confirmation emails when someone applies and keep them informed at every stage. Aim to respond within two working days. Even when there’s no update, a short note saying so can maintain engagement.

Use your ATS to track where candidates are in the process and remind hiring teams to follow up. Collaborative hiring tools help everyone stay aligned—no more ghosting.

Tip: Use status-update templates to quickly notify candidates of next steps or delays.

“To ensure a great candidate experience, we focus on clear communication, quick feedback, and a transparent selection process.” — Denise Loschek, Head of HR @ RSM Austria ‍

3. Ensure a candidate-friendly careers site

Think of your careers site as a digital front door. It should be easy to navigate, mobile-friendly, and rich with insight into your company culture. Include real photos, employee testimonials, FAQs, and local language support where applicable.

A well-designed site gives candidates confidence and reduces uncertainty. Highlight your values and show what daily life at your company looks like. This is especially important in European markets, where authenticity and cultural fit weigh heavily in decision-making.

Tip: Include a "What to expect" section outlining your hiring process and timeline.

4. Write clear job descriptions

Transparency isn’t just appreciated—it’s expected. Use inclusive, plain language and clearly define responsibilities, must-have skills, and the hiring process.

List the number of interview rounds, any required tests, and how long the process might take. This aligns candidate expectations and avoids late-stage drop-offs. Mention flexibility explicitly: remote options, work hours, and salary ranges.

Tip: Use bullet points for clarity and make your job ads scannable. Need some help? Tellent Recruitee’s AI-powered job description writing tool helps you create a first draft in minutes. Just be sure to edit and refine it for accuracy and proper brand. 

5. Leverage technology for a smoother process

Modern HR tools can dramatically improve candidate experience. An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) ensures no one falls through the cracks and facilitates faster internal collaboration. Self-scheduling tools make interviews more convenient for candidates. Chatbots can handle FAQs but shouldn’t replace the human touch.

For example, Tellent Recruitee’s platform enables real-time feedback sharing among hiring teams, reducing delays and streamlining communication.

Tip: Let candidates book their own interview slots—it saves time for everyone.

6. Be transparent and honest at every stage

Clarity builds credibility. Share your expected timeline for hiring. If there are delays, communicate them. Let finalists know how many other candidates are in consideration (within reason) and what’s coming next.

Candidates in 2025 value openness. Tellent Recruitee’s data shows lack of clarity on work models and next steps often causes candidates to abandon the process late. Especially in Europe, transparent communication is key to trust.

Tip: Always notify candidates before assigning take-home tasks or tests.

7. Provide a positive interview experience

Every interaction counts. Ensure interviewers are prepared, punctual, and respectful. Share with who the candidates meet in advance and what to expect from the conversation.

Create space for candidates to ask questions. Provide thoughtful answers. If possible, give feedback after the interview—even if they’re not moving forward.

Tip: Treat interviews as a two-way street—you’re being evaluated too. Before the interview, send a briefing email with tips for what the candidate can do to knock the conversation out of the park. This gives them a chance to put their best foot forward, which helps you more accurately understand and screen each candidate. 

8. "Close the loop" with every candidate

Don’t leave candidates hanging. Send timely rejections with a polite message, and offer feedback where possible. For final-round candidates, a quick call can soften the blow and preserve goodwill.

According to a study from Lighthouse Research and Advisory, most candidates (83%) want to know as soon as possible when they’re no longer being considered for a role. Despite that, 40% report being ghosted after the second or third round of interviews. 

Following up with candidates after each interview stage can make or break a candidate experience, and your employer branding and reputation. 70% of those same candidates mentioned above said that receiving a clear reason for why they weren’t selected—with feedback about what they can improve in the future—left them with a positive impression of the company. 

Tip: Use your ATS to track and tag silver-medalist candidates for future roles and keep them in your candidate pool for consideration later on.

Sample rejection email template:

Sample rejection email template:

Hello [first name],

Thank you for applying to be an [role] at [company name].

While we were really impressed by your resume and you clearly show the potential of doing some great [job core responsibility like customer service, writing, testing, etc.], we sadly can’t move forward with your application at this point.

But please feel free to re-apply when you see another relevant listing at [company name].

Thank you for applying. We appreciate your effort.

[your name]

9. Maintain engagement until onboarding

The period between offer acceptance and Day One is crucial. Continue communicating: send paperwork promptly, invite them to a team call, or share a "Welcome" message from their manager.

This phase is often overlooked but can prevent reneged offers. Small gestures reinforce their decision to join.

Tip: Send a branded welcome pack or Slack invite to new hires before they start.

10. Deliver a strong onboarding experience

Candidate experience doesn’t end with the contract. A smooth employee onboarding confirms their choice to join was the right one. Despite its importance, only 12% of employees feel their company does onboarding well.

Prepare their equipment. Schedule welcome meetings. Assign a buddy. Your onboarding sets the tone for their employee journey and directly impacts retention.

Tip: Ask new hires for onboarding feedback after 30 days to continuously improve the process.

How to measure candidate experience 

Before you can improve, you need to know where you stand. Measuring candidate experience is essential for identifying weak points and ensuring your hiring process evolves in the right direction. 

Here are the most effective ways to track it:

• Candidate satisfaction surveys. The most direct method. Send a short survey after the hiring process—ideally to both successful and unsuccessful candidates. Ask questions like, “How would you rate your overall experience?” or use an NPS-style question: “How likely are you to recommend applying to our company?” These surveys can be automated through your ATS. 
• Application drop-off rate. This metric shows what percentage of candidates begin but don’t finish your application. If only 60% complete it, there may be friction—too many fields, unclear instructions, or a non-mobile-friendly design. Large companies typically see higher completion rates due to smoother UX. This is something every hiring team should aim for.
• Time-to-hire and interview-to-offer ratios. Long hiring cycles can damage candidate perception. If your time-to-hire is 45 days and your competitors move in 20, candidates might disengage or accept other offers. Tracking this helps pinpoint delays.
• Offer acceptance rate. A consistently low rate could indicate deeper issues in your candidate experience, or in your offer’s competitiveness. Improving your process often leads to more accepted offers.
• Candidate feedback themes. Monitor reviews on sites like Glassdoor or collect qualitative feedback through email. Patterns—positive or negative—can highlight where to improve.

Lastly, we recommend setting up a candidate experience dashboard in your ATS or HR system to track these metrics regularly and guide continuous improvement. For example, Tellent Recruitee allows you to create custom dashboards to track a wide range of candidate experience, candidate sourcing, and hiring efficiency metrics to stay on top of trends and changes. 

Measure, improve, and track your candidate experience in 2025

Candidate experience isn’t a box to tick, it’s an ongoing commitment. Companies that treat recruitment as a strategic priority—focusing on speed, data, and candidate experience—are the ones that will win in 2025.

Improving candidate experience leads to measurable gains: stronger employer branding, better talent pipelines, and more efficient hiring. But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Start small. Choose two best practices from this guide to implement this quarter. Perhaps that’s simplifying your application process or improving interview follow-ups.

By putting candidates at the center of your recruitment journey, you not only attract the best talent, you build a reputation that sets you apart in today’s competitive market.

For more insights on modern hiring, download our full ‘State of Hiring in 2025’ report or explore how Tellent Recruitee’s collaborative ATS can help elevate your candidate experience. 

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