HR Glossary

Candidate Journey

Candidate Journey is the expression used to describe 6 stages through which job seekers go through: Awareness, Consideration, Interest, Application, Selection and Hire.

candidate journey definition

Candidate Journey Definition

Similarly to when buyers look for services and products to purchase, candidates go through different stages when looking for new job opportunities. This is the reason why today’s candidates need to be treated as customers.

There are 6 stages through which all job seekers go through:

  1. Awareness
  2. Consideration
  3. Interest
  4. Application
  5. Selection
  6. Hire.

Candidate-journey-stages

Throughout their candidate journey, candidates will have multiple interactions with your Employer Brand.

These interactions happen both online and offline.
For example, a candidate can:
  • see your job advertisement on a job board
  • visit your career site and read your career blog
  • check the ratings of your company on company review sites
  • visit your company’s Facebook page
  • join your Talent Network
  • talk to your company representative at the career fair
  • fill out your online job application, come in for the interview, etc.
These points of interaction that a candidate has with your company’s Employer Brand are called touchpoints.
Candidate-journey-touchpoints

Active vs. passive candidates’ journeys

It is important to note that while the first three stages of the candidate journey focus on active job seekers, the last three stages focus on passive candidates.

Global LinkedIn research has shown that only 12% of people actively look for jobs, and this is the reason why recruiters have started paying more attention to passive job seekers and the awareness, consideration, and interest stages of their journey.

To be able to lead candidates through these three first stages, modern recruiters use innovative methodologies such as Recruitment Marketing and Inbound Recruiting to find, attract, and hire the best talent.

To make this process easier, recruiters and other HR Professionals have started using Recruitment Marketing tools to attract the best candidates, encourage Candidate Engagement, and improve Candidate Experience.

See TalentLyft in action

Applicant Tracking, Recruitment Marketing, Sourcing and Talent CRM software are powerful alone, but unstoppable when used together!

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