Candidate Engagement

Candidate engagement refers to the process of building and maintaining positive interactions with job seekers throughout the recruitment journey. It involves clear communication, personalized experiences, and timely follow-ups to keep candidates interested and invested in the hiring process. Strong candidate engagement improves the candidate experience, enhances employer branding, and increases the chances of attracting top talent.

What is the difference between candidate engagement and candidate experience?

While closely related, candidate engagement and candidate experience are not the same:

• Candidate Engagement is about how actively you interact with candidates during the hiring process. It includes emails, calls, updates, and personalized communication that keep them interested and informed.
  
  
• Candidate Experience is about how the candidate feels about the overall hiring process—from application to onboarding. It covers things like the ease of applying, interview quality, responsiveness, and how respectfully they were treated.

In short:
👉 Engagement is what you do; experience is how it makes them feel.
Both are essential for attracting top talent and building a strong employer brand.

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What is the candidate engagement rate?

Candidate engagement rate measures how actively candidates are interacting with your hiring process or communication. It shows how interested and involved they are.

It’s typically calculated by tracking actions like:

• Email open and response rates
• Job application completions
• Attendance in interviews or assessments
• Clicks on job-related content or links

Formula example:

Engagement Rate=Number of Engaged Candidates / Total Candidates Reached*100

A higher engagement rate means your outreach and hiring experience are working well to attract and hold candidate interest.