A European

Perspective
on Candidate
Experience

textkernel
Semantic Recruitment Technology

Content
1 Introduction

2 Why the candidate experience must dramatically improve

2.1 Winning the war for talent

2. 2




2. 3

2.1.1 Skill shortages and skill mismatching

2.1.2 Candidates lack of time
Improving the (Employer) brand
2.2.1 The profound influence of successful and unsuccessful - candidates
2.2.2 The candidate as a potential customer
2.2.3 E-commerce sets the bar for all other B2C processes
Conclusion

3 State of the candidate experience in 5 European countries

3.1 How do European employers currently rate their processes?

3.2 To what extent have employers identified the need to improve

the candidate experience?

3.3 What is the status of the current application process?

3.4 How do employers follow up with applicants?

3.4.1 Rejecting candidates

3.4.2 Asking for feedback
3.5 Conclusion

4 Solutions for improving the candidate experience

4.1 Making candidates search for work easier

4
4
5
5
5
6
6
7

4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5

Making candidates easier to find

Making the application process easier and more productive
Allowing recruitment through mobile devices
Conclusion

9
9
11
11
11
11

12
12
12
13
14
14

5 Summary and conclusions

15

Sources and Disclaimer

16

A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

1 | Introduction
The advent of the Internet gave candidates the opportunity to view every job that employers published
on the web, and the option of applying for those jobs
by simply uploading or emailing their CVs. As a result, employers were inundated with a large number
of applications. They had no quick way of processing
them and were unable to manage the experience of
the ballooning population of applicants.
For many, the default response was to request
that applicants provide information via an online
application form. They assumed that good
candidates would still be willing to complete a
long form and that this might deter candidates
with inappropriate skills and/or experience from
investing their time in applying. Far from producing
a smaller and more qualified group of candidates
as hoped, many employers soon concluded that
good candidates were now also opting out of this
cumbersome application process, creating a negative
impact on the overall quality of their applicant pool.
In parallel to the advent of the online application
process, e-commerce and online customer services
were making headway in engaging with a growing
audience. When asked what had changed within the
world of e-commerce over the last decade, Ian Jindall,
Editor-in Chief and co-founder of InternetRetailing,
stated that the major change has been the move
from e-commerce as a stand-alone activity to a
broader-based perspective of multichannel retail. The
other main change is the switch from an operations
and process-centred industry to a customer-centred
one.1
Instead of emulating some of the emerging best
practices in customer experience, employers appeared
to have moved into a state of paralysis. From the

A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

candidates perspective, it appears commonsensical

that if one can shop and bank via a phone or a tablet,
it should also be possible to search and apply for work
through the same means. Given that retailers and
employers both have something to sell and share
the same goal of transforming initial interest into a
purchase, it is surprising to observe such a disparity
between the customer experience and the candidate
experience.
It should now be a top priority for all employers
to review how they access, assess, communicate
with and nurture talent. In the next chapters, we
will explore the key drivers for change, discuss the
results of Textkernels survey on the current state
of the candidate experience and look at emerging
technological solutions that can help improve this
online experience.

Parallels between e-commerce and recruiting

E-commerce

Recruitment

Visit the website

Visit the website

Visit the online store

Visit career page

Click on a product

Click on a job

Add to shopping basket

Click on apply button

Fill out order form

Fill out application form

Order completed

Application completed

2 | Why the candidate

experience must
dramatically improve
For the purposes of this report, the term candidate
experience applies to the entire recruitment process:
every aspect of the way an organisation engages
with potential applicants (the pre-application and
application process) and those it hires (the

realising that time is a valuable asset for the

candidate, a short application process combined with
a positive candidate experience can make all the
difference.

2.1.1 Skill shortages and skill mismatching

post-application process).
In todays highly competitive business environment,
talent has become a central element in the growth
strategies of companies. This chapter will look at the
reasons why companies must focus on the candidate
experience and improve their application process in
order to attract the best talent.

2.1 Winning the war for talent

Skill shortages and skill mismatches are making it
increasingly difficult for companies to attract good
talent. The candidate experience has become a crucial
element in this war for talent. With companies

Europe is encountering significant skill

shortages and skill mismatching
In 2012, Eurofound reported that four in ten European
employers had difficulties finding employees with
the right skills.2 A 2014 European Commission report
concluded that, in addition to the lack of available
skills, unattractive working conditions, low pay,
high labour turnover, lack of mobility and inadequate
recruitment practices by firms were contributing
to Europes recruitment difficulties. The Health,
ICT, Engineering and Business Service sectors were
identified as those undergoing significant difficulties.3

Incidence of self-reported skill mismatches in the EU-27, percentage of employees

EU-27

55%

32%

AT

58%

17%

DE

30%

NL

23%
60%

39%
0%

10%

20%

12%

53%
30%

40%
Overskilled

A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

10%

56%

32%

UK

25%

51%

26%

FR

13%

50%

60%

Skills matched

8%

70%

80%

Underskilled

90%

100%

In addition, many workers in Europe are currently

doing a job that does not match their skills. Skill
mismatch is a considerable issue in the EU, where
only 57% of employees were in jobs matched to
their skills in 2010. In Germany, the skill mismatch is
even greater, with only 51% of workers being in jobs
matched to their skills. In the United Kingdom, 39%
of employees feel they are overqualified for their jobs,
while in Austria a quarter of the workforce report
themselves as underskilled.
For some sectors, the combination of skill shortages
and skill mismatches is creating acute resourcing
challenges. In 2015, Empirica conducted research on
the use and availability of e-skills in five countries,
based on numbers from Jobfeed, Textkernels
database of real time and historical online job data.
The research showed that 4.8% of ICT positions
were vacant - three times the average rate for all EU
occupations combined.4
To address the challenge of both attracting those who
clearly have the required skills and those whose skills
may be harder to identify because of their current job
title (i.e. they are doing work that does not utilise
these skills), it is essential that employers improve
the way they interact with and assess candidates
potential.

2.1.2 Candidates lack of time

Time is a candidates currency
and they expect a return on their
investment
To cope with the tsunami of CV attachment
applications, employers reverted to asking candidates
(and systems) to provide formatted information that
they could more easily and quickly process and, in
theory, make informed decisions upon.
From the candidates perspective, these measures have
often resulted in a process that is far less appealing,
because of:
the time it takes them to complete an online form.
awareness that the large number of applicants
makes success difficult (as a result of application
counters displayed by many sites, including
LinkedIn).
automated and impersonal rejections - or, in
too many cases, no feedback at all.

A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

As a result, an unquantifiable number of people have

dropped out of this online application process
viewing the likely return on the time invested as simply
not high enough. While employers may be satisfied
that the volume of applications has become more
manageable, the process may well be discouraging
many potential high-quality candidates from applying.

2.2 Improving the

(Employer) brand
Historically, an employer brand was an independent
image developed by HR for the sole purpose of
engaging with and attracting job seekers. Lately, there
has been a growing awareness that the employer
brand also influences the corporate brand, and that
companies should take on a more widely based
approach to improving their employer brand.

2.2.1 The profound influence of successful

- and unsuccessful - candidates
When considering the recruitment process in
isolation, there are numerous reasons why every
candidate should be given the best experience an
organisation can provide.
As organisations are realising that a candidate that is
rejected today may be a good fit for a vacant position
tomorrow, a positive candidate experience becomes so
much more significant to them.
Beyond making sure unsuccessful candidates will
consider future opportunities with the organisation,
employers also need to consider the individuals wider
influence. Bad (and good) experiences are shared
(amongst friends, family and - more widely - on social
media) and remembered. This will contribute to help
determine whether others follow suit and invest their
time in applying to the organisation.
As such, a subtle shift in messaging from
unsuccessful to unsuccessful today should be
considered, as should an investment in building talent
pools in which todays unsuccessful but high potential
candidates can be nurtured into tomorrows successful
hires.

2.2.2 The candidate as a potential

customer

2.2.3 E-commerce sets the bar for all

other B2C processes

Looking at the impact of candidate experience in

a broader context, organisations such as large
consumer goods and services organisations, have
started to realise that a poor candidate experience
had the potential to affect far more than just the
talent pipeline. A dissatisfied candidate can easily
turn into an unwilling consumer.

E-commerces continuous drive to enhance customer

service and experience has set the bar for all other
B2C processes, including recruitment. Aspects of our
consumer experience on sites such as Amazon and
eBay have become a standard, an example to follow.
These include:

A recent survey conducted by CareerBuilder 5, showed

that while 82% of US employers thought that a poor
candidate experience had little to no negative impact
on the company, it also revealed that,
58% of candidates are less likely to buy from a
company to which they applied if they do not
get a response.
69% will be less likely consumers if they had a
bad experience in the interview.
65% will be put off purchasing goods or services
in the future if they do not hear back after an
interview.
Conversely, a good experience can have a hugely
positive effect on consumer behaviours:
69% are more likely to buy from a company to
which they applied if they are treated with
respect throughout the application process.
67% are likely to do the same if they receive
regular communications throughout the
recruitment process.
When considering the expenditure, expertise and
nurturing effort that these organisations dedicate
to potential and actual customer interactions it is
somewhat surprising that their exemplary marketing
expertise has not been extended to the resourcing
function in more cases.

69%

will be less likely

consumers if they had
a bad experience in
the interview

A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

Speed and simplification: expectations of speed of

informed purchase in e-commerce equates to speed
of quality application within the recruitment process.
As shown in the aforementioned CareerBuilder
survey, companies are far from achieving this goal.
40% of candidates felt that the application
process has become more difficult in the last five
years with 50% stating that the process involves
many more steps now than in the past.
Multi-channel engagement: retailers increasingly
seek to be present in the places where customers
start their browsing journey and nurture them in. The
majority of employers on the other hand, do not even
track where their candidates come from.
According to CareerBuilders survey, the majority
of employers (58 percent) stated that they do not
use tracking or coding technology to learn where
candidates come from to ensure they are making
efficient use of their recruitment marketing efforts.
Personalisation and nurturing: in e-commerce,
interactions with prospective customers are not only
personalised, but companies also nurture and guide
them towards making purchases. Recruitment has a
long way to go to match the sophistication of
e-commerce sites.
84% of CareerBuilders respondents stated that
they expected personalised emails.

2.3 Conclusions

With the lack of skilled people available (due to skill shortages and skill mismatches), employers must
improve the experience of all applicants in order to compete for scarce talent.

Time is a candidates currency: if a (talented) candidate perceives his/her time will be wasted in your
application process, he/she will probably choose to apply elsewhere. This is especially true for highly
skilled candidates who have many job opportunities to choose from and will go to the competition
if it offers a better application process.

A positive candidate experience helps improve the (employer) brand. Applicants should be seen as both
candidates and customers. Organisations should consider the implications of candidate experience
(good, bad or otherwise) not only on the employer brand, but also on the corporate brand.

A candidate that is rejected today may be a good fit for a vacant position tomorrow. Employers need
to start considering rejected candidates as merely unsuccessful today.

Aspects from e-commerce should be incorporated into the recruitment process, such as speed and
simplification of the application process, multi-channel engagement with applicants, personalisation
and the nurturing of (rejected) candidates.

A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

3 | State of the candidate

experience in 5
European countries
In order to get an overview of how employers

Offsetting the positive evaluations against the

negative evaluations reveals a positive assessment
(+37% net balance) of their overall recruitment
process.

evaluate the importance and status of the

Candidate Experience, Textkernel surveyed a sample
of 269 companies in Germany, France, Austria, the
Netherlands and the UK. In this section, we consider

Amongst the participating countries, employers in the

Netherlands had the lowest opinion of the candidate
experience in their recruitment process, with a 19%
positive net balance of opinion. Conversely, German
respondents expressed a balance of opinion about
their own performance of +49%.

how respondents from those five countries deal with

the application and recruitment process.

3.1 How do European

employers currently
rate their processes?

Respondents believe that they perform

best in the application process,
compared to their pre- or postapplication processes

Under half of respondents (48%)

classify their overall candidate
experience as good or very good

Respondent have a better opinion of their application

process than their pre- or post- application processes.

Respondents were asked to rate the three stages of

their recruitment process (pre-application process,
application process and post-applications process) on
a 5-point scale from very good to very poor.

Evaluation of the candidate experience in the current recruitment proces

50%
44%

42% 42%

41%

39%

37%

35%
27%

27%
18%

17%

13%
8%

A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

Good

8%
4%

1%

0%

0% 0%

Very good

10%

8%

Neutral

18%

12%

0%

Poor

Very poor

Net balance scores in stages of the application proces per country

AT DE FR UK NL

Pre-application experience

72% 54% 24% 52% 35%

Application experience

64% 40% 60% 65% 65%

Post-application experience

78% 38% 57% 58% 50%

A net balance of 59% of employers consider the

application experience to be positive. This falls to
55% when considering the post-application
experience and 44% for pre-application
interactions.
UK and Dutch respondents have the most positive
opinion of their application process (with a
positive net balance of 65%). German
respondents (40%) have a notably lower opinion
of their application process.

3.2 To what extent have

employers identified the
need to improve the
candidate experience?
78% of respondents believe their
company should invest more
Those that are focused on making applications faster
and easier are making the strongest case for further
investment. 86% of those who allow job applications
on mobile phones, and 89% of organisations that
allow applicants to apply in less than five minutes
believe that further investment in candidate
experience should be made.

86%

of respondents view
the candidate
experience
as a priority issue

A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

Companies that are the most inclined to improve the

candidate experience had already taken steps towards
doing so. 59% (versus 51% of all respondents)
already have a mobile phone-optimised career site and
40% (compared to 36% of all respondents) already
allow fully completed applications from a mobile
device.

3.3 What is the status of the

current application
process?
Over one third (36%) of organisations
enable candidates to apply using a
mobile device
Organisations are increasingly looking for ways to
optimise the quantity and quality of applications.
Textkernels research revealed some interesting insights
into their progress.
Almost half (48%) of companies in the Netherlands
offer the possibility to apply using a mobile device
as have 42% of companies in the UK. France (30%),
Germany (31%) and Austria (31%) have much lower
levels of adoption.
In 52% of these cases, applications via online forms
can be completed within 5 minutes, compared to
42% on average.
Among those equipped to measure this aspect, 80%
of the organisations that allow mobile job applications
report a drop-off rate of less than 20%. This is significantly higher than the ratio of 64% among those
companies who do not offer mobile applications.

The job section of the career site is optimised for mobile

29%

42%
58%

34%

71%

66%

40%

42%

60%

58%

Yes

Among the countries surveyed, there are big

differences in the implementation of job sections
optimised for mobile devices. In Germany, 71% of
the companies have a mobile-friendly career site,
while in France the figure is only 34%.

51%

Over half of the

companies have a job
section optimised for
mobile

Among organisations that offer a mobile application

process, 77% also offer a job section optimised for
mobile devices.
Only 28% of organisations offer both a mobilefriendly career site as well as a mobile application
process.

10

A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

No

For one in five companies (19%),

completing an online form is the only
means of application
Of those that only offer an online form, 37% evaluate
its completion time to be either 16-30 minutes or
over 30 minutes. This is more than four times higher
than the average (8%) for those who do not restrict
applications to an online form only.

Four in ten organisations (39%) allow

candidates to apply using their XING /
LinkedIn / Viadeo profile
For companies offering the possibility to apply for jobs
using mobile devices, this number increases to 50%.

This varies considerably between countries: just

12% of employers in Austria reject candidates via an
automated do not reply email, while in Germany this
practice is prevalent among 38% of all organisations.

3.4 How do employers follow

up with applicants?
Textkernels data also provides interesting insights into
how employers follow up with applicants.

7% do not respond at all to unsuccessful candidate.

Providing no response whatsoever to unsuccessful
applicants was a practice highlighted in 16% of UK
companies and 14% of French organisations.

3.4.1 Rejecting candidates

27% of companies reject candidates
via an automated do not reply email

3.4.2 Asking for feedback

56% of companies communicate rejections via a personalised e-mail. Over a quarter of companies (27%)
reject candidates by automated email from a no reply
address.

One quarter of companies in the Netherlands invite or

accept feedback, whilst just 11% of French companies
encourage or have a channel for feedback. By way
of contrast, over half of UK employers (52%) ask for
feedback.

Candidates are invited to give feedback on the application process

AT

19%

81%

DE

19%

81%

11%

FR
NL

89%
25%

75%

UK

52%
0%

10%

20%

30%

48%
40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%
Yes

100%
No

3.5 Conclusions
The majority of respondents do not classify their overall candidate experience as positive, but the
majority consider it a priority (86%) and would like to invest more into improving it (78%).
A speedy application process contributes to the candidate experience. The results show that enabling
candidates to apply using mobile devices results in shorter application times and lower drop-off rates.
However, only 36% of organisations currently offer a mobile application process.

As seen in Chapter 3, personalisation is one of the aspects that recruitment can learn from
e-commerce. However, much of the contact with applicants nowadays is not personalised.
Over a quarter of companies (27%) reject candidates by automatic email. In only 26% of the cases,
candidates are invited to give feedback.

11

A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

4 | Solutions for
improving the
candidate experience
The survey results in chapter three show that most
recruiters recognise the importance of the candidate
experience and that there are still ways to further
improve this. In this section, we look at the technologies driving these improvements and some of the
outcomes organisations are achieving.

4.1 Making candidates search

for work easier
When employers signal to the market that they have
work available, there are typically two major hurdles in
the way of attracting people with the skills experience
and aptitudes they are looking for.
It is difficult for candidates to find the right position
because employers often write job descriptions using
terminology that applicants would not use in their
search. Furthermore, most job sites provide limited
search functionalities, making it difficult for candidates
to identify the jobs that actually match their profiles.
With emerging tools such as Textkernels semantic
search technology, candidates are assisted in finding
available work that matches what they are looking for,
rather than just what they type. By studying the intent
and contextual meaning behind the words they type,
the matching technology pinpoints what the user
really means. This not only reduces the time a
candidate spends searching for suitable jobs, but also
has the potential to dramatically reduce the numbers
of job seekers applying for the wrong jobs.
Tools such as a chatbot-like recruitment assistant,
able to answer candidates questions, or technology
suggesting similar jobs (if you like this job, you might
also like this job), based on the analysis of candidates

12

A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

profiles, can also be envisaged. These are more in line

with the practices in e-commerce: by guiding visitors
to the right jobs, companies can better persuade
them into making a purchase, or in this case an
application.

4.2 Making candidates easier

to find
Instead of continuing to publish complex and
prescriptive job descriptions, hoping that they may be
seen by suitable candidates who are willing to apply,
companies are trying to attract candidates into their
talent pools. This allows them to engage more actively
with the audience and assess their true abilities.
Organisations are increasingly using advanced search
tools to find people in their own talent pools with
the right skills and experiences. Better search and
matching technology also enables employers to
recommend available jobs to people within the talent
pool, further contributing to a positive candidate
experience.
This change is redefining the application process as
candidates are no longer applying just for one job, but
for the potential opportunity to work (now or at some
stage in the future) with that organisation.

Most job sites

provide limited
search
functionalities

4.3 Making the application

process easier and more
productive
As discussed in Chapter 2.1, good candidates tend to
shy away from a lengthy application form. They factor
in the time it will take them to apply before sending
in an application. Even if they perceive their chance
of making a successful application as being low,
candidates will apply if the amount of time that is
required to do so is reasonable.
In order to respond to this demand, organisations
are starting to provide applicants with easy ways of
applying in a fast and efficient manner using one
click application tools, such as the Apply with widget
developed by Textkernel. With candidates building
and maintaining their personal profiles in a growing
array of professional social networks, it is in the

Case
study

candidates interest to let them choose which profile

to apply with. It also responds to the recruiters need
to efficiently process all applications, since all
information is extracted with CV parsing technology
and structured within their systems. Without having
to ask candidates to fill in a long online form,
recruiters can easily build a qualitative candidate
database.
By implementing a one-click application process,
companies can experience an increasing volume of
applications from qualified candidates. However,
this solution should not be implemented before
making sure that the organisation has the ability to
appropriately handle this increased volume of quality
applications. While the time invested is limited, not
following up on the application could still have a
negative impact on the corporate and employer
brand.

Baloise
A case study on Swiss-based Insurance and Pension provider Baloise provides a good
example of the implementation of such technologies to improve candidate experience
and the employer brand:

Baloise Group employs around 8,000 people, including

200 apprentices, trainees and interns. Being particularly
active on social media, and using their communication
channels as a recruitment tool, the company received
a steady flow of applicants. Conscious that the site, as
a predominantly one-way application channel, did not
necessarily enhance the candidate experience, Baloise
decided to create a more interactive career information
hub. In order to achieve its candidate-centred
objectives, the company also decided to modernise
application workflows accordingly.
As the backbone of its recruiting process, Baloise was
using the robust Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Taleo.
This required candidates to manually input numerous
pieces of information about their education, work
experience, skills and achievements and do this
meticulously if their application was to be meaningful.
As a consequence, the process was time-consuming
and presented an initial hurdle that not all potential
applicants were willing to invest in.

13

A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

In order to avoid losing any more good candidates and

help optimise the candidate experience, Baloise adopted
Textkernels technology to achieve three key objectives:
Enhanced speed of application and quality of
information: adoption of Textkernels apply with
widget now allows candidates to submit their
chosen profile, from a range of professional
networks, straight into the application process.
Automated interoperability with legacy
systems: once the candidate submits their chosen
profile, the information is automatically parsed,
analysed and populated within the standard profile
format within the ATS.
Data protection: as the data will not be stored,
but rather permanently erased immediately after
the analysis, all data protection requirements of
the Baloise Group are reliably met.
The average time to apply has been drastically
reduced. In the past it took our applicants at least 10
to 20 minutes to fill out the online form. Now it is
possible in just a few seconds, says Jonas Jatsch, of
Group HR Operations at Baloise Group.

4.4 Enabling mobile

recruitment
The use of mobile devices provides candidates with
the potential to use their time and information efficiently, by both viewing opportunities and applying for
them whilst on-the-go.

Case
study

As the data showed earlier in this report, it is those

organisations that offer the possibility to apply for a
job using mobile devices that are making the greatest
strides forward in their candidate experience achievements.

Trenkwalder
A case study from international recruitment and staffing agency Trenkwalder evidences
the cause and effect of offering a mobile job application process.

Trenkwalder has grown from a family-owned

company to an international group with more than
55,000 employees, and supports the professional
development of both individuals and companies.
In competing with others, across 17 countries, for the
best available talent, the company has had to consider
the best ways to allow candidates to apply.

Trenkwalder launched new mobile career sites and fully

mobile-optimised and candidate-friendly application
processes incorporating Textkernels Apply with
widget. Now, candidates can apply in just a few clicks
using various mobile devices, while Trenkwalder still
receives a structured profile, thanks to Textkernels CV
parsing technology.

In Trenkwalders experience, candidates today do

not want to struggle with lengthy online application
forms, but rather prefer to rely on their smartphones
when searching for a job. Its absolutely necessary to
systematically reduce the time and challenges during
the application process, explains Martin Jger, CSO at
Trenkwalder. To accommodate these new requirements,

The process is now faster, more customer-friendly

and mobile-friendly. 30% of all candidates are currently
already using the option of applying via their
smartphone or tablet, explains Michael Pries,
Head of International Marketing at Trenkwalder.

4.5 Conclusions

14

Semantic search and matching technologies can assist candidates in finding available work that
matches what they are looking for (rather than just what they type).

One-click application tools, such as Textkernels Apply with widget, can help speed up the application
process and improve candidate experience. Allowing candidates to easily apply with a CV or profile of
choice can save up to 20 minutes of their time, while the employer still receives structured and
searchable information in their database.

Enabling candidates to apply for jobs using mobile devices contributes to a better candidate experience
and ensures more applications.

A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

5 | Summary
and conclusions
As the war for talent intensifies, delivering an
exemplary candidate experience is becoming a
business imperative.

Companies should stop benchmarking

their recruitment process against their
peers
Companies should stop benchmarking their
recruitment process against their peers and instead
look for best practices in other fields. The customercentred approach of e-commerce service with focus on
speed, multi-channel engagement and nurturing can
be considered the evolving benchmark.

Todays unsuccessful candidates can

be nurtured into tomorrows successful
hires
With skill shortages becoming more acute, the
nurturing of any candidate with an interest in, or the
potential to work for, an organisation must improve.
The recruitment process should not just be about

one position, but about the ability to work for the

company, either now or at some stage in the future.
Talent pooling promises to nurture todays unsuccessful
candidates into tomorrows successful hires.

Advance technology can help

employers to dramatically improve the
candidate experience
Through the use of advance technologies, reducing
the time it takes an applicant to create a more valuable
profile and guiding candidates towards a matching job,
employers are able to swiftly and dramatically improve
the candidate experience without disruption.
These improvements not only promise to bring
companies up to speed with current e-commerce best
practices, but also have the potential to transcend the
application experience of the candidate while marking
out those companies that implement them.

About Textkernel
Textkernel is the international leader in semantic recruitment technology offering multilingual
CV parsing, job parsing and semantic search, sourcing and matching software. Textkernels
technology helps companies to improve the candidate experience and find the best talent,
allowing them to fill jobs faster.
Textkernels multilingual CV parser, combined with its Apply with widget, offers candidates a mobile
friendly, one-click application process and helps to automatically build a high quality talent database.
Textkernels semantic search, sourcing and matching tools will then help to instantly identify top talent
within existing databases and on external sources. These tools, which can easily be integrated into any
ATS or CRM system, help accelerate the process of matching people and jobs. www.textkernel.com

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A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

Sources and Disclaimer

Sources
1
2
3
4

InternetRetailing: IRC 2015 INTERVIEW Ian Jindal 28th August 2015

Eurofound (2012), Fifth European Working Conditions Survey
European Commission: European Vacancy and Recruitment report 2014
e-skills in Europe: trends and forecasts for the European ICT professional and digital leadership labour
markets (2015-2020) - empirica working paper (November 2015), research in Austria, Germany, France,
Netherlands and the UK.
5 CareerBuilders 2015 Candidate Behavior Study
The interpretation and processing of the sources was done by Belinda Johnson, Worklab

Links
Enabling mobile applications with the Apply with widget
Better results with semantic search software
Automatic job recommendations with matching technology
A better candidate experience with semantic technology
Enabling a mobile recruiting process

Disclaimer
The whitepaper: A European Perspective on Candidate Experience was created with utmost
attention and care. Please note that the facts in this paper are believed to be correct, but despite
many checks, cannot be guaranteed. As such Textkernel can accept no liability whatever for
actions taken based on any information that may subsequently prove to be incorrect.
The information contained in this white paper is for informational purposes only. The use of figures and/
or texts is only allowed with a clear reference to the source. Reproduction and/or publication in any form
whatsoever is only allowed after written content from the publisher, Textkernel.
2016 Textkernel

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A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

textkernel
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www.textkernel.com
A European Perspective on Candidate Experience

Semantic Recruitment Technology