Create a stronger candidate experience through clear mapping

What is candidate experience?

Candidate experience is how a candidate experiences you as an employer throughout the recruitment process, from the first job ad to an offer or rejection. A good candidate experience strengthens your employer brand even among those who don’t get the job. Start by mapping each step from the candidate’s perspective.

Create a stronger candidate experience by mapping touchpoints

The candidate journey is rarely a straight line. For some it starts with a social media post, for others with a tip from a friend or a spontaneous visit to the career site. Wherever the journey starts, the candidate’s experience is shaped by every point of contact, every touchpoint, along the way.

At a time when candidates expect the same clarity, relevance and treatment as customers do, understanding the touchpoints of the candidate journey becomes a decisive competitive advantage.

What do we actually mean by touchpoints in the candidate journey?

A touchpoint is every moment when a candidate comes into contact with the employer, directly or indirectly. It can be anything from a job ad or an Instagram post to an email from the recruiter, a meeting with a manager or an automated message in an ATS. With the development of AI, yet another touchpoint has been added to the candidate journey: when candidates let AI tools analyse company cultures before they even visit your website.

Many organisations still think of the candidate journey as a synonym for the recruitment process. But the candidate journey is much broader than that. It often starts long before an application is sent and doesn’t necessarily end when the process is over.

It is also important to remember that the candidate doesn’t distinguish between marketing, HR and recruitment. For the candidate, it is one and the same experience, one and the same employer brand.

The phases of the candidate journey and their key touchpoints

To map touchpoints, you first need to understand which phases the candidate journey consists of. Exactly how you divide the journey can vary, but it often looks something like this:

Phase 1: Attraction & awareness

This is often the longest and most diffuse phase, but also one of the most important.

Common touchpoints here are:

• Employer branding campaigns

• Social media

• The career site

• Job ads

• Events, fairs or webinars

• Employer review sites and word of mouth

This is where the first associations are created. What do you signal? Which images, words and stories does the candidate meet?

Phase 2: Consideration

In this phase the candidate starts actively thinking: is this an employer for me?

Touchpoints can be:

• In-depth content on the career site

• Employee stories

• FAQ on culture, leadership and development

• Transparency about roles, requirements and terms

This is where many candidates lose interest if the information feels unclear, contradictory or too polished.

Phase 3: Application

The application step is often short but has a big impact on the experience.

Examples of touchpoints:

• Application form

• ATS interface

• Confirmation email

• Clarity about next steps

Friction in this step, such as complicated forms, technical problems or unclear messages, affects the overall impression more than many think.

Phase 4: Selection & interviews

Now the meeting becomes more personal, and every interaction carries weight.

Touchpoints in this phase:

• Contact with recruiters

• Interviews (digital or in person)

• Tests and cases

• Feedback and communication between steps

This is where the employer brand is tested in practice. Do behaviour, tone and treatment live up to what was promised earlier in the journey?

Phase 5: Offer or rejection

Whatever the outcome, this is a decisive moment.

Touchpoints can be:

• The offer process

• Salary and terms discussions

• Rejection communication

• Clarity, respect and transparency

A good candidate experience doesn’t end with a “yes”. How you handle a “no” affects your reputation at least as much.

Phase 6: Onboarding (and sometimes beyond)

For those who say yes, the candidate journey continues into the employee journey.

Touchpoints here include:

• First contact before the start date

• Introduction material

• The first week at work

• Meetings with manager and team

This is often where the candidate decides whether expectations are actually met.

How to map touchpoints in practice

Mapping touchpoints is about creating a shared view and insight. A simple approach is to:

1. Define the phases of the candidate journey
   Adapt them to your reality, not a theoretical model.

1. List all touchpoints per phase
   Include both digital and human encounters, including those that happen “between the lines”.

1. Identify owners and responsibilities
   Who is responsible for each touchpoint? HR, communications, a manager, an external partner?

1. Evaluate the experience
   Ask questions such as:
   What does the candidate experience here?
   Which messages are conveyed?
   Is this in line with our EVP and our employer offer?

1. Validate with candidate insights
   Combine internal assumptions with actual insights: feedback, interviews, data or surveys.

Common pitfalls

When organisations start working with the candidate journey, the same challenges often come up:

• Too much focus on application and interviews, too little on early and late phases

• Inconsistent messages between marketing and recruitment

• Automated communication without human care

• Lack of ownership: no one is responsible for the whole

From mapping to a stronger employer brand

Once the touchpoints are mapped, they become a powerful tool for development. They help you prioritise correctly and make sure your EVP and culture are actually experienced, not just communicated.

Read also: How to improve the candidate experience from application to hire

Need to recruit? Read more about how Oddwork recruits specialists and managers across Sweden.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about candidate experience

How do you measure candidate experience?

With short surveys after the process, candidate NPS and metrics such as response time and drop-out rate.

What makes the candidate experience worse?

Long processes, unclear information and not getting an answer.

How do you improve it?

Map the candidate journey, set response times and give everyone an answer. Read more about KPIs for employer branding.