What Gen Z Expects From Candidate Experience in the Era of COVID-19

As the competition for entry-level talent continues to intensify and the pandemic ebbs and flows, candidate experience can be the difference between hiring your next superstar or losing out to a competitor. Our latest report focusing on what Gen Z wants at work uncovers new insights on this generation’s top priorities during the interview and hiring process — including where they are looking for jobs, how they prefer to communicate with prospective employers, and what main factors contribute to a positive candidate experience. 

Gen Z candidates are turning to multiple sources for their job search

Students are exploring many channels to find job opportunities, and first impressions can set the foundation for the rest of the candidate experience. Our research found that the careers web page for different companies was the top source for job searching, chosen by 58% of students. Students were also likely to search for internships and entry-level positions by attending virtual career fairs held by their university (56% of respondents), leveraging their network (56% of respondents), and attending virtual info sessions hosted by specific companies (54% of respondents).

Diving deeper, our data found that students did not consider all events to be equally useful in the job search. Students found virtual info sessions hosted by companies and virtual career fairs from universities to be the most helpful, with 37% of respondents choosing each of these options. Only 6% of students considered “fun company events” like socials and trivia nights to be one of the best uses of their time for pursuing career goals.  

The takeaway? Candidate experience starts with providing students with opportunities to get to know you. Be present across multiple platforms and incorporate different types of events into your recruitment strategy. Students are often starting their job search with people and organizations they are most familiar with — such as their university, their personal network, and those companies they already have an interest in — so take advantage of those partnerships as well as a robust event calendar to attract entry-level candidates. 

Communication and personalization are key to a positive candidate experience

The RippleMatch survey consistently showed that when evaluating the candidate experience, Gen Z was most impressed by timely updates and personalized messaging from recruiters. The data collected in Spring and Fall 2021 found that 70% of students valued updates about their application status within 5-7 business days, and 53% believed that personalized follow-ups from recruiters contributed to a positive candidate experience. 

Surprisingly, about half of students in our survey noted that getting a reason for rejection from a job would give them a favorable view of the employer. While recruiters may not want to be the bearer of bad news, providing feedback to rejected candidates could be especially valuable for maintaining a strong employer brand and reconnecting with these candidates in the future. 

In short, keep candidates apprised of their application status and be upfront about the next steps. Even if a candidate ultimately doesn’t get the job, they may still value the transparency and communication in your recruitment process.

A lack of face-to-face interaction with employers is not detrimental to candidate experience 

After almost two years of virtual and hybrid recruiting due to the pandemic, in-person interactions between candidates and recruiters seem to be taking on less importance. In fact, we asked students what challenges they faced during their 2021-2022 job search, and they didn't consider it to be a challenge that there weren't in-person career fairs. More specifically, only 17% of students considered a lack of face-to-face communication with a prospective employer to foster a negative candidate experience.

As Gen Z candidates continue to navigate the job search in the COVID era, they are embracing flexibility in the sources they use to find jobs as well as the methods through which they participate in interviews and other communications with prospective employers. At the same time, Gen Z job seekers expect a personalized, transparent recruitment process that prioritizes communication and mutual respect.

Want to dive deeper into what Gen Z is looking for during the recruitment process? Download the full report.