Candidate Experience Survey Template
A candidate experience survey is a short questionnaire you send to applicants after their process ends, asking how the recruiting experience felt from their side - not what you thought of them. Employers use it to hear from people who were hired, rejected and withdrew, and to spot friction in the process before it costs you future applicants.
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Send this once a hiring decision is final, ideally within a few days while the experience is still fresh. Keep it short, keep it anonymous where you can, and build in a version for every outcome - a hired candidate and a rejected one notice very different things about the same process.
Survey Invitation Email
Subject: [YOUR RECENT APPLICATION WITH COMPANY NAME]
Body: Thanks for going through our hiring process for [JOB TITLE]. We would like to hear how it felt from your side - the survey takes about [X] minutes and your answers are [ANONYMOUS / SHARED ONLY WITH THE HIRING TEAM].
Survey link: [SURVEY LINK]
Sign-off: [YOUR NAME / TEAM NAME]
Which Stage Did You Reach
[ ] Application only, no response yet
[ ] Phone or initial screen
[ ] Skills assessment or task
[ ] Interview, one or more rounds
[ ] Offer stage
Outcome: [HIRED / NOT SELECTED / WITHDREW]
Rating Statements
Communication throughout the process was clear and timely: [STRONGLY DISAGREE - STRONGLY AGREE]
I understood what each stage of the process would involve: [STRONGLY DISAGREE - STRONGLY AGREE]
The interview or assessment felt relevant to the job: [STRONGLY DISAGREE - STRONGLY AGREE]
I was treated with respect throughout: [STRONGLY DISAGREE - STRONGLY AGREE]
The process took a reasonable amount of time: [STRONGLY DISAGREE - STRONGLY AGREE]
Open-Text Prompts
What was the best part of applying with us? [OPEN TEXT]
What was the most frustrating part, if any? [OPEN TEXT]
Is there anything you wish we had explained better? [OPEN TEXT]
Rejected or withdrawn only - what, if anything, would have kept you in the process? [OPEN TEXT]
Wrap-Up & Consent
Would you apply with us again? [YES / NO / NOT SURE]
Would you recommend a friend apply here? [YES / NO / NOT SURE]
May we quote your feedback anonymously to improve our process? [YES / NO]
Thank-you note: Your answers help us improve the process for future candidates. [WHAT YOU WILL DO WITH THE RESULTS]
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How to use this template
- Send the survey within a few days of the final decision, while the experience is still fresh for the candidate.
- Keep separate short intros for hired, rejected and withdrawn candidates so the wording matches their actual outcome.
- Ask which stage they reached before showing rating statements, so answers can be grouped by where in the process they exited.
- Make the anonymity or confidentiality promise explicit, and honour it when you report results back internally.
- Review answers by stage and outcome rather than as one blended average, since a rejected candidate and a hired one flag very different things.
Tips
Candidate Experience Survey Template — FAQs
How is this different from a candidate feedback form?
Should we survey rejected candidates as well as new hires?
Is there a good candidate experience score?
How do we get a decent response rate?
Send this from your ATS instead of an email thread
Pitch N Hire is an applicant tracking system. Offers, interview invitations, feedback requests, and rejections go out from the candidate record — so nothing is retyped and nothing is lost in someone's inbox.
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