Designing an outstanding candidate experience provides many benefits. Getting it wrong can give your organization a reputation that's hard to come back from.

Remember: candidate experience is the first interaction a potential employee with your organization and its culture.

When candidate experience is designed skillfully, top candidates get the impression your organization cares about its people even before they're on the team.

That's an extremely powerful (and positive) signal to send—not just to candidates, but to new hires and longstanding employees. You're reinforcing the importance your organization places on its people at every level. You're also providing a behavioral standard for other employees to emulate throughout the hiring process.