Candidate-Experience-Report-2011-Final5

Candidate
Experience
2011
Contributing Authors
Ed Newman, Elaine Orler, Gerry Crispin,
Katherine Jones, Mark McMillan
Sponsored by
HireRight, HireVue, Jobs2web, Kenexa, Monster, StartWire
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 1

Dear Reader,
Foreword
This report is written for everyone in the recruitment industry who cares about the candidate
experience. This includes talent acquisition leaders, recruiters, vendors, consultants, analysts
and candidates. On behalf of the Talent Board, we thank you for your interest in this work.
The Talent Board, a non-profit organization pending 501(c)3 status, is the entity behind The
Candidate Experience Awards. Our mission is to call attention to issues that relate to the
corporate employment candidate experience. The primary vehicle to achieve its mission is The
Candidate Experience Awards (CandE Awards). The CandE Awards is an annual competition
process whereby: 1) employers have the opportunity to benchmark their candidate
experience against peers, and 2) employers have the opportunity to participate in a third
party survey of their employment candidates. The CandE Award process is a competition, but
it is also designed to provide every organization that chooses to participate, confidential and
specific feedback on how they can improve their candidate experience.
“Candidate Experience 2011” is a white paper that is based on the data collected during the
Candidate Experience Awards 2011. This includes surveys and interviews from our North
American employers and more than 11,000 candidate surveys. This report is a collective review
and interpretation of the data. We believe there is value in the data and the story it tells. Our
hope is that this report sparks and elevates the candidate experience conversation, and we
have organized the report to enable the reader to easily identify the key take-aways while
also gaining a deeper understanding of the CandE process.
Designed to inform employers and candidates, “The Candidate Experience 2011” aims to
invoke questions about the candidate experience and inspire readers to create the strategies
that will continue to advance it in the future.
Regards,
The Talent Board
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 2

Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................................... 3
THE CANDE AWARD PROCESS DESIGN ............................................................................................... 4
ABOUT THE EMPLOYERS ................................................................................................................................. 6
ABOUT THE CANDIDATES ................................................................................................................................ 7
2011 CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE AWARD WINNERS .............................................................................. 8
CANDIDATE ATTRACTION .................................................................................................................. 9
HIGH INVESTMENT IN AN ARRAY OF CANDIDATE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS ......................................................... 9
CANDIDATE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS THROUGH THE EYES OF THE CANDIDATE ................................................. 10
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST ............................................................................................................... 12
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: HIGHLY AUTOMATED / POTENTIAL FOR GREATEST INTERACTION ...................................... 13
THE GAP BETWEEN EXPRESSION OF INTEREST AND QUALIFED .............................................................................. 15
CANDIDATE DISPOSITION ................................................................................................................ 17
EMPLOYERS AND CANDIDATES HAVE A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION ON FEEDBACK ....................................................... 17
UNQUALIFIED APPLICANTS AWAIT A RESPONSE ................................................................................................ 18
CANDIDATE EVALUATION ................................................................................................................ 21
EMPLOYERS TAKE A GENERALLY ORGANIZED APPROACH WITH CANDIDATE EVALUATIONS......................................... 21
INTERVIEW PRACTICES ARE UNIQUE AND DYNAMIC ........................................................................................... 22
SELECTED CANDIDATES ................................................................................................................... 24
COMPANIES’ CANDIDATE FEEDBACK IS GAINING STRENGTH FOR FINALISTS ............................................................. 24
FINAL WORDS ................................................................................................................................. 25
THE CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE AWARDS 2012 ................................................................................... 26
APPENDIX ....................................................................................................................................... 27
ABOUT THE TALENT BOARD .......................................................................................................................... 27
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS ............................................................................................................ 28
ABOUT THE SPONSORS ................................................................................................................................ 30
2011 CANDIATE EXPERIENCE AWARDS – JUDGES ............................................................................................. 31
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 3

The CandE Award Process Design
The 2011 CandE Award program was designed to evaluate how
employers engage with candidates during the employment application
process. The CandE Award process involved three rounds of evaluation
that were designed to capture how the organization produces its
candidate experience. The goal of the survey process was to enable
companies to confidentially benchmark themselves. The CandE Award
process was risk free for companies in that their identities would only be
disclosed if the company won an award. The process particularly
encouraged companies that feel their candidate experience was not
“award worthy.” Any company that participated received confidential
and constructive feedback on how to improve.
The CandE Award process was a survey open to any North American company recruiting
operation that was interested in benchmarking themselves. Round 1 required completing a
survey that addressed:
Candidate Experience
Phase
Talent Attraction
Expression of Interest
Candidate Disposition
Candidate Evaluation
Selected Candidate
Description
Refers to the content and actions candidates are researching
in order to determine their interest in applying for employment
with the company.
Refers to the content and actions candidates are completing
when applying to a specific position with the company.
Refers to the content and actions employers leverage to
address candidates who they deem as not qualified for the
position.
Refers to the content and actions employers when engaging
with candidates through the evaluation and selection
process.
Refers to the content and actions when candidates are
selected for an offer, and processed as a new hire.
Each section of the Round 1 survey was designed to discern how organizations produce their
candidate experience. The questions examined the organizations’ processes, procedures and
priorities around candidate experience. Fifty-seven companies initiated the process.
Round 2 consisted of a candidate survey administered by the Talent Board on behalf of the
participating companies. The survey consisted of 26 questions, many of which involved multi-
select tables. The surveys were administered between August 1, 2011 and September 15, 2011.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 4

The Talent Board empowered 32 companies
to provide their 2011 employment candidates
access to the Talent Board candidate
experience survey. All organizations were
required to survey 2011 employment
candidates in order to be considered in
Round 2. Twenty-four companies participated
in Round 2.
Companies administered their survey through
a combination of email campaigns and by
providing the survey link on their career portals. Companies were encouraged to survey a
broad spectrum of candidates, and were specifically encouraged to present the survey to
rejected candidates at all phases of the recruitment cycle. Each company was required to
submit its survey distribution methodology to the Talent Board for consideration when
evaluating their results.
Round 3 of the survey process focused on identifying organizations that practiced exceptional
and exemplary recruiting and hiring methods. Round 3 is called the “With Distinction” round
because it highlights specific practices, and the Talent Board believes reporting them can
have a positive impact on employers’ methodologies and the market. In Round 3, companies
that distinguished themselves in Rounds 1 and 2 were interviewed by an independent panel of
industry judges (see Appendix for the full list of 2011 judges). Five companies were recognized
“With Distinction.”
“After working with tens of thousands of the underemployed and unemployed over the past few
years, one of the most common questions posed is, ‘Why has my application fallen into a black hole?’
The Candidate Experience Awards provide an opportunity to reward those who ensure that
candidates are treated with the respect and transparency they rightfully deserve. I am honored to be
part of a program that heralds those organizations who recognize that there is value to be gained by
true engagement with both passive and active candidates.”
- Mark Stelzner, founder of Inflexion Advisors and JobAngels
Each organization that participated in the 2011 awards received a benchmark report that
compares their responses to the aggregate group. Organizations receive reports for both their
employer and candidate surveys.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 5

About the Employers
The 2011 CandE Awards attracted 57 employers
that subjected themselves to three to five hours of
work to fully complete their applications. The
defining adjective to describe the employer pool
is diverse. The table to the right profiles the
participant pool across several key dimensions:
Employer Survey Table 2
Industry Count
1) Accounting and Auditing Services 1
2) Advertising and PR Services 1
3) Banking 2
4) Business Services - Other 4
5) Chemicals/Petro-Chemicals 1
6) Computer Hardware 1
7) Computer Software 6
8) Computer/IT Services 1
9) Construction - Industrial Facilities and
Infrastructure
1
10) Consumer Durable Goods 1
11) Consumer Packaged Goods Manufacturing 2
12) Electronics, Components and Semiconductor 1
Mfg.
13) Engineering Services 1
14) Financial Services 4
15) Food and Beverage Production 2
16) Government Research 1
17) Healthcare Services 3
18) Insurance 3
19) Internet Services 3
20) Manufacturing - Other 3
21) Metals and Minerals 1
22) Printing and Publishing 1
23) Professional Services 2
24) Real Estate/Property Management 1
25) Retail 1
26) Risk Management 1
27) Staffing/Employment Agencies 3
28) Telecommunications Services 1
29) Travel, Transportation and Tourism 2
30) Varied--Fabrics, Medical Devices, Electronics, 1
Filtration, etc.
31) Video Games 1
57
Employer Survey Table 1
Industry
Participant
Dimension
North American
employee
population
2011 - North
American Hires
Number of
resources engaged
in the recruiting
effort
Profile
The CandE Awards attracted
31 different industries.
Under 500 (24.5%)
500-2,500 (7.5%)
2,500-10,000 (34%)
10,000-25,000 (11.3%)
25,000-100,000 (20.8%)
100,000+ (1.9%)
Less than 10 - (19.2%)
100-200 - (5.8%)
200-500 - (17.3%)
500-1000 - (21.2%)
1000-2500 - (13.5%)
2500-5000 - (11.5%)
5000-10,000 - (7.7%)
10,000-25,000 - (3.8%)
Under 10 - (34.6%)
10-25 - (25.0%)
25-50 - (11.5%)
50-100 - (9.7%)
100-200 - (9.6%)
Over 200 - (9.6%)
The participant profile data points to the
universal relevance of candidate
experience. Candidate experience is
relevant to organizations of all types and
sizes. The table to the left lists the 31
different industries:
“In addition to candidates being able to
check the status of each application
online, twice a week an employment
specialist sends emails to candidates
advising them if the status of their
application has changed.”
– Company comment
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 6

About the Candidates
Round 2 required candidate feedback and yielded 11,662 surveys across 32 participating
companies. Sixty-seven (67) percent of candidates that started the 26-question survey
completed it. More than 8,500 candidates provided write-in comments about their
experiences. The response to the survey validates the conclusion: employment candidates
care a great deal about their candidate experience.
Candidates from all phases of the recruiting cycle
Candidate Survey Figure 1 (n=11,622)
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Candidates identified the phases they completed in the recruiting process with the company
to which they applied.
Candidate job interests
Candidate Survey Figure 2 (n=11,662)
39%
50.0%
I researched
the
organization
before
expressing
interest.
7% Hourly Wage Position
16%
82.2%
I identified a
position of
interest and
applied.
33%
5%
27.3%
I completed
a series of
activities.
(i.e. phone
screen,
assessment,
test)
18.4% 16.0% 1.7%
I was
notified I
was being
considered
for the
position.
Intership position
I was
offered and
accepted a
position.
Entry-Level Salary Position
Experienced Salary Position
Sr. Leadership/Executive
Position
I was
offered and
declined
the position.
19.5%
I was
notified I
was not
being
considered
for the
position.
“We are always talking to great
talent and try get them to where
they should be in our company
whether or not they applied for a
specific requisition, but for any
particular requisition we will assess
and present any candidate that our
team feels could be successful in a
particular role, with that leader and
his/her team. We have other
outreach and community strategies
to ensure we maintain a
transparent and informative
relationship with as many
candidates as possible.”
– Company Comment
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 7

2011 Candidate Experience Award Winners
Winners With Distinction
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 8

Candidate Attraction
This aspect of the survey was designed to better understand how an organization initially
communicates with and engages prospects to learn more about the company; inform the
prospect about its products, services, people, culture and opportunities; and assesses a
prospect’s awareness of the business and their readiness to become a candidate by applying
for a specific position. It is increasingly challenging for organizations to differentiate themselves
and establish how their values, culture, products and people represent a unique opportunity
for top candidates. The impact of social media tools to promote, inform or obtain feedback,
along with the economic uncertainties of the last decade, has added additional difficulties to
this Attraction phase.
High Investment in an Array of Candidate Communication Channels
Those surveyed used diverse methods to initiate one- and two-way communication with their
100%
candidates. The stronger areas from the study include:
Communication channels listed as “Extensive” or “Routine” by employers
Employer Survey Figure 1 (n= 57)
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Social Communication Channels Mainstream Communication Channels
Extensive part of our total strategy Routine for some hiring Limited Use We are Experimenting
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 9

From the data illustrated in the previous chart,
the following is worth noting:
1. The Career Site is the most consistently used
channel for publishing information for
candidates and engaging candidates in
providing information to the company. This
demonstrates the holistic market shift to an
online interaction model.
2. Direct Calls from Recruiters remains a
primary communication channel for
employers. This reinforces the importance
of phone skills and their importance as a
function of competition for top candidates.
3. Career Fairs are still a core part of employer
strategies, demonstrating the importance of
face-to-face communication with
candidates.
4. LinkedIn is the primary social media method
for communicating with potential
candidates.
5. Open Houses and Job Shadowing are also
communication methods well-represented
in the survey results.
6. The data points to a lot of experimentation
with social media and mobile technologies.
Candidate Communication Channels through
the Eyes of the Candidate
The CandE award process set out to measure
which communication channels are actually
used by employment candidates to research
companies. The CandE award process
yielded 11,662 candidate surveys and
provided several insights.
Candidates were surveyed on how they
came to know about the organization and
what research methods were used to learn
more. Candidates were specifically asked to
With Distinction: PepsiCo Talent Community
Two years ago, PepsiCo launched an employment
brand update that was designed to do much more
than just tell amazing stories about employees and
launch a series of mobile employment apps and new
career pages – three things that most companies
would consider an accomplishment to say “mission
accomplished.”
What drives the team at PepsiCo to continue pushing
relentlessly forward is their insistence that their mobile
applications, over a dozen specialized LinkedIn groups
and official recruiter accounts on social networks like
Twitter and Facebook are just some of the tools used
to accomplish the larger mission: Treating jobseekers
with the respect they deserve while helping them take
the next step in their careers.
“It’s never been about just filling jobs,” says Chris Hoyt,
a talent engagement and marketing leader at
PepsiCo, when asked about the company’s focus on
candidate engagement. “It’s always been about
connecting with people where they’re comfortable, in
methods that are smart for our business and in ways
that allow us to effectively share the possibilities at
PepsiCo.”
That’s why job seekers find multiple ways to connect
directly with PepsiCo recruiters in nearly any
communication they receive from the talent
acquisition teams or at almost any stage of the
application process. With PepsiCo recruiters around
the world equally invested in improving the candidate
experience, jobseekers have come to expect a
response time of no more than one business day for
questions asked in official channels.
“As part of making ourselves readily available in some
of these social channels, we’ve seen a tremendous
increase in positive sentiment associated with online
engagement, heard some amazing stories from
people in the field as a result and have seen a literal
explosion of jobseekers finding their way to PepsiCo as
an employer of choice,” shares Hoyt. “And this is just
the start.”
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 10

indicate if they were aware and used the channel for the position for which they applied,
along a range from being aware to not being aware at all. The results demonstrate that
awareness is still validated with the career site, and social media solutions are experimental.
Communication channels listed as “Aware” or “Aware but didn’t use” by
candidates
Candidate Survey Figure 3 (n= 11,662)
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Social Communication Channels Mainstream Communication Channels
Aware of this and used to interact. Aware of this but did not use. Not aware the company had this.
From the reported data illustrated in the chart above, the following is worth noting:
1. Career Site is the most consistently used channel for gaining information for candidates.
NO OTHER communication channel was used by a majority of candidates. This implies that
efforts invested in the career site over the last 10 years have made career sites a
substantial, mainstream channel today.
2. Direct Calls from Recruiters remains a primary communication channel for candidates.
This reinforces the connection with the company and validation of next steps.
3. LinkedIn is the most used social media platform for candidates surveyed. It was used with
awareness but wasn’t used for a specific position.
4. A ten-year focus on recruiting candidates over the web has led companies to invest in the
development and maintenance of their career pages. With social media gaining
popularity, and maturing over the past three to five years, employers can expect that
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 11

candidate adoption of these outlets will increase over the next two to three years.
Employers should also consider that adoption of preferred communication methods will
vary by industry and type of position. What works for one group of candidates, will not
necessarily be the best method for reaching another.
Expression of Interest
This aspect of the survey delves into the experience prospects have when informing the
company about themselves – their skills, knowledge and experience. The moment an
individual commits to sharing their background, they have essentially become candidates in
their own eyes. The ease with which these personal details are extracted from the candidate;
degree of screening and testing; promise of privacy; evidence of feedback;
acknowledgement and setting of
expectations are all critical challenges
for the firm’s technology tools, hiring
protocols and professional recruiters.
In general, the firms applying for the
CandE Awards claimed they “routinely”
provided content through either their
company career site or via recruiters.
“We have simulations available to
help candidates understand the
application process; provide
technical help tips and an online
form for reporting technical
difficulties; applicants can also set
up a job search agent that will
notify them via email when a job
matching their interests becomes
available.” - Company comment
With Distinction: Sage “Two-Minute Commitment”
Sage, a software company, publishes a “Candidate
Commitment” on its career pages.
Stand Out: Sage has designed an online application
that takes less than two minutes to complete.
Candidates hate long, involved applications that
feel like they are designed to “weed them out.”
Sage clearly prioritizes the candidate experience.
The two-minute commitment acknowledges that
candidates’ time is valuable. Sage sets a clear
screening expectation for candidates – 20 days.
And lastly, Sage provides its candidates with a
means to check their application status. Sage’s
Candidate Commitment demonstrates its recruiting
organization’s dedication to prioritizing the
candidate experience.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 12

Information employers routinely communicate to candidates through their
career site of recruiters
Candidate Survey Figure 4 (n= 8,896)
A listing of open jobs w/ descriptions
Company values
Company product information
Details about the application process
Benefits details
Commitment to a culture of diversity
Company sustainability initiatives
Frequently Asked Questions
Career path information
Awards based on the work environment
Company financial information
Employee testimonials
Salary ranges
Successful profiles for specific positions
Recruiter contact information by job
Recruiter advice on hiring process
Self-Assessment of culture fit
Schedule of upcoming career events
Simulations (video) of core jobs
Contests/games related to hiring
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Expression of Interest: Highly Automated / Potential for Greatest Interaction
The employer survey was designed to capture how the online application experience works
for participating employers. We included some of the key questions below and provided our
commentary.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 13

Employer Survey Table 3 (n=57)
Category About the Company’s Online
Application
Customer
Service
Customer
Service
Customer
Service
Customer
Service
Customer
Service
Customer
Service
Category
Submitting triggers an automated
‘Thank you’.
Ability to upload a parsed resume or
submit a profile.
The candidate is informed of ‘next
steps’.
As the candidate finishes each section
there is a ’percent complete’ update.
The average/expected time to
complete the application is included at
the beginning of the process.
The U.S. application is available in other
languages.
About the Company’s Online
Application
Regulatory Reasons for collecting race and gender
are explained.
Regulatory An explanation of privacy - specifically
with regard to staffing process - is
explained in layman’s terms.
Regulatory Accommodation information for
people with disabilities is prominently
displayed.
Category
Screening
Screening
Screening
Screening
Screening
Screening
About the Company’s Online
Application
We include work eligibility ‘knockout
questions’.
We include screening questions but we
do not reject candidates during the
application.
We include job-specific screening
questions.
Explanations of any and all future
testing required for the position
(background checks, physical, credit,
drug testing, personality tests) is
included in the application.
With general screening questions we
skip the candidates to an exit with an
explanation that they will not be
qualified to work in the company at this
time.
With specific screening questions we
skip the candidates to an exit with an
explanation that they would not be
competitive at this time.
(%) Included The Talent Board Insight
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 14
96%
71%
43%
36%
24%
11%
First communication to candidates is
consistent and automated.
Strongly understood by candidates
and leveraged.
Strongly missed communication
opportunity to align expectations.
Limited use by companies, but
understood by candidates, and a
strong opportunity to improve the
experience.
Strongly missed opportunity to align
communication expectations.
Multi-lingual options are increasing in
recruiting and business performance.
(%) Included The Talent Board Insight
76% Mainstream and consistently standard
across most organizations.
52% Increasing awareness of need to
publish privacy agreements.
27% Accommodations should be
considered in the communication
models.
(%) Included The Talent Board Insight
89%
65%
61%
30%
14%
11%
Consistent with what we expected –
this is a common practice.
On one hand it is encouraging that
screening questions are asked but
somewhat discouraging that
candidates do not receive instant
feedback.
This is an encouraging number; we
hope this number continues to
increase.
Strongly missed opportunity to align
communication expectations.
This is what candidates want, and more
companies should consider adopting
this practice.
This is what candidates want, and more
companies should consider adopting
this practice.

The Gap between Expression of Interest and Qualified
The online expression of interest and application process has come a
long way over the past decade. With the automation enabled by
SaaS-based (Software as a Service) platforms, the application
experience has become more efficient. Candidates want
immediate feedback on their application experience, and more
companies are implementing screening solutions.
High expression of interest + percentage of unqualified candidates = recruiters’
greatest challenge
Employer Survey Table 4 (n= 57)
101-250
29%
Number of Candidates that Apply
> 250
9%
11-25
12%
26-100
50%
25-50%
22%
Percentage of Candidates that are
NOT Qualified
10-25%
10%
50-75%
34%
90% +
10%
75-90%
24%
From the reported data illustrated in the charts above, the following is worth noting:
“We constantly ask for
feedback from potential
candidates via social
channels like Twitter
and LinkedIn.”
- Company comment
1. A significant portion (38 percent) of the responding companies indicated that more
than 100 candidates express interest for each job opening (not a single surveyed
company had fewer than 11 candidates expressing interest per job opening )
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 15

2. Most companies (68 percent) indicated that more than half of the candidates that
“This process was terrible. I had to follow
up numerous times before anyone even
called back. And when I finally did get
someone, no one would explain to me if
I was accepted for the position. I now
have a major senior role with a company
who knows how to treat their
employees, and you can be sure that
every graduate I speak with knows about
my terrible experience with the other
company.” – Candidate comment
apply are not qualified for the position.
With all of the advances in recruiting technology
and the volumes of opportunities and potential
candidates, the dilemma of volume is still present
and compounding. With the specific volume per
position, the compliance and regulatory
requirements and the demand for the best talent,
recruiters are forced to balance the expectation
of attention by the candidates with the
responsibility of their position. This leads to the
perpetuation of the ‘black hole’ effect.
With Distinction: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) “Candidate Commitment”
In this era of recruiting, recruiting organizations are asked to run lean. They are asked to do
a lot with very little. With highly constrained resources, recruiting organizations struggle to
deal with candidate volumes. With this in mind, organizations that are not afraid to make
commitments about responsiveness – such as PNNL – should be recognized and
emulated.
Stand Out: PNNL is one of the first organizations in North America to make a public
commitment about customer service to candidates. This pledge demonstrates a
recruiting culture that treats the candidate like a customer.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 16

Candidate Disposition
Candidates who are not qualified, considered or competitive enough to be further
‘evaluated’ in screening, testing or selection interview activities are ‘dispositioned’ in any
number of ways. This aspect of the survey attempts to understand when, how and what a firm
is prepared to do to inform candidates about their status as well as seek feedback from them
to better understand their experience.
Employers and Candidates have a Difference of Opinion on Feedback
This word cloud is a visual representation of the 8500+ comments candidates
shared to describe communications practices during the application process.
One of the primary goals of the CandE Awards employer survey was to examine how
companies gather feedback on the candidate experience. The chart below summarizes the
findings from the survey data.
How companies gather feedback on the candidate experience
Employer Survey Figure 2 (n= 57)
45%
7%
3%
45%
Yes: We randomly sample candidates at
the beginning of the process.
Yes: We randomly sample candidates who
abandon the application process.
Yes: We survey the candidates that are
evaluated and selected.
No: We do not ask for feedback at this
stage.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 17

From the reported data illustrated in the
previous chart, the following is worth
noting:
1. The majority (barely) of employers
collect some form of feedback from
their employment candidates.
2. The majority of feedback comes from a
very narrow set of candidates. It occurs
to us that feedback from New Hires is
inherently limited.
3. Employers are not collecting data from
the majority of candidates with whom
they engage – rejected applicants.
4. It is worth noting that 95 percent of
employers participating in the CandE’s
agreed to let the Talent Board survey
their candidates, and 95 percent of the
companies that advanced to the
candidate survey portion of the
competition did survey their rejected
employment candidates from 2011.
Our experience with the CandE
employers suggests that companies
want to survey their candidates but
struggle with time, resources and
executional know-how.
“We offer all candidates
access to our HR help
desk and we are all over
LinkedIn, Twitter, and
Facebook if they want to
speak to us directly.”
– Company comment
With Distinction: RMS Provides Candidates with
Direct Access
Job seekers yearn for direct, live access to a prospective
company. For most recruiting organizations, the thought
of exposing themselves to a live public inbound
communication feed can be overwhelming.
Stand Out: One organization in the CandEs executed a
direct communication strategy that is manageable and
effective. RMS provides an IM Chat option on its website,
supporting live chat with a recruiter and giving the
potential applicant the chance to ask any questions. A
representative from the recruiting staff is available via an
online chat feature during published, specific times during
the day. Candidates can make direct contact with
recruiters and are encouraged to ask any questions. Every
candidate that contacts RMS via chat receives a call
from a recruiter. After the chat sessions, if the candidate
provides their resume, a recruiter will respond within 24
hours. To date, RMS estimates that 50 percent of chats
result in either a phone screen or interview. This practice is
yielding great results and particularly resonates with
college students.
Unqualified Applicants Await a Response
A high volume of applicants – many of whom are also unqualified
– leads to much frustration as recruiters are tasked to find a
needle in a haystack. The employer survey also examined
communication practices with unqualified candidates
(candidates who do make it to the Candidate Evaluation phase).
This is the heart of the black hole.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 18

We asked employers what standard communication they provided to unqualified applicants.
Standard communication provided to unqualified applicants by employers
Employer Survey Figure 3 (n=57)
10%
31%
26%
Nothing, the original response when the application was submitted clearly stated
that we will only get back to candidates 'we are interested in'.
Recruiters are not required to respond. (Some attempts are made based on recruiter
judgement)
Other (please specify)
Recruiters are required to respond to all unqualified candidates with some feedback.
Recruiters are required to respond with a standard 'thank you' message suggesting
the position has been filled or that more qualified candidates are being considered.
From the reported data illustrated in the chart above, the
following is worth noting:
Other comments from employers:
� Recruiter face-to-face interview
(onsite).
� Employee Referrals will receive
more communication than all other
applicants
� With Employee Referrals, we will
follow up with either the candidate
if we want to screen them or the
employee if we are not going to
pursue the candidate they referred.
� Phone screen majority of qualified
employee referrals
� We review every application.
1. One-third of the responding companies do not respond to unqualified candidates as
their standard practice.
2. Only 10 percent of responding firms claim they respond to every candidate.
3. Only 41 percent of companies require recruiters to respond to candidates beyond
the acknowledgement.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 19
9%
24%

To validate the employer claims in the candidate survey, The Talent Board surveyed 7,853
candidates who self-identified as rejected candidates. The chart below represents the results:
Rejected candidates’ perception of communication provided by employers
Candidate Survey Table 1 (n= 7,853)
50.0%
45.0%
40.0%
35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
I received an
email from a
"do not reply"
address
notifying me I
was not being
considered.
I received a
phone call
from a recruiter
notifying i was
not being
considered.
I was provided
a link where I
could check
the status of
my
application.
I received an
email from a
recruiter
notifying me I
was no longer
being
considered.
None of the
above.
Other
With Distinction: The Quarterback of Candidate Experience - the Recruiting Coordinator
Recruiters are typically not known to be good with details. This weakness can become
problematic when it comes to managing an interview day. It is very easy to turn a potentially good
interview experience into a bad one. Confusion on the schedule or an unprepared hiring manager
can produce a negative experience. CandE award winner, RMS (www.rms.com), addresses this
risk with the recruiting coordinator position. At RMS the recruiting coordinator is responsible for:
� Making travel arrangements for the candidate
� Managing the schedule and interview day schedule changes
� Managing the completion of all forms with the candidate
� Ensuring that the interviewers have what they need / are prepared
� Escorting the candidate throughout the entire interview day
� “Tap-dancing” with the candidate when inevitable scheduling blips occur during the
interview day
� Ensuring that the candidate has an understanding of next steps at the end of the day
Executing the aforementioned fundamentals is important to a successful and positive interview
day. By taking this responsibility away from the recruiters and designating a recruiting coordinator,
RMS has improved execution.
“Our recruiting coordinators talk to the candidates so much that candidates feel like they are
meeting with an old friend when they arrive in the lobby to start their interview day.”
– Amelia Merrill, RMS Talent Acquisition Leader
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 20

The candidate responses more or less align with employer responses. Based on this data, the
results suggest:
1. Given the volume of candidates for an open position (Qualified & Unqualified), recruiters do
not have the bandwidth to personally connect with unqualified candidates.
2. According to both the employers and the candidates, the majority of candidates (between
60-70 percent) receive notification of their status.
3. There is still a large percentage of candidates (between 30-40 percent) that do not receive
any status update on their application. This perpetuates the black hole phenomena.
4. The lack of personal contact with recruiters also contributes to the black hole phenomena.
Candidates prefer personal notification and feedback on their application. Automated,
general feedback does not help the candidate to improve.
Candidate Evaluation
This aspect of the survey concentrates on examining the details of the activities surrounding
the screening and selection of the final slate of candidates. This phase presents critical
challenges to all employers including the logistics of engaging hiring managers and other
stakeholders in a disciplined selection process, balanced with the timing and quality of
communication with the candidate.
Employers Take a Generally Organized Approach with Candidate Evaluations
A Finalist is a candidate who is advanced to in-person interviews at the company. The Talent
Board surveyed employers to understand how they address details of the Finalist experience.
To appropriately evaluate employer efforts, we surveyed according to candidate type. The
reported results are below:
How employers address details of the Finalist experience
Employer Survey Table 5 (n=57)
Evaluation Element
A detailed agenda supplied to the
candidate in advance
An updated, printed agenda when they
begin the day
Being ushered to and from all meetings,
tours and interviews
Hourly
(Non-
Exempt)
College
Experienced
Professional
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 21
Executive
74% 76% 92% 97%
56% 67% 89% 93%
68% 76% 87% 95%
A debrief at the end of the day 41% 55% 72% 97%

Evaluation Element
Discussion of next steps for process,
expenses, etc. and promise of follow-up
[Travel] Transportation, hotel rooms booked
by company
[Travel] A restaurant reservation and
employee assigned to meet with the
candidate the night before
Hourly
(Non-
Exempt)
College
Experienced
Professional
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 22
Executive
78% 78% 98% 98%
41% 62% 95% 100%
0% 23% 43% 93%
[Travel]Details and tour of community 19% 31% 65% 100%
[Travel] Opportunity to bring a significant
other to the company
3% 13% 43% 97%
Employers’ present candidates with agendas, they escort them throughout the day, and they
discuss next steps at the end of the day. The data suggests that the interview day is
administered professionally. The treatment of College and Hourly / Non-exempt candidates
differs slightly from Experienced Professional and Executive candidates. Many of the planning
tasks listed are not as viable for those candidate classes.
Interview Practices are Unique and Dynamic
The Talent Board also surveyed employers on how they manage their selection decision. The
table below presents the findings; those areas that caught our attention are highlighted within
the table.
How employers manage their selection decision
Employer Survey Table 6 (n=57)
Selection Practices
Varied Interview Approaches: Hiring Manager
and Recruiter develop plan for interview
Panel interviews: Multiple people interview the
candidate at the same time (together)
Sequential interviews: Recruiter then Hiring
Manager, Team Member, etc.
Hourly
(Non-
Exempt)
College
Experienced
Professional
Executive
53% 53% 89% 87%
47% 55% 76% 61%
78% 75% 75% 53%
Behavioral-based interviews are routine 82% 82% 82% 71%
Testing/Simulation/Assessment are conducted
for selection
68% 32% 49% 24%

Selection Practices
Recruiters must attend training or demonstrate
competency in interviewing skills
Hiring Managers must attend training or
demonstrate competency in interviewing skills
Recruiters have specific training in
accommodating people with disabilities in the
hiring process
Recruiters are periodically observed / audited
by recruiting leaders during interviews
Hiring managers are periodically observed /
audited by HR Leaders during interviews
Company has mystery shopped the recruiting
process by applying and interviewing
The data suggests the following
about employers’ interviewing
methods and practices:
1. The great majority of
interviews are not
standardized. Hiring
managers and recruiters
generally develop their own
approach to the interview.
Within that, most companies
report using behavioral-
based interviews.
2. Most Experienced
Professional recruiters are
required to take interview
training.
3. As expected, Hourly / Non-
exempt hiring involves the
most standardized testing.
4. There is scarce training and
auditing to evaluate and
manage recruiter
performance.
Hourly
(Non-
Exempt)
College
Experienced
Professional
Executive
69% 64% 69% 62%
61% 64% 69% 58%
35% 26% 32% 26%
44% 44% 47% 35%
39% 30% 36% 18%
26% 10% 26% 10%
With Distinction: State Farm – When in Doubt, Ask Your
Customer
One CandE award winner, State Farm, embarked on a fitgap
analysis of its candidate experience. The company
surveyed 2,000 candidates to address two key questions:
1. What do candidates actually want from their hiring
process?
2. What is the impact of candidate experience on their
propensity to do business?
The survey went out to new hires, rejected candidates and
hires of competitive organizations. State Farm used the study
results to inform key aspects of its recruiting operation, such
as website design and recruiter and hiring manager training.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 23

Selected Candidates
This last phase of the candidate’s experience – the period between the new hire’s offer and
acceptance to his/her acknowledgment of being “on –board’ is an equally important aspect
of the survey. A new hire’s reaction to the frequency of company contact, as well as the
content and quality of that communication, is an important element of getting an employee
up to speed, performing as expected and fully engaged with the company .
Companies’ Candidate Feedback is gaining strength for Finalists
Nothing can produce a black hole feeling more than neglecting to follow-up with those
candidates who are considered Finalists. The Talent Board surveyed employers on their Finalist
follow up methods.
Employers’ reported Finalist follow up methods
Employer Survey Table 7 (n=57)
Structured: Recruiter and/or hiring manager
always establish a follow-up date with finalists.
Unstructured: Recruiters and hiring manager agree
on a plan and execute.
The data suggests that employers are evenly
divided between structured and unstructured
methods of following up with candidates who
were not selected for the position. Despite this
intention, however, it is important to note that
some 2,193 candidates who described
themselves as finalists, 68 percent were never
asked for feedback about their candidate
experience. Without making a commitment to
Finalists on follow up communication,
employers leave room for distractions to
intervene and the possibility of miscues.
Mistakes at this stage are rarely ever forgiven.
46.3%
53.7%
“We are always talking to great talent and
try to get them to where they should be in
our company whether or not they applied
for a specific requisition, but for any
particular requisition we will assess and
present any candidate that our team feels
could be successful in a particular role,
with that leader and his/her team. We
have other outreach and community
strategies to ensure we maintain a
transparent and informative relationship
with as many candidates as possible. “
– Company comment
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 24

Final Words
The CandE Award program is designed to capture how companies produce their candidate
experience, with the goal of determining where companies can improve and highlighting
those organizations who are paving the way for an advanced experience. With an
overwhelming response in its first year, it’s clear that both candidates and employers are
increasingly aware of the impact that regular communication and relationship management
have on employment brand.
The level of employer and candidate participation in the 2011 CandE Awards show that
candidate experience matters. Even before the prospective employee throws their hat in the
ring, employers’ willingness to openly interact with them on their terms with meaningful
content sets the stage for all that comes after.
As a candidate progresses down a firm’s hiring path to become an employee, it is clear from
this report how much employers have evolved in their treatment of this critical stakeholder. It is
also clear that there is also room for improvement, and that employers can benefit from
collecting feedback from candidates at every stage of the process.
Today, by acknowledging the firms whose practices are on the cutting-edge of the candidate
experience, the employer community can become more aware of the choices they have
and the concerns that are growing within their future talent pools. But the journey does not
end here.
The Talent Board continues to review and analyze the organization and candidate survey
contributions. Specific trends the Talent Board intends to address in 2012 include:
1. Candidate Resentment has financial business implications.
Candidate resentment is defined as the point in time when a candidate stops
associating with the company brand, products, or experiences as a sign of their protest.
The implications of candidate resentment in a socially vocal community can have a
lasting negative impact on an organization’s performance.
2. The Black Hole Effect: Receipt of Submission (auto message) does not count as
communication/response. In the current internet age, where registering on a website,
or conducting an online purchase generates an email acknowledgement, the
acknowledgement is nothing more. The tracking of status and the communication of
fulfillment is facilitated through interactive tools, customer service lines, or chat
messaging. Engaging in communication vehicles for managing candidate
expectations is a critical way to diminish the black hole effect.
3. Honesty/Transparency: what candidates really want to know and how they want to
know it. Candidates’ number one complaint in over 8,500 comments in the 2011 survey
was the lack of communication on their status. They desired to be told early and often
whether or not they were being considered. Balancing the volume of candidates,
compliance and the rising tension of unemployment, organizations are eager to
improve on the communication and make the right connections.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 25

The Candidate Experience Awards 2012
Employers who participate in The Candidate Experience Awards enjoy the following benefits:
1) A confidential benchmark report that compares their practices against the aggregate
of all respondents
2) A confidential candidate survey administered by the Talent Board
3) Access to industry peers and experts on the candidate experience
4) If applicable, industry recognition as a leader in candidate experience
5) Participation in the Candidate Experience Awards process is FREE
6) A RISK FREE tool for improvement - the identity of companies that do not win the award
are not disclosed
The 2012 Candidate Experience Awards are open to all North American and British recruiting
operations. Participation is CONFIDENTIAL and FREE.
The 2012 survey will be available on The Talent Board website:
www.thecandidateexperienceawards.org starting on May 1, 2012.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 26

Appendix
About the Talent Board
The Talent Board was formed in January of 2011 by recruiting industry veterans, Gerry Crispin
(CareerXroads), Ed Newman (InsideTMT.com), Elaine Orler (Talent Function Group) and Mark
McMillan (Talent Function Group). The original spark of the CandE Awards was a conversation
in November 2010 between Chris Foreman, the CEO of Startwire, and Elaine Orler of Talent
Function. Foreman is credited with the original idea to produce an industry award on
candidate experience that operates transparently. The spark turned to flame, and Orler rallied
a consortium of like-minded industry figures to form The Talent Board. The Talent Board is led by
volunteer Board Members, Gerry Crispin, Ed Newman, Elaine Orler, and Mark McMillan.
The Talent Board members are motivated to improve the experience of employment
candidates. Everyone engaged in the vocation of recruiting attracts candidate experience
stories from family, friends and even friends-of-friends. Often the stories do not reflect well on
our profession and a lot of the negative experiences seem avoidable. While there is an
inherent dissatisfaction that comes with rejecting employment candidates, the Talent Board
believes that it is possible to:
a. Treat all employment candidates with professionalism and respect
b. Shrink the recruiting “black hole” effect on candidates
The Talent Board was established to assist recruiting organizations in understanding and
evaluating their candidate experience. The surveys and reports are intended to support
business cases that helps secure enabling investment. In our professional experiences, we
have never encountered a recruiter that wants to treat a candidate poorly. Our goal is to help
corporate recruiting organizations improve through information sharing and positive
reinforcement.
The Talent Board is thrilled with the results of the inaugural award process and competition. The
first year of any venture is full of unknowns. The 57 participating companies, seven sponsors,
and more than 11,500 completed candidate surveys provide overwhelming evidence that the
market wants the CandE Awards. The Talent Board is humbled, grateful and excited to build
on the success of 2011.
There will be a CandE Awards program in 2012 that will follow a similar calendar to the 2011
process. Companies will be able to apply and enroll in the award program by completing a
benchmark survey starting on May 1, 2012. Candidate surveys will be administered during July
and August of 2012.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 27

About the Contributing Authors
Ed Newman is an entrepreneur with a deep background in Human Resources and Talent
Management. As the Chief Analyst for InsideTMT he is on a mission to bring clarity to the Talent
Management Technology industry. Prior to this, Ed was the founder of The Newman Group
and served as its President from 1999 through 2010. In 2007 The Newman Group was acquired
by Korn/Ferry International. Over the past 20 years he has led the development and
implementation of numerous recruiting and HR technology deployments and strategic talent
management initiatives for Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Newman has written extensively about
talent strategy and tactics; he is often quoted and interviewed in leading trade publications
such as HR Magazine, HR Executive and Workforce Management.
Elaine Orler is president and founder of Talent Function Group. Orler has been implementing
recruitment software for large organizations since 1993. Her introduction to recruitment
technology started as an employee of Qualcomm. She implemented an early version of
Resumix and became the head of the regional user group for Resumix customers. She then
joined Gateway Computers to define and lead a vendor selection process. She started her
consulting career in 1999 for Watson Wyatt Consulting and has been instrumental at building
recruitment software consulting practices for Talent Market Group, The Newman Group, and
Knowledge Infusion. Orler has taken an active role in over 75 recruitment software
implementations across 15 different vendor platforms.
In her 16 years in the industry she has
worked with both practitioners and solution providers to shape the way Talent Acquisition
solutions are delivered. A dyed-in-the-wool “early adopter,” Orler has guided her clients
through the evolutionary shifts in the market. Orler is respected as a recruitment functionality
expert and she takes an active role in industry events and associations.
Gerry Crispin is principal and co-founder of CareerXroads. Crispin is committed to writing,
researching and sharing his adventures, opinions and data about evolving staffing models
with the HR profession, clients and friends. Together with his business partner, Mark Mehler,
Crispin strives to observe and influence new and evolving models that aspire to world-class,
measurable standards and satisfy every stakeholder. He is passionate about how firms design
and build staffing processes, the technology to enhance them and the systems to manage
them. Gerry wants to know more about the ‘playing fields’ where candidates and employers
meet and he’s more than a little curious about how they treat one another: how Job Seekers
‘game’ their next career move while Employers tout their latest opportunities.
Katherine Jones is director and principal analyst of HCM Technology at Bersin & Associates. Dr.
Jones focuses on technology that supports all HR and Talent Management programs and
process. She is a veteran in enterprise workforce and talent management applications and a
recognized expert in cloud computing. Prior to joining Bersin & Associates, she was a research
director at Aberdeen Group for eight years, focusing on research and consulting services in
HR, talent acquisition, workforce management, ERP, and mid-market companies. She
established Aberdeen’s Human Capital Management practice. Following Aberdeen Group,
she was the Director of Marketing for NetSuite, Inc. before founding Independent Consulting
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 28

Services in 1994 to provide marketing and research services to high tech companies. Jones
remains on the Board of Directors for that company. Jones is a member of the HRIS Advisory
Institute Board, the HCI Research Advisory Board, and a frequent contributor to many forums
concerning workforce management and talent acquisition. She has written widely on many
areas of talent management, technology and business practices, with over 300 works
published to date. Prior to a high technology career, Jones was a university dean, involved in
academic administration, research, and teaching. Jones is a frequent speaker and is widely
published in the U.S. and abroad. She has a Master and Doctorate degree from Cornell
University.
Mark McMillian is a founding member of The Talent Board and he served as the Executive
Director on the organization in 2011. Mark has been professionally engaged in the recruiting
industry since 1999 when working for a pioneering internet-based "ASP" startup called
HireSystems (which became BrassRing). During his seven-year tenure at BrassRing became an
expert on how companies leverage recruiting technology to recruit in the internet age. Mark
played key roles in BrassRing's growth and expansion into new markets as the recruiting SaaS
market matured. In 2007 and 2008, Mark worked as a free-lance consultant help Kenexa to
develop a public sector recruiting product. In 2009, Mark joined forces with Elaine Orler and
co-founded Talent Function Group, a premier provider of recruitment process and technology
consulting. Mark commonly writes and speaks about recruiting technology and leadership
and he serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for HR Examiner. Mark is passionate about
improving the exchange between employers and prospective employment candidates. Mark
currently works as an independent consultant.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 29

About the Sponsors
The Talent Board would like to thank the sponsors of the 2011 Candidate Experience Awards for
supporting the inaugural award. The leadership and funding of these pioneering companies has
made the 2011 CandEs possible.
HireRight is a leading provider of on-demand employment background
screening, drug and health screening and employment eligibility solutions that
help employers automate, manage and control screening and related
programs. Many companies, including more than one-third of the Fortune 500, trust HireRight because
the company delivers customer-focused solutions that provide greater efficiency and faster results.
HireRight also provides pre-integrated employment screening services through e-recruiting solutions
from top providers such as Oracle, Taleo, Kenexa, SAP, SilkRoad, PeopleAdmin, HealthcareSource, and
HRsmart, HireRight, Inc. is an Altegrity company with worldwide headquarters located in Irvine,
California and offices and affiliates around the globe. For more information, visit the company's web site
at www.hireright.com.
HireVue is an amazing new way to interview – on demand! Users simply browse,
watch, rate and share the interviews they want, on their own time – just like
streaming their favorite movies – even from a smart phone. Recognized by HR
Executive Magazine as a Top HR Product of 2011, HireVue’s Digital Interview
Platform also helps improve interviews of all types, including in person, phone and video interviews.
Digital question, feedback and collaboration tools remove hassle and make interviewing up to ten
times faster and nine times cheaper. Join HireVue customers like Starbucks, Nike and Walmart who are
making interviewing awesome! http://www.hirevue.com
Jobs2web helps employers measure and optimize every aspect of their interactive
recruiting strategy. Client's hire better people, faster and more cost effectively. By
using Jobs2web's proven Recruit Better® system, employers know which online
channels provide better return on investment, recruit better talent and deliver better candidate
engagement. See how at www.jobs2web.com. Since the 2011 Candidate Experience Awards,
Jobs2web has been acquired by SuccessFactors, which has been acquired by SAP.
Kenexa (NYSE:KNXA) helps drive HR and business outcomes through its unique
combination of technology, content and services. Enabling organizations to
optimize their workforces since 1987, Kenexa's integrated talent acquisition and talent management
solutions have touched the lives of more than 110 million people. Additional information about Kenexa
and its global products and services can be accessed at www.kenexa.com. Follow Kenexa on Twitter:
@kenexa.
Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW), parent company of Monster, the premier
global online employment solution for more than a decade, strives to inspire
people to improve their lives. With a local presence in key markets in North
America, Europe, and Asia, Monster works for everyone by connecting employers with quality job
seekers at all levels and by providing personalized career advice to consumers globally. Through online
media sites and services, Monster delivers vast, highly targeted audiences to advertisers. To learn more
about Monster's industry-leading products and services, visit http://www.monster.com. More information
about Monster Worldwide is available at http://about-monster.com.
StartWire is a game changing Internet job search organizer that launched in
early 2011. StartWire closes the “résumé black hole” by providing job seekers
with automatic application status updates from thousands of employers. Over
the past 12 months, StartWire has received rave reviews and write-ups in US News & World Report,
About.com, AOL Jobs, CNN, Electronic Recruiting Exchange, and HR Executive Magazine.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 30

2011 Candidate Experience Awards – Judges
China Gorman a global business leader experienced in managing high performing for-profit and nonprofit
organizations in the competitive human capital management marketplace, China Gorman has
served most recently as Chief Global Member Engagement Officer and Chief Operating Officer for the
Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Gorman has earned a strong reputation for
recruiting, developing and retaining diverse, world-class talent. She has served as president of North
America at DBM, Inc., president of Lee Hecht Harrison, LLC, and executive vice president of Drake
Beam Morin. Gorman earned a bachelor of arts degree in English and drama from Principia College in
Elsah, Illinois.
Katherine Jones is director and principal analyst of HCM Technology at Bersin & Associates. Dr. Jones
focuses on technology that supports all HR and Talent Management programs and process. She is a
veteran in enterprise workforce and talent management applications and a recognized expert in cloud
computing. Additional information on Katherine’s background can be found under the author bios for
this report.
Libby Sartain after a distinguished 30-year career in human resources, Libby Sartain is now an active
business advisor and board member for several leading companies and start-ups. As chief human
resources officer of both Yahoo! Inc. and Southwest Airlines, Sartain led significant business
transformation initiatives and guided global human resources efforts focusing on attracting, retaining
and developing employees. Both Yahoo! and Southwest were listed on the Fortune 100 Best Companies
to Work For in America and the Fortune 500 during her tenure. Sartain currently serves on the Board of
Directors of Peet’s Coffee and Tea, Inc., as well as Manpower Inc. Sartain holds an MBA from the
University of North Texas and a BBA from Southern Methodist University.
Mark Stelzner is the founder of Inflexion Advisors, applying more than 16 years of experience in the
implementation of internal and external HR transformational initiatives for public and private sector
clientele worldwide. Over his career, Stelzner has brought more than $3.0 billion worth of value to his
clients and employers. A highly sought after voice in the industry, Stelzner founded JobAngels, a
grassroots nonprofit dedicated to helping people get back to work one person at a time. In early 2011,
JobAngels merged with Hiring for Hope, a nationally recognized 501(c)3 dedicated to providing free
services to job seekers. Stelzner is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.
Sarah White with more than 10 years in the human resources and talent management technology
space, Sarah White focuses her time on collaborating with clients to drive innovative technology and
next media strategies for HR (Talent Management) SaaS vendors & corporate HR departments. White’s
career has been dedicated to developing and guiding realistic strategies for corporate clients and
HCM vendors looking to be true revolutionaries in the marketplace. Well-known in the online human
resource and social media circles as the online personality @ImSoSarah, White is a recognized
influencer, industry connector and web entrepreneur who has been named #2 on Monster.com’s Top
11 People to Watch for 2011. She holds a bachelor of arts in speech communications.
Tom Becker is vice president of recruiting for Experis’ North American operations. Experis is part of
ManpowerGroup, the world leader in innovative workforce solutions. In his role, Becker is responsible for
recruiting strategy and execution to build a world-class recruiting organization. Prior to Experis, he served
as senior vice president of recruiting at COMSYS, leading the company’s recruiting, employment
branding and the consultant experience organizations. Becker also has held recruiting and staffing
leadership positions at Bank of America and Keane, Inc. He has extensive experience leading large
recruiting and change management organizations. Becker received his bachelor’s degree in social
science from Northeastern University in Boston.
The Talent Board | The Candidate Experience 2011 31