It is becoming increasingly important for HR to deliver excellent candidate experience for numerous reasons, the first being that the war for appropriate talent is real.

The best candidates are likely to apply to multiple organizations, and just one negative experience could not only cause the loss of an amazing hire but also harm a potential customer.

Optimising the candidate experience with insight, communication and feedback will increase the positive impact regardless of the result.

This is what virtual reality (VR) can offer – a ‘real life’ experience.

In 2016, Cappfinity Australia surveyed over 2,000 candidates who have experienced the virtual recruitment process. Because of the outstanding quality, communication and immersive experience, 90 percent of those surveyed said they would speak positively about their assessment.

The VR technology allows organizations to assess and deliver a set experience to every candidate, which means everyone is being assessed equally. It also removes issues such as over-preparedness as candidates are unable to predict what they will be or are being assessed on. This ultimately drives a more natural response and behavior from candidates.

For assessors, the benefit of VR is the level and accuracy of engagement in real life tasks as the behavior seen within these VR environments is more authentic than other traditional processes (e.g. interviews). This allows for a more accurate and transparent hiring process, which fits both sides of the coin - the candidate and role.

VR is an automated process, which gives a universal experience to each candidate.

This means that the experience is merely focused on the set requirements at hand; therefore it removes some of the inequalities and human biases present in other assessments (e.g. gender, socioeconomic status, etc). The technology itself can also be adapted for the majority of disabilities wishing to take part in this recruitment process.

VR technology provides an insightful educational process allowing the candidate to understand more about the company and the specific role they are applying for.

In turn, this will lead to improved brand perception, increased productivity and higher retention rates as both sides are happy with the process and the end result.

Ironic isn’t it?

It’s HR without the element of human error…