Candidate Experience

Candidate experience survey template: questions to improve your hiring process

Nearly half of recruiting professionals say candidate experience is the top factor shaping the future of hiring, according to LinkedIn data. Yet most companies only collect feedback from candidates they hire, missing the perspective of everyone who dropped out, got rejected, or declined an offer.

A candidate experience survey fixes that blind spot. This template covers what to ask, when to send it, and how to use the results to strengthen your employer brand.

Why candidate experience surveys matter

Every candidate who interacts with your hiring process forms an opinion about your company. That opinion gets shared, whether on Glassdoor, in their professional network, or when a friend asks about working at your organization.

A structured survey gives you three things:

• Specific feedback on friction points. Where are candidates dropping off? Is scheduling too slow? Are interviewers unprepared?
• Employer brand protection. Candidates who feel respected during hiring speak positively about you even if they do not get the job.
• Recruiting ROI data. When you know which parts of the process work and which do not, you can allocate resources more effectively.

The cost of ignoring this is real. A poor candidate experience can deter qualified applicants from reapplying or referring others. It also creates a disconnect between your marketing (which sells the company) and your recruiting (which candidates actually experience).

When to send candidate experience surveys

Timing matters more than most companies realize. A single survey sent weeks after rejection captures stale, generalized impressions. Better to survey at specific moments:

Each touchpoint reveals different insights. Post-application surveys surface issues with the job listing and application form. Post-interview surveys capture the actual hiring experience. Post-rejection surveys are the most underused but often the most honest.

For more on timing and channels for survey delivery, see our guide on survey distribution methods.

Candidate experience survey questions

The template below covers the full hiring journey. Pick the questions relevant to the stage you are surveying. Keep surveys short: five to eight questions for rejected candidates, eight to 12 for hired candidates.

Application process

1. How easy was it to find and apply for the position? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required
2. Did the job description accurately represent the role? | Single choice (Yes / Somewhat / No) | Required
3. How would you rate the online application process? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required
4. What, if anything, was frustrating about the application? | Open text | Optional

Communication and timeliness

5. How would you rate the timeliness of communication from our recruiting team? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required
6. Were you kept informed about the status of your application throughout the process? | Single choice (Yes / Somewhat / No) | Required
7. How clear was the information provided about next steps at each stage? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required

Interview experience

8. How well-prepared were your interviewers? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required
9. Did the interview give you a fair opportunity to demonstrate your skills? | Single choice (Yes / Somewhat / No) | Required
10. Were you given enough information about the team and role during interviews? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required
11. How would you describe the overall professionalism of the interview process? | Rating scale (1-5) | Required

Overall experience

12. Based on your experience, how likely are you to recommend applying at our company to others? | Scale (0-10, cNPS) | Required
13. Did you feel treated with respect throughout the process? | Single choice (Yes / Somewhat / No) | Required
14. What is one thing we could improve about our hiring process? | Open text | Optional

Question 12 is the Candidate Net Promoter Score (cNPS). It works the same way as customer NPS: scores of 9-10 are promoters, 7-8 passives, 0-6 detractors. Track this over time to measure whether your hiring experience is improving.

How to segment your survey audience

Sending the same survey to every candidate misses the point. Different groups had different experiences. Segment into at least three groups:

• Applicants who were not interviewed. Their feedback focuses on the job listing, application form, and initial communication. If large numbers apply but few proceed, this group tells you why.
• Interviewed but not hired. This is your richest feedback source. They experienced the full process and have no ongoing relationship with your company, so they are more likely to be candid.
• Hired candidates. Their feedback tends to be more positive (they got the job) but still useful for understanding what went well and what the onboarding experience looked like.

Tailor your questions to each group. Do not ask applicants who never reached the interview stage about interviewer preparedness.

Best practices for higher response rates

Candidate surveys typically get lower response rates than customer or employee surveys. The candidate has less incentive to respond, especially if they were rejected. Here is how to improve that:

• Keep it short. Five to eight questions maximum for rejected candidates. Twelve maximum for hires.
• Send it quickly. Response rates drop sharply after 72 hours. Automate the send so it goes out within one to two days of the relevant touchpoint.
• Explain the purpose. A brief note that says "Your feedback helps us improve our hiring process for future candidates" frames it as meaningful, not just a formality.
• Guarantee anonymity. Candidates who were rejected are more likely to respond honestly if they know their feedback is not tied to their name.
• Consider a small incentive. A gift card or charitable donation in their name can increase response rates, especially for rejected candidates.

For more tactics, check out our guide on how to increase survey response rates.

Acting on the results

Collecting feedback without acting on it is worse than not collecting it at all. Here is the action framework:

1. Track cNPS quarterly. Your Candidate Net Promoter Score is the single metric that summarizes the overall experience. Track it over time and set improvement targets.

2. Identify patterns, not outliers. One negative response is anecdotal. Five candidates flagging the same issue (slow communication, unclear job descriptions, unprepared interviewers) is a pattern that needs attention.

3. Close the loop with the recruiting team. Share aggregated feedback with hiring managers and interviewers. If candidates consistently rate interviewer preparedness low, that is a training issue, not a candidate issue.

4. Fix one thing at a time. Pick the lowest-scoring area and make a specific improvement. Then measure whether it moves the score in the next quarter.

Choosing the right tool

Basic tools like Google Forms work for small hiring volumes. But as you scale, you need surveys that integrate with your ATS, trigger automatically at the right touchpoint, and segment results by role, department, or hiring stage.

Formbricks is an open-source survey tool that supports automated survey triggers, branching logic, and integrations with common recruiting workflows. You can embed surveys in emails or send them as standalone links. Browse our survey templates for ready-made options, or build your own from scratch.