The cost of a poor candidate experience: stats and how to fix it

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Candidates remember how you make them feel. If your process is slow or clunky, the fallout can be much bigger than a missed hire. It dents your employer brand, trims your customer base and shrinks your future talent pools and networks. In this piece, we’ll show the real costs of a poor candidate experience, then map each pain point to how having the right processes and tech in place can fix it for good.

- Why a bad candidate experience is so expensive
- EVP, brand and growth: the broader impact
- Common failure points (and how to fix each one)
- Build a business case your CFO will love
- What good looks like

Why a bad candidate experience is so expensive

It hits revenue, not just reputation
Yes, it's a very well known story but still an important one - Virgin Media. When they analysed rejected applicants, they found around 7,500 cancelled their subscriptions after experiencing a poor hiring process, costing them about £4.4 million a year in lost revenue. That is customer churn caused by recruitment friction. (Read more about it on LinkedIn)

It puts people off applying – and even accepting your offers
Jobseekers are savvy - they'll research your business before they even think about applying. In a 2025 Glassdoor report, they said that 83% of candidates look at reviews and ratings when deciding where to apply. If they catch on that you're known for ghosting candidates or have a convoluted process, candidates simply won’t even think about applying.

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When candidates do apply, clunky and long application forms drive abandonment. Appcast’s guidance is stark: when an application takes more than 5 minutes, employers see a 50–75% drop‑off. That's wasted ad spend and a smaller, less diverse pipeline.

Further down the funnel, poor experiences also impact the offer stage. CareerPlug’s 2023 Candidate Experience Report found that 49% of jobseekers declined a job offer because of a poor experience during hiring. If half your declined offers are avoidable, there’s an immediate ROI in fixing the experience.

It spreads fast
Like most things in life, we can be quick to broadcast bad experiences, whether that's a bad restaurant experience or a hotel, and the same goes for candidates when it happens during recruitment. CareerArc’s research shows that 72% of jobseekers who have a negative experience tell others online or directly. That compounds the brand damage over time and makes every future campaign more expensive and more difficult.

EVP, brand and growth: the broader impact

Your employee value proposition (EVP) is only as strong as the experience that proves it. If your careers site promises transparency and care, but applicants only get radio silence after they commit to applying, then trust is broken. Fewer high calibre people will apply and that slows growth, raises reliance on specialist agencies and increases advertising costs. We've long argued that EVP and employer brand must be lived through the hiring journey, not just written on the careers page.

Candidate experience also matters in tight markets. Even in sectors with high volume needs, long processes and poor communication drive withdrawals before interview. We’ve written about this repeatedly because we see it across industries.

Common failure points (and how to fix each one)

Long, tricky applications that don’t work on mobile
If application forms are long, repetitive or not optimised for mobile, the best candidates won’t push through because they'll no doubt have better options available with your competitors. An ATS like Jobtrain lets you tailor and optimise every application form and process, for example using a two stage application, so people can apply quickly on any device. The experience is mobile‑first and candidate friendly from day one.

To widen access further, our Accessibility Toolkit lets candidates change font sizes, contrast, language and even use a built‑in screen reader. This improves completion rates and supports ED&I goals without custom builds.

Silence between stages
Ghosting is simply brand‑eroding. Having your ATS set up correctly will automate timely, personalised updates sent via email or SMS, with templates you can tailor by stage. Candidates know what happens next, hiring managers get nudges and everything is tracked in an audit trail. The result is fewer drop‑offs and a better NPS. (Jobtrain)

If you’re just getting started, our candidate‑experience checklist highlights quick wins like job alerts, post‑interview automations and expectation‑setting messages that reduce anxiety and keep people warm.

Careers content that doesn’t reflect your EVP
An EVP isn’t just a flashy poster. It should have real proof points across the journey. A platform like Jobtrain helps you showcase culture and roles through branded pages, content and job templates that truly mirror your values. Through many years experience, our teams also share practical guidance and best practices on refining and activating your EVP so it attracts the right talent.

Disconnected hiring and no talent community
When applicants drop out at any point in the process, many never return. Our approach to candidate relationship management helps you turn today’s silver medalists into tomorrow’s hires through talent networks, events, reminders and personalised outreach. That continuity keeps your cost per hire down over time.

A great offer… followed by a poor handover
The glow of an offer can fade fast if onboarding is messy, confusing and drawn out. A warm, well-designed Onboarding and Welcome Hubs, like the one in our ATS, helps new hires feel supported and excited for their first day by sharing helpful resources, friendly introductions and all the key details they need so they arrive ready and excited, not frustrated.

That protects acceptance rates and protects your brand on day zero.

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Build a business case your CFO will love

If you need to quantify the impact, start here:

Application funnel: measure starts vs completions by device. If your average time‑to‑apply is over 5 minutes, you’re likely losing 50-75% of traffic before anyone even makes it to the screening stage.
Speed and communication: track time between stages and the percentage of candidates receiving updates. Automated comms in an ATS removes manual admin and keeps your brand reputation intact.
Offer acceptance: if nearly half of declined offers come down to frustrations with the process, making things smoother can give you an immediate, measurable boost. Use candidate surveys at key points to connect experience to outcomes.
Customer crossover: if you sell subscriptions or consumer products, run a simple analysis like Virgin Media’s. Match rejected candidates against churn data to identify brand leakage from hiring. Even a small percentage becomes a meaningful revenue line.

> Download our guide on how to buy an ATS, what to ask and what to prepare for.

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What good looks like

From our experience and the research above, high‑performing teams do five things consistently:

Design for mobile and keep the application time under five minutes. Consider two-stage applications to really speed things up. Fewer clicks, fewer fields, smarter parsing. Our candidate portal and form builder make this standard.
Set expectations early with clear timelines and next steps. Then automate updates so no one is left wondering. Set up email and SMS workflows and make consistency easy.
Show, don’t just tell - your EVP should be shown in authentic content on your careers site and job ads. An ATS like Jobtrain provides the space and structure to do this well, plus guidance on how to refine your EVP.
Listen to candidates. Ask for feedback and act on it. Our blog outlines common red flags and practical fixes you can implement this quarter.
Nurture talent communities so great people don’t fall through the cracks. Our tools support talent networks and job alerts that keep you top of mind.

Bringing it all together

The story is simple. Poor candidate experience reduces application volume, increases drop‑off, lowers offer acceptance and erodes brand equity. It can even cost you customers. The upside is just as clear: candidates who feel respected and informed are more likely to accept offers, refer others and speak well of your brand.

Our applicant tracking system is built to make the great experience the default. From a mobile‑friendly, accessible portal to automated updates, branded content, talent networking and an engaging Welcome Hub, we give your team the tools to hire faster while protecting your reputation. If you’d like to see how this works in your context, we’d be happy to show you.

Sources (key statistics)

Virgin Media revenue impact from poor candidate experience: ~£4.4m annually. (LinkedIn)
83% of jobseekers research reviews before applying. (Glassdoor)
Applications over 5 minutes cause 50–75% drop‑off. (Appcast)
49% of jobseekers declined an offer due to a poor hiring experience. (CareerPlug)
72% of candidates shared negative experiences online or directly. (Careerarc)