The Summer Candidate Experience Audit
It’s July. Is your hiring process holding up or drifting into the slow lane?
The start of July often brings a quieter tempo to the workplace. Annual leave kicks in. Meetings get moved. Priorities shift. But while your internal team might be winding down, your candidates often are not.
Engineers are wrapping up contracts. PhDs are deciding what’s next. And jobseekers across Europe are applying for roles, often with little or no feedback.
We are not here to wag fingers, just to flag this: your candidate experience still matters. Especially now.
Here is a light-touch audit to help you course correct if needed or simply stay ahead while others are switching off.
Your Midsummer Candidate Experience Checklist
1. Do candidates know what’s happening next?
Holidays can cause unavoidable delays. But uncertainty is what candidates remember. Even a short message is better than silence.
2. Is anyone covering key recruitment steps during team absences?
If your internal contact is away, who is keeping things moving? Gaps in communication often cause strong candidates to drop out.
3. Are interviews scheduled or stuck in limbo?
Summer diary clashes are real. If face to face is not feasible, use video or book in for early August. Candidates appreciate transparency.
4. Are your job ads giving the full picture?
If your process is paused, say so. A vague “we will be in touch” is not helpful if nothing is moving until September.
5. Have you closed the loop with every applicant?
Rejection emails matter. Silence reflects poorly, and people remember how they were treated.
Why This Matters Right Now
The early summer window is a surprisingly active time for candidates. Many are using the quieter period to make a move or explore options before September’s rush.
This gives you a real opportunity to stand out. Not just as a company with a job, but as one that respects people’s time and communicates with care.
How Intelligent Employment Can Help
Summer does not have to mean slow.
Our team stays active throughout July and August, helping employers stay visible and responsive even when internal capacity is limited.
If you are using multiple agencies or struggling to keep things consistent, an exclusive partnership with IE can remove the friction.
You focus on holidays. We will keep the wheels turning.
Final Word
Candidate experience is not about flashy portals or corporate videos. It is about the basics: clarity, communication, consistency.
So take five minutes. Do the audit. And if anything feels off, we are here to help.