What is a candidate persona?
A “candidate persona” is a fictitious profile that describes the ideal applicant for a particular job. It is based on real data and findings. The aim is to make the abstract person “candidate” more tangible and to derive concrete measures for the recruiting strategy.
Advantages
Targeted recruiting: Candidate personas enable you to align your recruiting strategy with your ideal candidates. This includes meaningful and targeted job advertisements, but also the selection of the best channels to approach candidates.
Higher quality of applicants: You increase the identification of suitable applicants and thus attract exactly the right candidates.
Optimal candidate experience: By gaining a deeper understanding of your target candidates, you can improve the candidate experience. This includes both the way you communicate and the selection process used (interview, meet the team, etc.).
Tips & tricks for creating candidate personas
Use data
Use both quantitative and qualitative data to create your personas. Combine internal and external insights by drawing on findings from employee feedback and market research.
Be concrete and specific
The more precise your persona, the more effective it is.
Regular review
Candidate personas are not static and can change depending on market and company developments. Review them regularly and adapt them to changing conditions.
Integration into the recruiting process
Make sure that your personas are used in all areas of your e-recruitment and applicant management.
Involvement and training of the (HR) team
Develop your candidate personas together with your HR team. This will ensure that your entire team understands how and why you are using candidate personas.
Challenges
Despite the many benefits of using candidate personas, there are also some challenges. For one, creating and maintaining these profiles can be time-consuming . Your own candidate personas require thorough research. Regular updates are also necessary to ensure a high level of accuracy and relevance.
On the other hand, there is a danger of overgeneralization. Individual differences and unique talents must not be overlooked with all the focus on candidate personas.
Procedure for the creation
- Carry out a market analysis
Start with a comprehensive analysis of the job market and target group to develop an understanding of your ideal candidates. Use both internal and external sources such as employee feedback, studies or social media.
- Creation of the candidate persona
Based on this data, you can now create a concrete and specific candidate persona.
- Integration into the recruiting process and beyond
Integrate the personas you have created into all aspects of your e-recruitment and applicant management. You can use the persona to create targeted job advertisements and develop personalized interview questions to select the right candidates. In the onboarding process, the persona enables a tailored induction program. Candidate personas can also be used for individual career development and personalized communication. This strengthens the long-term bond with employees.
- Review and adjustment
Make sure you regularly review your personas and adapt them to changing conditions. By observing trends in the company, on the job market and in your industry, your candidate persona is always up to date.
Content of a Candidate Persona
A candidate persona should contain the following aspects (based on a male persona):
- Demographic information such as age, gender, place of residence, level of education, etc.
- Professional information such as education, professional experience, industry knowledge, etc.
- Career goals: Short-term and long-term goals, desired development opportunities
- Motivations and values: What motivates the applicant? What is important to him in his everyday professional life?
- Challenges and concerns: What obstacles might prevent the candidate from applying or accepting the job?
- Communication preferences: Which channels does the applicant prefer for communication (e-mail, telephone, social media)?
- Sources of information: Where does the candidate look for job vacancies and information about potential employers?
- Working environment and corporate culture: In which working environment does the applicant feel comfortable? What values and culture suit them?
- Salary and salary expectations: What are the applicant’s expectations in terms of salary and benefits?
- Other interests and hobbies: Are there any personal interests and activities outside of work that could have an impact on the applicant’s lifestyle?
Example candidate persona "Tim"
To illustrate this, you will find Tim Lichtenstern’s exemplary candidate persona below:
- Name: Tim Lichtenstern
- Age: 32 years
- Education: Bachelor in Computer Science
- Professional experience: 4 years in software development
- Current position: Junior Software Developer
- Career goals: Interested in a position as a senior software developer in the next two years. Long-term goal is to become a technical manager.
- Professional skills: Experience in Java, C#, Python. Good knowledge of agile software development and DevOps practices.
- Soft skills: Team player, good communication skills, problem solving skills and attention to detail.
- Motivations: Enjoys working on complex problems and constantly learning new technologies. Appreciates work environments that foster creativity and innovation.
- Work preferences: Prefers flexible working hours and the ability to work from home. Appreciates a good work-life balance.
- Communication preferences: Prefers clear and direct communication. Likes to use digital communication tools such as Slack and email.
Job search: Active on platforms such as LinkedIn and XING. Regularly attends specialist conferences.
Conclusion
Utilizing candidate personas can significantly improve your e-recruiting and applicant management strategies by providing you with a deeper understanding of your ideal candidates. Despite potential challenges such as time and overgeneralization, the benefits clearly outweigh the risks, including targeted recruiting, personalized candidate journeys and better job advertisements. With clear alignment of application processes and regular review, you can realize the full potential of candidate personas and successfully optimize your HR activities.
Questions & Answers: Candidate Persona
What is a candidate persona?
A candidate persona is a fictitious profile that defines the characteristics, skills and needs of the ideal applicant for a job.
What information belongs in a candidate persona?
Name, professional background, qualifications, experience, soft skills, career goals and preferred work environment are relevant elements.
Which data sources are used to create a candidate persona?
Employee analyses, feedback from managers, industry studies and data from previous recruitments are valuable sources.
How does a candidate persona help with recruitment?
It enables a targeted approach, optimizes the selection of suitable candidates and improves the quality of settings.
