Candidate experience survey sample: 10 questions that give actionable insights
TL;DR
- A candidate experience survey sample helps you collect consistent feedback using surveys designed for gathering feedback at each stage across the recruitment process, so you can fix pain points quickly.
- Send short surveys at key stages, keep responses anonymous, and use clear scales, then pair with one or two open questions.
- Measure response rate, candidate satisfaction, and scores for the application process, interview process, and decision phase.
- Share results with the hiring team, prioritise one improvement per stage, and re-measure monthly.
- Sapia.ai can automate the first mile with clear hiring stages, including structured mobile AI interviews, insights for candidates, and interview scheduling, which makes it easier to measure progress and improve the hiring process – and gather candidate feedback at every stage.
A well-designed candidate experience survey turns opinions into data you can act on. Gathering feedback through well-structured surveys ensures you receive comprehensive feedback about the entire candidate journey. It reveals where candidates struggle, where the interview process feels unclear, and which changes genuinely improve candidate satisfaction. Below you will find a complete candidate experience survey sample with 10 proven questions, suggested response scales, and guidance on when to send each survey.
What a candidate experience survey is, and why you need one
A candidate experience survey is a short questionnaire sent to job candidates to gather valuable insights about your recruitment process (or recruiting process), from the job description and application process through to interviews, decisions, and onboarding. When you measure candidate experience continuously, you can spot issues early, protect your employer brand, and improve acceptance rates among the best candidates by ensuring a positive candidate experience.
Strong organisations treat candidate feedback like product feedback. They collect it at specific moments, analyse trends by stage, and make small, frequent adjustments that improve the candidate journey for future candidates. A positive candidate experience not only attracts top talent but also contributes to higher employee retention and supports your overall HR strategy.
For consumer brands, candidates are customers – and so gathering feedback can help with understanding how the candidate experience either creates brand advocates or detractors.
How to design an effective candidate experience survey
Before diving into the questions themselves, it helps to clarify design choices that will increase response rate and the quality of insights. HR professionals and recruiting professionals often design candidate questionnaires that include a mix of multiple-choice and open-ended questions to gather comprehensive feedback throughout the recruitment process.
A short explanation of your goals will set the right expectations.
Timing and audience
Do not ask everything at once. Send a brief survey at the end of each key stage so you capture fresh, specific feedback.
- After application submitted
- After first interview
- After final interview
- After decision communicated
Target both the successful candidate and the rejected candidates. You will gain valuable feedback from people who did not join you, and that often highlights issues the successful candidate tolerated.
Length and format
Aim for 5 to 7 items per survey, including one open question. Use 5-point or 7-point scales consistently and avoid long grids. Multiple choice questions are effective for capturing structured feedback and increasing response rates. Candidates should complete the survey in under three minutes.
Anonymity and data use
Offer anonymous responses by default and explain how survey data is used. If you need to follow up on a specific issue, ask separately for consent to contact. Store results with your broader recruitment analytics, not in individual files where they can influence hiring decisions.
Accessibility and delivery
Make surveys mobile friendly. Automatically send surveys via your ATS or a simple form tool immediately after each stage, and include a plain text candidate experience survey email template in your workflow so messages are clear and consistent.
Candidate experience survey sample: the 10 questions that matter
The questions below cover the common pain points that appear across the hiring process. Each question includes a suggested scale and a note on why it yields actionable insights. These questions are designed to provide valuable insights into the recruitment experience from the candidate’s perspective.
A brief preface helps candidates understand the purpose. Keep it human and short.
1) Clarity of the job description
Scale: 1 to 5, from Not clear to Very clear
Why it helps: If the job description is vague, candidates start the recruitment process with the wrong expectations, which lowers completion and increases withdrawals later.
2) Ease of the application process
Scale: 1 to 5, from Very difficult to Very easy
Why it helps: This identifies friction in your online application process, for example ambiguous instructions or duplicate data requests. A low score here correlates with a drop in qualified applications.
3) Timeliness and transparency of communication
Scale: 1 to 5, from Very poor to Excellent
Why it helps: This reveals whether candidates felt informed about timelines and next steps. Poor scores suggest you should agree a simple service level for acknowledgements and updates.
4) Relevance of interview questions to the role
Scale: 1 to 5, from Not relevant to Highly relevant
Why it helps: This pinpoints whether your interview questions assess real work rather than trivia. Low scores often signal you need to refresh prompts or add a short work sample.
5) Professionalism and preparation of interviewers
Scale: 1 to 5, from Very poor to Excellent
Why it helps: Prepared interviewers reduce anxiety and increase the sense of fairness. This item also helps you direct coaching to specific teams.
6) Opportunity to showcase skills
Scale: 1 to 5, from Not enough to More than enough
Why it helps: Candidates want to demonstrate capability. If they cannot, you may need to adjust the interview process or add a small task that maps to the role.
7) Perception of fairness and respect
Scale: 1 to 5, from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree
Statement: I felt I was treated with respect and assessed fairly throughout the hiring process.
Why it helps: This single statement acts as a fairness pulse. If your average dips, review consistency, feedback, and accommodations. Ensuring fairness and respect throughout the process helps create a positive impression among candidates.
8) Understanding of company culture after interviews
Scale: 1 to 5, from Not at all to Very well
Why it helps: If candidates do not grasp your company culture, introduce a short role preview video or bring a team member to the panel who can speak credibly about the day to day.
9) Speed from application to decision
Scale: 1 to 5, from Much too slow to Just right
Why it helps: Pace impacts offer acceptance. If the experience survey shows slow progress, remove handoffs, simplify scheduling, or add automated reminders.
10) Willingness to recommend and reapply
Scale: 0 to 10, likelihood to recommend your process to a friend
Follow up: What is the one thing we should improve for future candidates?
Why it helps: This serves as your candidate experience Net Promoter style question. The open text follow up is a rich source of actionable insights.
If you want a longer version for research projects, add a few open ended questions that invite precise feedback, not essays. For example, ask which part of the interview experience felt unclear, or which instruction in the application form should be rewritten.
When and how to send your surveys
Getting the logistics right makes the difference between nice theory and useful survey results.
A short transition keeps the flow readable.
Triggers and automation
Ideally gather feedback as part of each stage – to make it as simple as possible for the candidate to complete.
Sapia.ai asks for feedback directly after the chat-based AI interview has been completed – and again when insights are shared with candidates, within the insights email. If it can’t be done within the step, automatically send surveys within 24 hours of each stage using your ATS or workflow tool. Most systems can automatically send surveys to specific candidate stages and collect feedback in one place. If your tools cannot, a simple form with tags and a spreadsheet will do for a pilot.
Keep it anonymous by default
Anonymous feedback increases honesty, especially for rejected candidates. If you need to investigate a specific issue, include an optional consent field at the end: “I am happy for someone to contact me about my feedback”.
Keep subject lines clear
Use consistent subject lines so the purpose is obvious. Examples:
- Quick survey about your application
- Quick survey about your interview
- Quick survey about your hiring decision
Nudge without nagging
If the response rate is low, send a single reminder after 48 hours. Do not chase repeatedly. Candidates are more likely to respond if you keep the survey short and explain how you will use their input.
Candidate experience survey template you can copy
Here is a compact template you can paste into your form tool and use immediately. This template is an example of candidate questionnaires that use a mix of multiple choice and open-ended questions to gather feedback. Adjust the scale to suit your reporting.
Intro: Thank you for taking part in our hiring process. This brief survey should take less than three minutes. Your responses are anonymous, and we use them to improve the process for future candidates.
- The job description clearly explained the role. Scale: 1 to 5 (multiple choice question)
- The application was easy to complete. Scale: 1 to 5 (multiple choice question)
- Communication about timelines and next steps was clear. Scale: 1 to 5 (multiple choice question)
- Interview questions were relevant to the job. Scale: 1 to 5 (multiple choice question)
- Interviewers were prepared and professional. Scale: 1 to 5 (multiple choice question)
- I had enough opportunity to showcase my skills. Scale: 1 to 5 (multiple choice question)
- I felt respected and assessed fairly. Scale: 1 to 5 (multiple choice question)
- I gained a clear understanding of company culture. Scale: 1 to 5 (multiple choice question)
- The speed of the process felt about right. Scale: 1 to 5 (multiple choice question)
- How likely are you to recommend our process to a friend? Scale: 0 to 10 (multiple choice question)
Open question: What is the one thing we should improve for future candidates?
Optional: I am happy to be contacted about my feedback. Yes or No (multiple choice)
Best practices for a candidate survey that actually changes behaviour
Templates help, but practice makes the data meaningful. The suggestions below keep your efforts focused and practical. Addressing negative experiences and responding thoughtfully to negative feedback with constructive feedback can help improve the overall candidate journey.
A single sentence can separate the principles from the tactics.
Make it part of the process, not an afterthought
Build survey triggers into your hiring workflow just like interview scheduling. The recruiting team should not have to remember to send them. Sapia.ai can help at the first mile by keeping steps consistent and measurable, which makes it easier to compare survey results across roles and sites.
Share results and owners, not just dashboards
Publish a short monthly snapshot with three numbers and one action per stage. Assign an owner to each action and set a review date. This helps the hiring team improve one thing at a time.
Segment your survey data
Cut results by role family, location, and stage. For example, if interview experience scores are weaker in one region, review interviewer training and prep there first. For fairness, overlay scores with anonymised demographic data where lawful and appropriate, then check your gender bias research resources to ensure changes do not disadvantage any group. For a deeper dive on gender bias, download our free whitepaper.
Pair scores with operational metrics
Survey data is more powerful when combined with time to first interview, pass-through by stage, and offer acceptance. If candidates call out slow feedback after interview, you can correlate that with longer time to offer and fix both together.
Keep your surveys accessible
Offer large text, screen-reader compatible forms, and a note on how to request adjustments for the interview process. If you want a deeper dive on inclusion, review the disability inclusion ebook and the humanising hiring paper by Sapia.ai.
Candidate experience survey examples by stage
Sometimes the quickest improvement is to add one specific question in the right place. These examples show how to target key stages.
A short sentence keeps the section readable.
After application
- How easy was the online application process to complete on your phone
- Were any instructions unclear or contradictory
- Did you feel you had to repeat information already provided
After first interview
- Did the interview process match the steps we described
- Which question felt least relevant to the role
- Were you able to self schedule without issues
After final interview
- Did you meet the right people to assess the role
- Did interviewers give you enough space to ask questions
- How confident do you feel about what the first month would involve
After decision
- The outcome was communicated clearly and respectfully
- If you received feedback, was it specific and useful
- How likely are you to reapply or recommend others to apply
How to analyse survey results and act on them
Collecting survey data is the easy part. Turning it into improvement is the work.
A brief line prepares readers for the metrics.
Focus on a small scoreboard
Track three indicators monthly:
- Response rate, broken down by stage
- Average score per question, by stage and role family
- One open text theme per stage, summarised in a single sentence
If your response rate is under 30 per cent, shorten the survey and adjust timing. If your fairness score drops, review consistency, feedback, and accommodations across the process.
Look for patterns, not one-off comments
Individual comments can be strong, but a trend is what moves policy. If many candidates mention confusion about timelines, publish a standard timeline on the careers page and include it in confirmation emails.
Close the loop publicly
Share a short note on your company website or careers page that says what you changed because of candidate feedback. This is a simple way to encourage candidates, reinforce that opinions matter, and strengthen your employer brand.
Where Sapia.ai fits to help you gain valuable insights
Sapia.ai supports measurement and improvement of candidates throughout the hiring process. The platform runs structured mobile AI interviews for all candidates, providing every candidate with insightfu feedback. It then, applies explainable scoring aligned to your competency framework and scoring rubric, and integrates interview scheduling with automatic reminders. Candidates are asked for feedback at every stage – helping you measure candidate experience survey data with less manual work, and it creates the consistency that makes feedback more comparable across teams. If you need to move with speed or high volume, the platform reduces administration so recruiters can focus on conversations and follow up.
Concluding thoughts on the experience of job applicants
A strong candidate experience survey sample is practical, short, and timed to each stage of the hiring process. Use clear scales and one open question, keep responses anonymous, and act on one improvement per stage every month. Pair survey questions with operational metrics and share results openly so teams stay focused on what helps candidates progress with clarity and respect.
If you would like to see how a structured, mobile-first first mile can lift clarity and make measurement easier, book a Sapia.ai demo. You will keep people in charge of decisions while giving candidates a process they describe as simple, fair, and fast.
FAQs
It is a brief questionnaire that captures feedback from job seekers about the recruitment process. Send a short survey after application, after interview, and after the final decision so you measure each part of the journey while it is still fresh.
Keep it to 5 to 7 items with one open question. Short surveys get better response rate and more precise feedback.
Yes. Rejected candidates provide invaluable insights into your process and communication. Their experience shapes your reputation in the competitive job market.
Send the survey within 24 hours of the stage, make it mobile friendly, state the survey aims clearly, and keep it anonymous. One polite reminder after 48 hours is enough.
Start with clarity of the job description, ease of application, communication quality, relevance of interview questions, sense of fairness, and a single open question that asks for one improvement.
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