Candidate Experience Survey Template

Send the survey after the stage you want to evaluate has finished and its outcome has been communicated. Include people who were not hired as well as successful candidates when reviewing the whole process. Their experiences may differ.

Explain that the survey concerns the process and how responses will be used. Keep feedback collection separate from assessments of a candidate's suitability for the job.

Begin by identifying the last stage the candidate completed. Ask about instructions, communication, and scheduling separately so a positive interview does not hide a confusing application process.

Keep an option for candidates who did not have an interview. Asking those applicants to rate interview quality would produce answers that do not describe an actual experience.

Use your actual stage names, such as application review, introductory call, task, and final interview. If you used a practical assignment, add a specific question about its instructions or time commitment. Remove that question for roles without an assignment.

Invite feedback through a consistent process. Decide who reads comments and avoid unnecessary identifying fields. Do not promise that results are anonymous unless the collection and reporting process supports that statement.

List completed stages in the order your process actually uses; a practical task may happen before or after an interview. Keep an offer stage separate from a final interview. If respectful treatment is a decision you need to investigate, add “How respectfully were you treated during the interactions you had?” with Not at all respectfully, Slightly respectfully, Moderately respectfully, Very respectfully, Extremely respectfully, and I had no direct interactions. Invite candidates who left at different stages, not only those who accepted an offer.

Create a candidate experience survey in SurveyLegend with questions about application instructions, updates, scheduling, interviews, and time commitment.

This prompt includes eight questions and their answer choices. Register for a free account to use it in SurveyLegend, then review and customize your survey before sharing it.

Compare feedback from people who reached the same stage. A candidate who only submitted an application cannot describe later interviews. Review comments about unclear next steps alongside ratings of communication and scheduling.

Choose a concrete fix, such as rewriting assignment instructions or setting a clearer update schedule. Check whether the problem still appears in the next comparable hiring round. Report response counts and hiring-stage coverage so readers understand whose experiences are represented.