Episode 160
Improving Candidate Experience at Just Eat with Olga Power
At Just Eat, hiring 3,500 people annually across 19 countries means candidate experience isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s a revenue driver. Olga Power shares how systematic feedback loops and role-specific processes transformed hiring excellence.
Episode Key Takeaways
Rejected candidates are often paying customers. For consumer brands, a poor hiring experience directly erodes brand loyalty and lifetime value. Just Eat benchmarks this risk against competitors like Virgin Media, which lost $5 million due to a single publicized recruitment failure—making the business case for candidate experience impossible to ignore.
Monthly surveys from 12,000–15,000 applicants, with a 62–68% completion rate, generate 1,200 qualitative responses per month. A dedicated candidate experience committee reviews this data quarterly, identifies gaps by function and demographic, and runs continuous improvement sprints. This turns anecdote into actionable signal.
Olga’s team discovered that 18–34-year-olds prefer WhatsApp and asynchronous communication over phone calls. They built a high-tech, high-touch screening process using chatbots for killer questions, gamified competency assessments, and assessment centres—removing 500+ recruiter days annually while raising offer acceptance to 85%.
Transparency upfront—salary, hours, team dynamics, role expectations—eliminates surprises and drives acceptance rates. Constant communication, including Friday afternoon status calls when timelines slip, costs almost nothing but signals respect for candidates as humans, not resume slots.
Interview training, diverse hiring panels, and inclusive job descriptions (part-time, flexible, returner-friendly roles) aren’t separate from candidate experience—they’re foundational. Small, systematic changes in how interviewers prepare and give feedback lifted scores by 0.5–1 percentage point globally.
Frequently
Asked
Questions
How do you measure candidate experience at scale?
Deploy a single exit survey (under 10 minutes) to all candidates, regardless of outcome. Aim for 60%+ completion. Collect monthly feedback, benchmark against competitors, and segment by function, role level, and demographic. A dedicated committee reviews results quarterly and runs improvement sprints on the biggest gaps.
What ROI does candidate experience improvement deliver?
Beyond brand protection, efficiency gains are measurable. Automating initial screening with chatbots freed 500+ recruiter days annually. Offer acceptance rose to 85% through transparency. Attrition improved for high-volume roles. Recruiters shifted from screening calls to strategic candidate support, reducing cost-per-hire while improving quality.
How do you tailor hiring for different candidate demographics?
Segment survey data by age, function, and role type. For 18–34-year-olds in high-volume roles, replace phone screening with WhatsApp, asynchronous killer questions, and gamified assessments. For tech roles, use coding tests. The principle: know your audience, remove friction, and communicate in their preferred channel.
What's the link between candidate experience and customer retention?
Candidates rejected or ghosted by your company often become detractors in the consumer market. A bad hiring experience can cost millions in lost customer lifetime value. Transparency, timely feedback, and respectful communication protect brand equity—especially critical for consumer-facing businesses.
How do you handle feedback at volume without burning out?
Focus on systemic issues, not individual cases. Use survey data to identify patterns (e.g., interviewers unprepared, feedback delayed). Roll out training and process changes once. For individual delays, carve out Friday afternoon slots for status calls—a 30-second touch that signals respect and prevents ghosting.