View/Export Results
Manage Existing Surveys
Create/Copy Multiple Surveys
Collaborate with Team Members
OR
Sign inSign in with Facebook
Sign inSign in with Google

Candidate Experience Survey Template

Twelve questions for everyone who applied, hired or not, sent a few days after they hear the outcome.

  • 12questions
  • About 3 minto complete
  • One sendafter the outcome
  • No nameor email asked
Use this template Take the survey first
Candidate Experience Survey · answer to move through it
Use this template
Question 1 of 12 Where it ended
How did your application with us end?
I was not selected
I withdrew or stopped taking part
I was offered the job
Something else
Question 2 of 12 How far it got
What was the last stage you reached in our process?
The application form only
A screening call or message
A test, task or assessment
One or more interviews
A final stage or an offer
Question 3 of 12 What you promised
The job posting gave me an accurate picture of the job.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 4 of 12 What you promised
It was clear what steps the hiring process would involve.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 5 of 12 What you asked of them
The time the process asked of me was reasonable for this job.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 6 of 12 While they waited
I was kept informed while I waited for a decision.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 7 of 12 How they were treated
Everyone I dealt with treated me with respect.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 8 of 12 How they were treated
Every question I was asked was relevant to the job.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 9 of 12 The process as a whole
Looking back, this was a fair way to judge someone for this job.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 10 of 12 What put them off
Did any of these put you off along the way?
Nothing did
How long the whole thing took
Not hearing back
The amount of work I was asked to do
A question I was asked
The way an interview was run
What I learned about the pay or the terms
Something else
Question 11 of 12 In their words
What is the one thing you would change about how we ran this?
Question 12 of 12 Would they recommend you
How likely are you to recommend applying here to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all likelyExtremely likely

The 12 candidate experience survey questions

A candidate experience survey asks the people who applied for a job what your hiring process was like from their side: the job posting, the wait, how they were treated and whether it felt fair. These twelve suit every stage from the first form to the final interview, and all twelve open in the questionnaire maker.

Plain text, one question per line, with the answer scale.

How it ended

Ask both even when your records already say, because every later answer is read by them.

  1. How did your application with us end?Pick one of 4, requiredthe split you report every other score by.
  2. What was the last stage you reached in our process?Pick one of 5, requiredone form and four interviews end in two different kinds of no.

What you told them and asked of them

All three make sense to someone whose application ended at the first form.

  1. The job posting gave me an accurate picture of the job.Strongly disagree to strongly agree, requireda low score here returns as new hires surprised by the job.
  2. It was clear what steps the hiring process would involve.Strongly disagree to strongly agree, requiredthe quickest fix on the list: publish the steps up front.
  3. The time the process asked of me was reasonable for this job.Strongly disagree to strongly agree, required

How they were treated while they waited

If the same interviewer keeps coming up in the answers, the manager effectiveness survey asks their own team.

  1. I was kept informed while I waited for a decision.Strongly disagree to strongly agree, required
  2. Everyone I dealt with treated me with respect.Strongly disagree to strongly agree, required
  3. Every question I was asked was relevant to the job.Strongly disagree to strongly agree, required

Their verdict

A fairness rating, a checklist you can count, one open answer, then the recommend score.

  1. Looking back, this was a fair way to judge someone for this job.Strongly disagree to strongly agree, requiredcompare it between people who share an outcome.
  2. Did any of these put you off along the way?Tick all that apply, requiredcount the ticks and fix the most ticked option first.
  3. What is the one thing you would change about how we ran this?Open text, optionalasking for one change gets a specific answer back.
  4. How likely are you to recommend applying here to a friend or colleague?0 to 10, required

How to use the candidate experience survey

Send it once, a few days after the outcome, to everyone who leaves your hiring process: the people you turned down, the people who withdrew and the people you hired. No question asks for a name or an email.

Read every score by the answer to question 1. Work out question 12 once for each outcome: the percent answering 9 or 10 minus the percent answering 0 to 6. The hiring manager satisfaction survey gives you the same round from the manager's side.

Watch question 3 among the people you hired: new hires who call their candidate experience exceptional are twice as likely to strongly agree their job responsibilities match what recruitment promised.[1] Once they start, the onboarding survey questions take over.

Candidate experience survey shown as a narrowing hiring funnel, with applicants falling away at every stage and lines from each stage leading to one survey card
One survey reaches everyone who left, at whatever stage they left.

Candidate experience survey FAQ

When do you send a candidate experience survey?

Once, a few days after the candidate hears the outcome. By then nothing they say can change the decision, and the process is still fresh enough to recall stage by stage. For hires, send it after they accept and before their first day.

Does a candidate experience survey mean you were rejected?

No. Sent this way, it goes to every candidate once their outcome is known, including the people who got the job. Question 1 asks how the application ended, which is why one survey works for all of them.

What if we only want feedback from people we interviewed?

Question 2 records the last stage each person reached. Filter to those who had one or more interviews and you have an interview experience survey, while still hearing from everyone who left earlier.

Related employee survey templates

The other employee survey templates are for people who already work for you. Staff leaving a job, rather than an application, get the exit interview questions.

EmployeeHiring Manager Satisfaction SurveyThe same process rated from the inside, by the manager who asked for the hire.16 questions, 4 min EmployeeInduction Feedback FormWhen the induction itself is the thing being rated, session by session.11 questions, 3 min EmployeeEmployee Retention SurveyFor people who joined and later left, which is a different respondent entirely.11 questions, 3 min EmployeeEmployee Feedback SurveyOnce someone works for you and the question is about working here, not applying.14 questions, 4 min EmployeeEmployee Benefits SurveyWhen candidates keep raising pay and benefits and you need the detail from staff.14 questions, 5 min EmployeeExit Interview SurveyWhen someone has resigned: the one answer you get from them, read across a quarter rather than on its own.14 questions, 4 min

Michael Hodge, survey methodology · Updated 25 September 2026 · How templates are reviewed

Sources (1)
  1. Kemp, A. "The Lasting Impact of Exceptional Candidate Experiences." Gallup, 16 October 2024. gallup.com

Ask your next candidates what applying was like

Twelve questions, about three minutes, no name asked. Open it in the editor, fit the wording to your process, and send it once the outcome is out.

Use this template