Candidate NPS: What It Is, Why It Matters & How to Improve It

Your hiring process shapes candidates' perceptions more than you might think. 

According to iCIMS, 95% of candidates say that how they're treated during the application process reflects how they would be treated as an employee. For hiring teams, there's a clear way to measure and improve these critical interactions—candidate NPS (net promoter score).

Candidate NPS measures candidate satisfaction with your hiring process. With over 72% of job seekers ready to share negative feedback online or with others, tracking and improving your candidate NPS can make a big difference. 

In this Willo article, we’ll explain how candidate NPS works, why it matters, and how you can boost your score.

What Is a Candidate NPS?

A candidate net promoter score (NPS) is a metric that measures how likely candidates are to recommend your company's hiring process to others (and how they feel about it themselves by proxy).

It's calculated using responses to a deceptively simple question—"On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our hiring process to others?" Based on their responses, candidates fall into three categories: 

• Promoters (9-10): These are candidates who had a great experience and would recommend your company.
• Passives (7-8): These candidates are satisfied but not enthusiastic—they probably wouldn't share their experience either positively or negatively.
• Detractors (0-6): These are candidates who had a poor experience and may share negative feedback.

Average candidate NPS gives you a high-level view of how candidates perceive your hiring process. It helps you determine the strength or weakness of your existing processes, and more importantly, lets you track the impact of any changes on candidate experiences.

However, you can also segment candidate NPS data by hiring stage (e.g., hired candidates and rejected candidates) to zoom in on specific aspects of your hiring process. 

How to measure your candidate NPS

The process of calculating your candidate NPS involves three steps:

1. Survey your candidates with the NPS question.
2. Calculate the percentage of respondents in each category (Promoters, Passives, and Detractors).
3. Subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters.

Let's look at an example to see how this works. Say you've just surveyed 100 candidates after your latest round of interviews. 

Here's how their responses broke down:

• 50 candidates gave scores of 9-10 (Promoters) = 50%
• 30 candidates gave scores of 7-8 (Passives) = 30%
• 20 candidates gave scores of 0-6 (Detractors) = 20%

To calculate your NPS, simply subtract the percentage of Detractors from Promoters—or 50% - 20% = +30 NPS. Now that you know what candidate NPS is and how to measure it, you might be wondering why it's worth tracking this metric. 

However, it’s also important to mention that NPS can differ quite a bit based on hiring outcome (as we’ll discuss in the next section).

What is a “good” candidate NPS?

Companies that implement candidate NPS tracking often wonder what constitutes a good candidate NPS score. According to the latest benchmark data, average scores vary significantly depending on hiring stage:

• Hired candidates: +80 NPS
• Withdrawn candidates: +39 NPS
• Rejected candidates: -5 NPS average, with variations by stage:some text
  • After interview: 0 NPS
  • After application: -8 NPS
  • After phone screen: -12 NPS
  • After assessment: -26 NPS

Scores also vary by company size and industry. Technology companies tend to achieve higher scores (averaging +45), while traditional industries like manufacturing and retail typically range from +15 to +25 NPS. The key is to track your trends over time and work on improving scores at each stage of the hiring process.

Why You Should Track Candidate NPS

We’ll say this up front: we recommend tracking NPS anonymously, and being very clear about that fact with candidates. If you collect NPS with identifying information, candidates may be tempted to give a different answer from the truth, fearing potential repercussions. 

You want honest data in your candidate NPS score. And here’s why:

Protect your talent pipeline

With nearly 20% of employers facing fierce competition for talent in 2025, candidate experience has become a crucial differentiator. A strong candidate NPS helps build your reputation as an employer of choice, while a poor score can drive potential hires to your competitors through negative word-of-mouth.

Source: Willo’s 2024 Hiring Trends Report

Make data-driven improvements

By tracking candidate NPS across different stages of your hiring process, you get a clear measure of how your improvements impact candidate satisfaction. Whether you're updating your application system, revising your interview process, or changing your communication strategy, NPS provides concrete data to validate what's working and what isn't.

Benchmark your performance

Understanding how your scores compare to competitors—whether you're matching technology companies' average of +45 or falling short of industry standards—helps you set realistic improvement goals and identify competitive advantages.

How to Improve Candidate NPS

1. Simplify the application process

A streamlined application process significantly impacts your candidate NPS. While 78% of organizations offer applications that can be completed in under 15 minutes, only 22% of North American candidates rate their application experiences as "very positive."

Clearly, offering relatively quick applications isn’t getting to the heart of the issue. You need to go above and beyond by:

• Optimizing for mobile devices—over 84% of North American candidates apply via mobile.
• Eliminating duplicate data entry—40% of companies still ask candidates to re-enter info.
• Providing clear progress indicators and save options.

An effective way to enhance your application process is by incorporating asynchronous video screening alongside traditional steps. This gives candidates the flexibility to showcase their skills and personality at a convenient time, while providing recruiters with richer insights early in the process.

We'll explore how to implement this effectively in the next section.

2. Enhance the interview experience

The interview stage generates the most candidate complaints, with good reason. 

Nearly half of candidates would withdraw due to unprofessional interviewer behavior, 40% report being "ghosted" after interviews, and one in three have experienced bias during the process. These pain points make interviews your highest-stakes touchpoint for candidate NPS.

Create a consistently positive interview experience by:

• Setting clear expectations about the interview format, duration, and participants
• Providing prep materials to help candidates showcase their best selves
• Offering flexibility in scheduling and interview format
• Creating a structured evaluation process to ensure fairness

This is where Willo's async video interviewing truly shines. By letting candidates interview on their own schedule from any device, you remove the stress of coordinating schedules while giving candidates the space to present their best selves.

Source: 5 Easy steps to your interview

Willo is easy to set up: 

1. Input the interview questions you want answered. Not sure what to ask candidates? Check our interview questions guide. Or, use our smart question generator to craft insightful questions that lead to better answers.
2. Share an invite link to candidates and wait for them to complete the interview.
3. Review, shortlist, and share your candidates’ responses, either manually or using our AI tools to help streamline these processes. 

Source: How MyTutor Increased Recruiting Capacity And Reduced Overheads

MyTutor used this approach to increase their recruiting capacity by 75% while improving candidate satisfaction.

3. Communicate clearly and frequently (throughout the process)

Effective communication can make or break your candidate NPS. Keep candidates informed and engaged throughout their journey by:

• Acknowledging applications with automated confirmation emails
• Providing clear timelines and next steps at each stage
• Updating candidates promptly about any delays or changes
• Offering dedicated support channels for questions and concerns

Regular communication shows candidates you value their time and interest, reducing potential anxiety and improving their overall experience. Even a brief status update can prevent a candidate from feeling left in the dark.

4. Provide constructive feedback

When candidates invest time and effort into applying and interviewing, they want to know how they performed and where they can improve. 

If you can, providing specific, constructive feedback—whether positive or critical—shows candidates that you value their time and see them as more than just another applicant. It also helps them understand why they weren’t selected, which can turn a potentially negative experience into a learning opportunity.

This is where we can make a real difference. Willo Intelligence simplifies the feedback process by allowing you to:

• Send personalized feedback emails: Willo’s AI helps interviewers draft tailored feedback emails quickly, highlighting the candidate’s strengths and offering constructive suggestions. This way, candidates get meaningful feedback, not just a generic response.

Source: Willo Intelligence

• Handle rejections kindly: Willo’s AI also assists in crafting thoughtful rejection messages, making it easier for your team to respond respectfully. Taking the time to say thank you and offer encouragement can leave a positive impression, even when the candidate doesn’t get the job.

Feedback is especially important after interviews… but it's also much more nuanced. If you're unable to provide detailed feedback, consider these approaches:

• Set clear expectations early about what feedback candidates can expect
• Use thoughtful templates for different candidate categories
• Keep communication lines open with prompt status updates
• Acknowledge candidates' time and effort, even without detailed feedback

For more comprehensive strategies on providing effective interview feedback, check out our detailed guide to interview feedback.

5. Measure and iterate

Improving your candidate NPS requires consistent measurement and refinement. Focus on gathering feedback from all candidates—especially those who were rejected or withdrew themselves, as they often provide the most valuable insights for improvement.

Take VodafoneZiggo's approach, for example. The telecom company realized that candidates were often also their customers, meaning candidate experience was directly tied to revenue. They implemented a comprehensive feedback system that:

• Measured candidate experience at key stages of the hiring journey
• Made candidate feedback a top priority for their recruiting team
• Personally followed up with candidates who gave low scores to understand and address issues
• Provided recruiters with individual dashboards to track and improve their performance

Within just three months, they improved their candidate NPS across all stages—particularly for candidates rejected after interviews, where they began scoring above industry benchmarks. This improvement saved them $142,000 in lost revenue.

Source: Vodafone’s success in saving $142K in revenue

Additionally, compare your NPS against industry benchmarks to understand where you stand. Some sectors report average scores above 50, indicating strong candidate experiences. If your score is below average, it’s a sign to make adjustments.

Each step forward boosts your candidate NPS and shows that you genuinely care about the candidate’s experience.

Improve Candidate NPS for a Better Recruitment Experience with Willo

A great candidate NPS helps you stand out. The strategies in this guide will help you improve your NPS by creating a better candidate experience and building trust, ultimately attracting top talent excited to join your team.

Willo’s great features—like asynchronous interviews, intelligent question generation, and seamless feedback features—make it even easier to streamline your process and boost candidate satisfaction for a greater cNPS.

Sign up to Willo today for free to transform your hiring experience.