Phenom’s 9th Annual Study Unveils Majority of Fortune 500 Companies are Insufficiently Leveraging AI and Automation to Deliver Tailored Candidate Journeys, Missing the Mark with Candidates’ Expectations & Extending Talent Gaps.
Phenom, an applied AI company specializing in human resources, recently published its ninth annual State of Candidate Experience: 2025 Benchmarks Report. Based on an analysis and ranking of the Fortune 500’s candidate experiences across 14 industries, the report revealed that while organizations are increasingly investing in optimizing their career sites with AI and automation, many continue to fail to meet job seeker expectations with hyper-personalized experiences that effectively attract, engage and convert talent throughout the talent journey.
“There is a clear divide between companies experimenting with AI and those truly harnessing its power to accelerate talent acquisition processes and transform candidate engagement,” said John Harrington, Sr. Director, Product Marketing at Phenom.
Nearly half (47%) of American 18 – 34-year-olds say that if they were applying for a job at a company, their career site should be able to learn what jobs they’re interested in the same way the algorithms of their social media platforms (e.g. TikTok and Instagram) learn what videos and posts users might be interested in, according to a recent survey commissioned by Phenom and conducted by The Harris Poll1. This shows a large disconnect between a population of workers who are expected to make up 80% of the advanced economies’ workforce globally by 2034, and what the Fortune 500 are delivering today — with 87% of them failing to use AI and automation to hyper-personalize their career sites according to Phenom’s report.
Today’s candidates not only seek alignment with an organization’s relevant roles and purpose before applying to open jobs, but a career site experience that is intuitive and consumer-grade2. Leading organizations that recognize this evolution are delivering personalized experiences through segmented candidate journeys across all roles and levels by implementing omnichannel approaches to job discovery, strategically investing in automation and intelligence solutions to scale personalization efficiently, and developing a compelling employer brand narrative that creates sustainable competitive advantages.
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This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Phenom from May 20 – 22, 2025 among 2,055 adults ages 18 and older. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Phenom. |
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Based on Phenom’s data. |
Companies Fail to Personalize the Candidate Journey
The State of Candidate Experience: 2025 Benchmarks Report revealed extensive opportunities for the Fortune 500 to enhance personalization throughout the candidate journey:
- 88% did not suggest related job openings based on current job title and skills
- 87% failed to use AI and automation to hyper-personalize career sites
- 83% did not have a chatbot on the career site that provides job recommendations
- 83% did not show recently viewed jobs
- 76% did not automatically detect the candidate’s location and suggest relevant jobs nearby
- 74% did not clearly articulate the employer value proposition throughout the candidate journey in a way that was easy to find
- 73% did not feature a lot of relevant, quality content that conveys the employer brand throughout the candidate journey
- 68% did not use a passwordless job cart/favorites function for candidates to save job searches
- 31% did not use video content featuring employee testimonials showcasing company culture
Strongest Candidate Journey Areas
The report highlighted a few key areas where the Fortune 500 continue to improve, including technical website performance and job descriptions:
- 96% had well-written job descriptions with at least three clear responsibilities and qualifications
- 91% provided the ability to upload a resume and cover letter from mobile devices
- 82% provided an easy mobile-apply process in three steps or less
- 86% increase in search providing relevant suggestions based on keywords
- 62% increase in social login available on the career site
- 33% increase in type-ahead search on all career site pages
Leading Organizations Leverage AI & Automation, Transforming Candidate Experiences
Fortune 500 companies that are gaining a competitive advantage are successfully customizing and enhancing candidate experiences:
“We’ve been able to customize and personalize our candidate experience. For example, we added day-in-the-life videos to all of our manufacturing job pages. Soon after, we noticed an increase in application rates,” said Laura Schmidt, Talent Marketing Consultant for Land O’Lakes, Inc. “We’re also gaining efficiencies through automations, allowing our recruiters to focus on connection with candidates instead of manual tasks. And we’re able to share our brand over time with candidates knowing we may not always have the perfect job for them at the moment, but we’re able to keep them engaged when that perfect job opens up.”
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“We created a dynamic career site that empowers candidates to go on their own journeys, highlighting job categories and creating landing pages with content and openings that are most relevant,” said Scott Ewert, SVP, Talent Acquisition at Regions Bank. “We wanted one word to define the process of viewing job openings and scheduling interviews: seamless. Indeed, we have created a seamless experience not only for talent prospects but also for our teams who have a clearer window into the most qualified, most capable candidates for open positions. It’s very specialized, allowing people to get a more authentic view of what it’s like to work in specific departments at Regions. This is an investment that’s yielding solid results.”
“Creating a unified candidate journey with a tailored content strategy has empowered us to proactively answer candidate questions, increase our brand awareness and highlight why TD SYNNEX is a great place to grow a career,” said Grant Smith, Global Recruitment Marketing Specialist at TD SYNNEX. “Companies that prioritize their talent experience strategy are likely to see increases in quality of hire, boosts in recruiter productivity and strengthened brand perception.”
Business-Critical Guidance for Candidate Journey Improvements
Phenom’s 2025 State of Candidate Experience report includes recommendations for organizations seeking to improve how they attract, engage and convert talent with AI and automation.
- Deliver industry and job-specific personalization. Generic career sites create friction and waste valuable time for candidates looking to learn about jobs and submit applications. Personalize the candidate experience by serving up hyper-relevant content and work opportunities based on context including the candidate’s preferences and experience. This ultimately accelerates discovery and conversion while demonstrating your organization’s commitment to creating a phenomenal candidate journey.
- Build a skills-forward career site. Savvy candidates navigate career opportunities based on transferable skills rather than rigid job titles or industry boundaries. Organizations must reimagine their career sites, where talent can instantly connect with relevant opportunities based on their individual capabilities, and where job descriptions prominently showcase the skills and competencies that drive success.
- Invest in conversational AI and automation. Extend your talent acquisition team’s capabilities 24/7 with advanced conversational AI that provides instant support throughout the entire candidate journey — from initial job discovery to onboarding as a new hire. These AI-powered chatbots should seamlessly handle questions, recommend relevant jobs, conduct preliminary screening, and even support the application and interview scheduling process.
The Role of Agentic AI in Candidate Journeys
AI agents built to meet specific business, personas and industry needs will continue to transform talent attraction and engagement strategies. Experience Agents designed for the candidate journey transform how job seekers find and apply for the right work, and Persona Agents augment how talent acquisition teams attract and engage best-fit talent to:
- Accelerate hiring, filling specialized and high-volume roles with personalized and automated candidate engagement
- Slash talent acquisition workloads in half by increasing efficiency and growth through automation and intelligence
- Streamline employer branding, with generative AI and no-code design tools that make creating branded and personalized content effortless and engaging
- Enhance how HR teams work with AI to meet or exceed hiring goals
“There is a clear divide between companies experimenting with AI and those truly harnessing its power to accelerate talent acquisition processes and transform candidate engagement through hyper-personalization,” said John Harrington, Sr. Director, Product Marketing at Phenom. “In today’s economy, AI-powered recruitment isn’t just an advantage — it’s survival. Organizations can automate up to 90% of hiring workflows while improving candidate experience. Those who resist this evolution won’t just fall behind; they’ll become irrelevant in a market where efficiency and speed directly determine viability.”
Phenom’s AI, Generative AI and AI agents empower organizations to hire and onboard faster, develop better and retain longer through augmented work — while ensuring responsible AI adoption and utilization. Phenom’s award-winning AI technology innovations fuel productivity and efficiency for recruiters, talent marketers, talent leaders, hiring managers, HR and HRIT.
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Source: Businesswire
