Candidate Experience Survey Template: 10 Questions to Copy

A candidate experience survey template is a ready-made set of questions you send candidates after a hiring stage to learn what was clear, what was slow and what felt unfair. Below is a 10-question version to copy, with when to send it and how to read the answers.

We build Talent Summoner, which finds and ranks candidates for a role but does not send or analyse surveys. As of 30 September 2026 your first Role is free with no card, then US$29 per Role or US$59 a month for 4 Roles (pricing).

This page is for small teams and founders who run their own hiring. If you already run surveys through an ATS with built-in candidate feedback, use its form and borrow only the questions.

Candidate experience survey template to copy

Copy the block below into your form tool. Replace the bracketed parts, and keep it to 5 minutes or less.

CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE SURVEY - [COMPANY], [ROLE], [STAGE]

Thank you for your time with us. This survey takes about 3 minutes.
It is optional, you can skip any question, and your answers
will not affect your application. [Who sees the answers]

1. How clear was the information about this role and the process?
   Very clear / Clear / Neutral / Unclear / Very unclear
2. How easy was it to schedule your interview?
   Very easy / Easy / Neutral / Hard / Very hard / Not applicable
3. Did you know what to expect before each interview? Yes / Partly / No
4. Did the interviewers seem prepared? Yes / Partly / No
5. Did the questions relate to the job? Yes / Partly / No
6. Did you get an update within the time we promised? Yes / No / Not yet
7. Did anything make the process harder than it needed to be?
   [optional text]
8. Did you need an adjustment, and did you get it?
   (You do not need to say what it was.)
   Did not need one / Needed and got it / Needed and did not get it
9. How likely are you to recommend applying here to a friend? 0-10
10. What is one thing we should change? [optional text]

May we contact you about your answers? Yes / No
Please do not name other people in your answers.

When to send a candidate experience survey

Send the survey soon after the stage, while the memory is fresh, and always after the candidate has their result:

Moment	Send	Keep or cut
After a first interview, candidate not moving on	Within 48 hours of the rejection	Cut question 9 if they only had a short call
After the final interview, any outcome	Within 48 hours of the decision	Use all 10
After an offer is accepted	In the first week of the new hire's start	Add "Why did you say yes?"
After a candidate withdraws	Within a week	Ask question 10 first

Never send it before the candidate has their decision. They may worry that answers will affect the result, and the answers will be less honest.

How to write candidate survey questions that get honest answers

One thing per question. "Were the instructions clear and on time?" mixes two questions into one answer.
Labelled scales. "Clear" and "Unclear" mean more than "4" and "2".
An honest way out. Add "Not applicable" or "Not yet" where a question may not fit.
No named people. Ask whether interviewers were prepared, not whether one interviewer was good.
Optional text answers. Two open questions are usually enough.

Privacy and accessibility checks for a candidate survey

Say plainly whether the survey is anonymous or confidential. Anonymous means you do not collect who answered.

Confidential means you know who answered but only named people can see it.

A survey is not truly anonymous if the link is unique to each person, or if only three people reached the final interview. In those cases, call it confidential.

Collect only what you need, and never ask about health, age, religion or immigration status. The UK ICO's key data protection considerations for AI in recruitment (6 November 2024) sets out the same principles: be open about use and collect the minimum.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Check that the form works with a keyboard and a screen reader, and that people can zoom in.

The W3C's WCAG 2.2 is the current web accessibility standard. Many form tools still report against version 2.1, so check your tool's accessibility statement.

How to read candidate survey results

Report counts next to percentages. "9 of 12 said the process was clear" is more honest than "75% satisfied".

Read answers by stage and by outcome. Rejected candidates and new hires see different processes, so keep them apart.

Treat a pattern as a question to check, not a verdict. Then fix one thing, note the date, and compare the next group.

Fictional example: a five-person startup sends the survey to 30 candidates for one role, and 12 answer. Five say they did not know what the work sample involved.

The founder adds a one-paragraph brief to the invite, and in the next round nobody raises it.

When this survey is wrong for you

Under 10 candidates a year: a short personal call with each final-stage candidate teaches you more.
You only need a score: one 0–10 question is enough; skip the rest.
No one owns the answers: candidates notice when feedback goes nowhere, so name an owner first.

Where Talent Summoner fits before the candidate experience starts

Talent Summoner is our product for candidate sourcing and candidate ranking. The facts below were checked on 30 September 2026.

Candidate sourcing takes a role brief and returns a ranked shortlist with plain-English reasoning. It searches LinkedIn, GitHub and other public sources, over 200 million profiles.

Candidate ranking scores up to 50 CVs you already have, free and with no account.

What it does not do: send or analyse surveys, send paid LinkedIn InMail, or sync with an ATS today. Survey delivery and follow-up stay with your team.

We re-check the product facts on this page every quarter.

What should you ask in a candidate experience survey after an interview?

Ask whether the process was clear, whether scheduling was easy, whether interviewers were prepared and whether the questions related to the job. End with one open question about what to change.

Should a candidate experience survey be anonymous?

Anonymous surveys can get more candid answers, but you cannot follow up. If the group is small or the link is personal, call it confidential instead.

Should rejected candidates get the survey?

Yes, after they have their result. Their answers show how the process feels to people who did not get the job.

How many questions should a candidate survey have?

Five to ten, taking no more than 5 minutes. Keep only the questions you will act on.

Copy the template, set who owns the answers, and send the first survey after your next hiring decision.