Over the years, recruiting has become a much more precise practice. Companies recognize just how expensive it is to make the wrong hire and are more committed than ever to securing the right talent. New technologies are making this a more frictionless process.
Tech Trends in the Recruiting World
Recruiting is a unique challenge in that it isn’t something you can totally automate. It requires a certain amount of intuition and human involvement in order to obtain the right results. Having said that, technology does play a role. The key has been, and always will be, to strike the right balance between using technology and letting people be the ultimate decision makers. Here are some trends that are emerging:
1. Matching Algorithms
One of the bigger challenges businesses have is weeding through applicants in an efficient manner. This is even more difficult to do when you operate in a niche industry or very specialized area. One solution is algorithm-based matching software – such as what Scout has developed.
“Scout’s algorithm matches the job with the specialty recruiters who have statistically performed the best for that type of role,” Scout explains. “You don’t have to manage selection, our performance based matching occurs automatically to find the best.”
In this way, recruiting happens much more efficiently. A human decision maker is still making the final call, but all of the time that’s traditionally used to find applicants is relocated to more critical tasks.
2. ATS Gets a Face Lift
Those in the world of recruiting and staffing know all about applicant tracking systems (ATS), which are used all the way throughout the hiring process. Unfortunately, most ATS platforms do a poor job of updating and staying relevant. They’re also limited in how they allow hiring managers to nurture candidates over time.
More recently, ATS technology has gotten a face lift and newer, advanced recruiting tools go by the title of candidate relationships management (CRM) systems.
“With the advent of CRM technologies in talent acquisition, we’ll also see the emergence of a new role in recruiting: the rise of the dedicated recruitment marketers, whose sole jobs will be to run targeted campaigns, nurture leads and develop passive candidates who already have an established recruiting relationship with an employer,” says Sheeroy Desai, CEO of Gild.
3. Widespread Reliance on Technology
In the past, only the biggest and best companies have used technology to enhance the recruiting process. Smaller companies have relied on human capital and been hesitant to invest in “unknown tools.” This is all changing, though.
According to data, 64 percent of staffing firms now use ATS to track candidates, while 60 percent use CRM systems for business development. Roughly 40 percent of staffing professionals predict they’ll increase their reliance on technology this year.
4. More Online Digging
The average person graduating from college today has an online history that stretches back for more than a decade. Between social media profiles, pictures, online accounts, message board posts, and websites, most people have a sort of online brand or persona (whether they purposefully created it or not). For recruiters, this represents a goldmine.
This year, we’re seeing more recruiters invest in technologies that conduct online searches and piece together fragmented information about candidates. This will lead to better rounded candidate profiles.
The Aim for Cost-Effective Precision
Today’s recruiters and staffers are looking for precision in sourcing candidates, but they can’t necessarily afford to spend thousands more in the process. New, cost-effective recruiting technology is entering the picture to fill this void and provide recruiters with the tools they need to achieve profitable results.
