As technology continues to advance with each passing year, there are more and more recruitment technology tools from which to choose. And for agency recruiters and search consultants, it can turn into a case of sensory overload.
In other words, there are so many “shiny objects” and “toys” that search consultants can’t pick just a few. Or they pick a few, but they spend too much time on them and they neglect other, more important aspects of their recruiting desks. That can be problematic, mainly because if what you’re doing on your desk doesn’t lead to placements—directly or indirectly—then what they heck are you doing it for?
This is where thoughtful analysis enters the picture. That’s because, of course, if you can’t measure it, then you can’t improve it. This exercise helps to ensure that you don’t waste your time and your resources as a recruiter or search consultant. Because if you’re doing something and you’re not making placements because of that thing, then you’re wasting your time and your resources.
Recruiting technology tools: quality over quantity
To help with this discussion, we’re going to draw upon the wisdom of recruiting industry trainer Jon Bartos. According to Bartos, when it comes to analyzing what works and what doesn’t work on your recruiting desk, you should include recruitment technology tools in that analysis.
For the purposes of this blog post, recruitment technology includes social media sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and the rest. However, it can include any tool that is technological in nature and that you use consistently on your desk and/or within your agency. (This includes any recruiting software or applicant tracking system that you happen to be using.)
According to Bartos, though, failure to conduct a thorough analysis of the tools that you choose to use can have a detrimental effect on your desk. The reason is two-fold: a lack of both focus and overall proficiency.
“Recruiters should narrow down their technology tools and become masters of the tools that they’re using,” said Bartos. “They could be using seven tools, but be masters of none of them.”
It would certainly be easy for agency recruiters or search consultants to use seven recruitment technology tools. Conceivably, they could use 10 or 15 to 20. However, in this case, quality trumps quantity. Using 10 tools doesn’t help much if they don’t produce results. In fact, engaging in unproductive activity can also detract from the time needed to engage in productive activity. Sure, looking for candidates on Facebook might be more fun than making cold calls to clients for job orders, but which of those activities is going to contribute more to the bottom line?
Instead, Bartos recommends that recruiters should choose one—and maybe two—tools and then set about the task of knowing them inside and out.
“You have to be a talent hawk, no matter what tool you’re using,” said Bartos. “If you’re using LinkedIn, then you’d better be fantastic with it. You get much better bang for your buck that way, and you’ll see a greater return on your investment.”
According to Bartos, there are some agency recruiters and search consultants who become almost enamored by all of the recruitment technology tools that are available. As a result, they dabble in many of them, but don’t acquire enough knowledge to become as proficient as they need to be in order to generate significant amounts of revenue.
“They invest in all of these tools, but they’re seeing limited results from them,” said Bartos. “You have to figure out which tools are generating the most results and the best results and focus more on those.”
Which recruitment technology tools do YOU use as an agency recruiter or search consultant? How many tools do you use? Would you say that you’ve mastered those tools? If so, which tools have you mastered . . . and which ones would you like to master in the future? (So many questions!)
Consider using Top Echelon’s easy-to-master recruitment software with corresponding ATS and CRM capabilities to help scale your success and make more placements and more money.
Recruitment technology tools and continuous training
Jon Bartos is a premier writer, speaker, and consultant on all aspects of personal performance, human capital, and the analytics behind them. Bartos has served as a keynote speaker at Top Echelon recruiter networking events and is also a regular contributor to the Top Echelon Expert Recruiter Coaching Series of webinars.
Speaking of which, if you’re looking to maximize your use of recruitment technology tools, engaging in continuous training and education is an excellent way to do so. And it just so happens that Top Echelon has an extensive training library of free recruitment agency training courses. These courses are recorded versions of Top Echelon’s Expert Recruiter Coaching Series of webinars.
These webinars touch upon a variety of recruiter-related topics dealing with both candidates and clients. As always, our goal with these webinars (and corresponding videos) is to help agency recruiters and search consultants make more placements.
In addition to training and webinars, Top Echelon offers other recruitment solutions. These solutions include the following:
- Big Biller recruiting software
- Top Echelon recruiting network
Find out more about the recruitment tools Top Echelon offers to agency recruiters and search consultants!