Track and Manage Candidates
Hiring consistently well is all about successful candidate relationship management (CRM), and this is where CRM systems offer tremendous value to recruiters. However, this is a multi-stage process that requires efficiency and a high level of execution at every stage. The three main stages involved in the process include the following:
Adding candidates to the database
Obviously, you can’t place the right candidates unless you have access to those candidates’ information, and this is where the value of an applicant tracking system is abundantly evident. The best systems don’t force you to only add candidate data manually. Instead, they offer automated solutions that will save you even more time so that you can focus on those tasks that lead most directly to placing or hiring the right candidates.
Searching candidates in the database
Having the right candidates in your database doesn’t do you much good if you’re not able to find those candidates when you need to do so. Once again, this represents the value that an applicant tracking system provides, since it allows you to filter through all of the candidate information in your database to find the candidates with the specific criteria you need. For example, you can search specifically on experience, geographic location, education, and skills.
Managing the right candidates during the hiring process
Once you find the right candidates, it’s critical that you’re able to use your CRM and ATS to track and manage them throughout the recruitment process. For example, you need to be able to see which stage of the process each candidate is in, so you can make the quickest and best decisions possible concerning the viability of their candidacy and how you should handle them going forward. This is where speed and accuracy are at their most critical, since they are both essential to hiring the right candidates in the shortest amount of time.
A Refined Applicant Tracking Software
However, considering the challenges that exist when it comes to hiring top talent, it’s not enough to have a basic or average HR applicant tracking system. No, a more refined ATS is required to gain and maintain a competitive edge in the employment marketplace. The best ATS for recruiters is equipped with upper-level tools and features designed to source more high-quality candidates, communicate with those candidates more easily, and accelerate the recruitment process for the purpose of keeping the candidates engaged and interested in the opportunity.
Adding records
A refined ATS will give you options for adding candidate and job order data outside of just manual entry. In fact, it should provide multiple options for adding data, including email parsing capability and a bulk data importing tool.
Posting jobs
The best talent management systems have an integrated process that allows you to post opportunities to the biggest and most popular job posting sites. This provides your jobs with more exposure, and when candidates apply for those jobs, their information is automatically added to your database.
Scheduling activities
In order to accurately and effectively track candidates throughout the hiring process, it’s also important to be able to schedule the activities that occur during that process.
Adding notes and comments
This is functionality that is beneficial to the entire team, as each member of the team is able to see what has transpired to that point, including the trail of communication.
Email marketing
Another important aspect of candidate relationship management is communication, and that includes email marketing. The most popular ATS systems allow users to email candidates, both individually and in a mass format.
In today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, the features of a standard ATS will not cut it for recruiters. Instead, a refined applicant tracking system is needed to streamline the process more quickly, save time more efficiently, and increase production across all levels of a search consultant’s recruiting desk.
Why Recruiters Need an ATS
There are many reasons why a recruiter, regardless of whether they’re an agency recruiter or corporate recruiter, needs an applicant tracking system.
Without an applicant tracking system, a recruiter would be reduced to using manual methods for tracking and managing candidates. In the early days of the profession, recruiters only used a filing cabinet full of hard copy resumes and a rolodex of phone numbers for making calls. The next step were desktop applications for candidate tracking and management. The advent of the Internet ushered in the use of online applicant tracking systems, allowing users to login to their systems anywhere they had access to an Internet connection.
In today’s fast-paced business environment, using an ATS should not be considered a luxury. Instead, it’s a necessity.
The biggest reason that a recruiter should use an applicant tracking system is the saving of time, and there are a number of different ways to do so.
Track Candidates at the Office or on the Go
In today’s age of wireless technology, it’s important for a recruiter to effectively use an applicant tracking system both in the office and also on a mobile device.
After all, passive candidates typically look for new jobs in the evening and on the weekends, which means recruiters need access to their information at all times, regardless of whether they’re in the office or using a mobile device outside of regular work hours.
Big Biller’s recruitment software is mobile-friendly, which means that it conforms to whatever device you’re using to access your information. That device could be a personal computer, a smartphone, or a tablet. As a result, Big Biller software users can track candidates at the office or on the go. This is important, since the sooner you can present qualified candidates to hiring managers, the more quickly you can schedule interviews and accelerate the placement process.
The best applicant tracking systems also offer a free trial of its software, a demo, or both. (Believe it or not, there are some applicant tracking software companies that don’t offer a free trial and that require you to submit information before they’ll even disclose their pricing structure.)
