There is no doubt that a recruiter’s day is hectic; between calls, emails, interviews and meetings, there is a stack of administration that must be done to fill vacancies. As a recruiter, it is important that you don’t get snowed under with these tasks so that you have the time to do what you do best, filling roles with the right candidates, fast.
One of the best ways to do this is by using technology that enables you to automate as much of your day as possible. Here are three ways you can save time every day with simple automation tools you may even already have at your fingertips.
#1 Manage your time with your Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
Organise your day by setting tasks, reminders, events/meetings in your calendar. This will not only keep you on-track for the day but also sync your calendar with your ATS.
That way, these tasks and events/meetings will not only serve as reminders, they will now be recorded against a candidate’s activities. This will serve you well in the future when you can see all the past interactions with a candidate or client and make handovers between recruiters a breeze.
#2 Keep candidates informed using auto-response tools
Communication with candidates is critical, but it’s also time consuming and can take up a significant part of your day. With Treasury figures forecasting the jobless rate to reach 10 percent in June this year, we are likely to see candidate numbers skyrocket.
Now, more than ever, recruiters need to maintain good engagement with candidates, whether it is letting them know early on that they haven’t been successful or sending the paperwork to the successful applicant. The standard response and automated emails in your ATS can really help here, allowing you to respond to a large pool of candidates quickly and easily.
While it isn’t one-to-one communication, maintaining this regular communication can lessen candidate uncertainty, reduce the number of incoming candidate questions, and provide a better customer experience by keeping everyone informed.
#3 Reduce administration with ATS automation
You can save significant time each day by looking at how you automate the hiring process, from posting job adverts, to screening CVs, interviewing candidates, completing reference checks and sending letters of offer.
Whether you want to automate the end-to-end process or choose specific tasks, it’s a process that you can design around your needs. It is common for recruiters to use their ATS for things like posting to job boards, scheduling interviews and sending automated letters, but many are also realising the benefits of taking their process automation beyond simple administration tasks.
Reference checking is a great example. It’s a critical step to make sure you have found the right candidate for your client but it’s one that can take hours and days of chasing. Expanding your automation tools to include an integrated reference checking system can give you that time back.
Many are also looking to pre-screening tools to refine large candidate pools. They work by including a short questionnaire with the application, which screens out those candidates who don’t meet the minimum requirements and notifies them via email that their application has been unsuccessful. All of this is done via your ATS before you have even looked at an application.
You can also save time by using video interviews to screen candidates before you progress to, and invest significant time in, face-to-face interviews. Through your ATS, you can select those candidates you would like to video interview, and then automatically send them the questions and instructions. You can then review the videos as they come in and make a more informed decision as to who you will progress. Some even share the videos with their clients, enabling the client to decide on who they would like to meet. For some roles, this may even be enough to make a candidate selection, and all of it completed without you ever having to meet the candidate.
Of course, the level of automation that suits you and each job vacancy will be different, and it is critical that we maintain the people-focus our industry thrives on. However, the right level of automation for your client and vacancy can deliver a better overall experience. Whether you choose to automate a small part of your day or almost all of it, the key is to remember that the technology is there to help you deliver outcomes and support the work you already do in building great relationships, not replace it.
Your ATS can help you continue to deliver a great client and candidate experience, while also reducing the administrative tasks and giving you more time to focus on your relationships, increase your candidate pool, and take on more vacancies.
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