If you’re a recruiter, time is not on your side. Clients are clamoring for new talent now, and your managers are adding to the pressure. But recruiting is incredibly labor-intensive, so time management is more than a goal; to be successful, it is a necessity. This article will help you learn some tricks for time management that will help you be more effective in your job.  

Close More Candidates by Improving Your Time Management  

In recruiting, the more you hustle, the more you earn. But if you look at the top recruiters that consistently place candidates, they aren’t frantic. There’s a methodology to what they do and a consistency that keeps them heads down, motivated, focused, and winning, every single day. What secrets do they have that you need to learn?  

  1. They plan their day. The best recruiters roadmap their day. They may use an app, but many write down the day’s tasks. They may even do it the night before they come to work to get a jump-start on the next day. Writing down a task sets you up for accountability and action. It’s an “if you build it, they will come” approach that consistently builds a candidate pipeline that yields results. While writing the list down on paper works great, if you develop your daily task list digitally, you can access it on any digital device. Today’s cloud applicant tracking systems (ATS) use these task lists to keep recruiters organized, efficient, and motivated.   
  2. Prioritize your tasks by ROI. Recruiters have a million things clamoring for their attention. Start thinking strategically about the activities you need to accomplish. Which jobs will help you close more candidates? What tasks must be done today versus later in the week? Try to tackle the more complicated or difficult tasks in the morning and get them out of the way. Try not to leave your desk until you’ve done something concrete to close each task.  
  3. Block time increments to work on specific things. Block off time for candidate sourcing, interviewing, or other types of tasks. Turn off your instant messaging, email, texts, or other distractions, and work on that one activity or goal. We recommend doing this in just one- or two-hour increments and set your goals for that time, such as “source ten candidates and do three interviews.” When you hit the end of the time block, get up and walk around the building for an energy boost. Then repeat.  
  4. Work smarter by using smarter software. Today’s software can save you time on job postings, resume sourcing, and candidate communication. The best ATS platforms help you save time by automating resume harvesting by keyword search. Then you can personalize an automated email campaign to weed out the candidates who aren’t interested. The ATS can even help you schedule calls with warm candidates. Then the tool can score candidates so you can see quickly which targets you should be of focus. It can also allow you to text and stay in touch with your candidate pool.   

In the recruiting game, time is money. Make sure you measure your success by the results you achieve, not just the activity. Modern applicant tracking systems can help you work smarter and not longer. Talk to Exelare about what our software can do for you.