Finding great talent for your business is one of the most important things you can do to be successful – and profitable. But you can’t expect top talent to find their way to you without putting in any effort. That’s where recruiting software comes in. It’s the best way to hire qualified employees while maximizing efficiency in the hiring process.
For several years, automation is the name of the game in hiring and recruitment. And one of recruitment software’s biggest advantages is that it largely automates recruiting processes, allowing your business to source candidates while your core staff focuses on other key operational tasks.
What is recruiting software, exactly, and how does it work? What are the different types of recruiting software? And most important, what are the benefits of implementing these tools for your company?
Read on for your complete guide to recruiting software and how it can help your organization.
What is Recruiting Software?
Recruiting software is a broad term encompassing all types of software related to and used in the recruitment process. It covers the technologies available for every step of the recruitment funnel: all the way from sourcing and attracting candidates to selecting, interviewing, and eventually hiring a candidate. Additionally, although onboarding starts after an employee has been hired, it’s typically considered part of the recruitment process as well – and recruiting software can help at that stage, too.
To put it simply, recruiting software is any technology that aids humans in the recruiting process, from initial candidate sourcing all the way through to hiring and onboarding. Talent acquisition software and other recruiting technologies provide a variety of automated functions, from candidate sourcing and applicant tracking to employee onboarding and more. But recruiting software isn’t just about hiring candidates and automating parts of the process. A great recruiting software program will provide an organization with analytics and reporting, allowing you to analyze your recruiting process and streamline it as necessary.
How Does Recruitment Software Work?
Recruiting software tools allow companies to stay organized and streamline their entire hiring process, from posting job openings to hiring and training a new employee. Software platforms allow you to publish job posts across multiple platforms, accept and view applications, maintain interview schedules,
and more – all in one centralized location. What’s more, recruiting software tools are usually customizable, meaning you can tailor the software to suit your business’s particular needs.
Recruitment Software Functions
Recruitment software performs a variety of functions. They include:
Candidate Sourcing
Software tools help to promote open positions at your company through job postings, career boards and websites, talent communities, and even social media channels. And the best software tools will help you analyze your sourcing strategy and make suggestions on how to improve it, like focusing on a specific career website that has given you good results in the past.
Resume Screening
Long gone are the days of hiring managers having to sift through hundreds – if not thousands – of resumes by hand, searching for the candidates who fit the bill. Today, recruitment software programs perform resume screening electronically. This means scanning resumes for relevant keywords in order to sift through large volumes of resumes, finding the best-fitting candidates automatically. Recruiters can use the resume screening functionality of recruiting software to find candidates who fit very specific needs – an HR professional who has experience in accounting and an interest in marketing, for example.
Applicant Tracking
Another key function of recruitment software is applicant tracking. This means tracking the entire applicant workflow through resume screening, assessment, interviews, and background checks. Keeping all of this information organized and tracked is extremely important – using an applicant tracking system (ATS) is an essential part of today’s recruitment. We’ll learn more about ATSs in a moment.
KPI Assessment
Recruiting software collects data over time to help your company’s hiring and recruitment become more strategic. One of the ways it does that is by helping you measure your hiring manager or recruiters’ key performance indicators, or KPIs. You can take a look back and see what’s working (and what’s not) in terms of quality of hire, length of employment, etc., helping you to make strategic business decisions moving forward.
Types of Software Recruitment Tools
There are various types of software recruitment tools out there, including pre-selection software, interviewing software, onboarding software, and more. Even more common are two of the biggest players in recruitment software: the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and the Candidate or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is one of the most common pieces of recruiting technology in use today. Over 98% of Fortune 500 companies use one, according to Jobscan. In many ways, your ATS is the backbone of your recruiting software and your hiring process in general. This technology supports you in automating your recruitment and staffing operations, while also serving as the database for all candidate data like resumes and applications.
How Does an ATS Work?
While all ATSs work a little differently, the main functioning looks like this: Applicant tracking system software processes candidate information by storing their data in a database. Then, recruiters can search the ATS for specific job-related keywords needed for the position. For instance, if a recruiter is looking for an IT professional, they can search the ATS for various IT-related keywords like “information technology,” “systems engineer,” or “network engineer.” Then, candidates with these skillsets will appear, allowing the recruiter to quickly and easily find candidates who suit the role.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System
Recruitment CRM systems manage the entire recruitment process while building and maintaining a relationship with job candidates. These systems can stand alone and integrate into your ATS, or you can purchase fully integrated CRMs as part of a bigger suite of tools.
Recruitment CRM software helps recruiters engage with candidates on a deeper level, collaborate more efficiently, source and nurture talent, and accurately measure the performance of their efforts. A good CRM system will give your company access to important components like:
· Email and text campaign abilities
· Drip campaigns
· Conversion rate analytics
· CTA (call to action) function for landing pages
· Search functionality
Benefits of Recruiting Software
Whether it’s an ATS, CRM, or other kinds of recruiting software, there are a plethora of benefits to using modern recruitment technology. Recruiting software helps you:
Find Better Candidates
This is the first and most obvious benefit of using recruiting software solutions. You won’t waste your time sourcing bad candidates who turn into bad hires. You’ll find the best candidates for the job, the first time. Because recruiting software allows you to screen candidates based on the very specific needs of your open role and your company at large, you’re tailoring the candidate search. That makes for more accurate sourcing and better hires in general.
Enhance Recruiting Productivity
The time savings that recruitment software offers is another huge benefit. Since this technology screens resumes and schedules interviews for you, you save a lot of time. It can free up recruiters and hiring managers to focus on other work that relates to your business, helping them avoid the monotonous and tedious tasks that come with manual recruiting. Plus, because recruiting software solutions collect data and provide reporting and analytics, you’ll get real-time insights into your recruitment process and where it can be improved.
24/7 Service
Recruiters don’t work 24/7, so they can’t respond to candidates or applications 24/7, either. A recruiting software platform doesn’t have that problem. This technology allows your business to be available to candidates at any time for support. Whether a candidate applies to an open job at 7:00 a.m. or midnight, your software can respond to queries and applications as needed.
Improve Candidate Experience
Another benefit of recruiting software is that it improves the overall candidate experience throughout the recruitment process. And that’s important not only for the candidate’s success, but your reputation and future recruiting efforts. When candidates are able to apply easily, communicate with the recruiter effectively, and be matched with jobs that suit their exact skill sets, they have a great experience with your company.
An added benefit of using recruiting software is that it reduces or eliminates unconscious bias during recruitment. Because the system ignores demographic information about candidates – age, gender, race, etc. – it finds candidates based on nothing more than their fit for the job. That ensures candidates are not treated unfairly through the recruitment process.
Integrate Recruiting Software Today with Exelare
Recruiting software has obvious benefits for recruiters and companies in general, including the ability to find better candidates, streamlining the hiring process to save time and money, and improving the candidate experience. From applicant tracking software systems to candidate relationship management solutions, robust software for recruiters is a must-have.
Exelare is the recruiting software company you can trust to deliver solutions that work for your business. Get in touch with us today to schedule a demo and get your recruiting team the technology they need to do their best work.
