Die Kandidatenerfahrung ist für Recruiter nach wie vor von höchster Priorität
One aspect of recruiting that shows no signs of diminishing in importance is the importance of the experience of applicants. Since the competitive pressure for top talent remains high, recruiters place greater emphasis on the application process as a unique selling point. Customers also want agencies to ensure that candidates who apply for a position in their company have a consistently positive experience.
Applicants themselves also demand a better, consumer-like experience. It’s no secret in the recruitment industry that the line between consumers and applicants has become blurred beyond recognition. For this reason, recruiters have to work harder than ever to sell a job to the individual.
Focus on applicant experience
In fact, applicants‘ experience at a recent UK Recruiter conference was part of most of the discussions and presentations. In his opening speech, Neil Carberry, CEO of REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation), outlined the most important characteristics of a future-oriented recruiter. For each property there was an element that influenced the experience of the applicants; from good time management and advice to applicants to a real passion for the industry and satisfying the needs of the candidates.
There was even a separate workshop just for improving the applicant experience. The majority of participants stressed that the development of these relationships and their proven added value for applicants are of the highest priority for the progress of the agencies.
There was a common proposal to achieve this goal: speed. It was generally agreed that today’s talents want immediacy in their recruitment interactions. Applicants want to know where they are in the hiring process, when they can expect an answer, and do not want to be kept waiting. Specifically, one of the moderators at the UK Recruiter Conference cited the increase in ’near me‘ searches as evidence. These have increased by 900% in the past two years – a clear indication that we as a society want access to immediate, time-critical information.
However, there is no doubt that recruiters have noticed a huge increase in their daily workload. Given the simplicity of online search and connections, professionals need to go through a lot of information. In addition, administrative tasks such as checking the calendar, reminding appointments and formatting resumes consume a large part of the resources. How can recruiters time grant to bring the human touch back into the hiring process and thus to strengthen the focus on the candidate experience?
Automate, automate, automate
The answer is technology. A large part of the tasks of the recruiter can essentially be automated. There are chatbots that can be integrated into your ATS and calendar to schedule or reschedule appointments and respond immediately to inquiries. This gives the candidates the sense of immediacy they are looking for. Automating such responses can help agencies adapt to the life of applicants; A participant at the event said that analysis of response times and interactions in their database showed that the majority of their contacts are active around 11:00 p.m. – well after the time a recruiter would – or should be. By automating many of these interactions and responses, applicants can get direct access to information
It is critical to use advanced automation technology so recruiters can take the time to bring the human touch back to the recruitment industry and build long-lasting, high quality relationships that will make their business fit for the future.
You can find more tips and tricks for the strategic solution of the shortage of skilled workers in our Candidate Sourcing Guide
