5 ways recruiters are using automations to adapt

Adaption isn’t something to be scared of - the recruitment industry is always evolving. Brian Cunningham (Director – Allen Recruitment) remembers how things used to be done, “20 years ago we had a wall full of CVs, printed out and stored alphabetically in binders; every time we got a role in, we would look through rolodexes for each candidate and then find their CV.”.

The idea of this will seem alien to many recruiters out there now but without being open to change and embracing technology, things would have never progressed.

 

Thanks to recruiting automation, the opportunity to adapt available to those in the staffing industry has never been greater. Whether you want to improve pre-hire, post-hire, or data hygiene, there’s an automation to help you refine your processes and eliminate efficiencies.  Not only will you save time, you’ll have happier clients and candidates.

Recruiters are expensive and only getting more so.  The more time they spend on repetitive busy work, the less time they have to engage your clients and candidates.

 

We have automated over 200 tasks as part of our Bullhorn CRM. We automate the client and candidate sales journey from first touch all the way to placement as well as keeping our database clean and tidy.

 

One of the ways in which we’re using these automations is to send automated notifications to our users to make things run more smoothly internally. For example, maybe a recruiter has added 10 candidates to a shortlist but hasn’t submitted the CV’s, or they’ve sent a CV but haven’t followed the CV with a call to the client – we’ve setup automated reminders to let them know they still have outstanding activities to do, keeping them on track. Going back to complete these tasks can often be overlooked by busy recruiters but we’ve really noticed a difference since implementing these reminders.

One of the key automations a staffing and recruiting firm can add is an autoresponder – an email or text that goes out promptly after a candidate applies to a job or an online “contact me form”.

 

I speak with at least 100 different agencies per year and all of them acknowledge that their recruiters do not respond consistently to inbound job applicants or leads. 

An autoresponder immediately creates a lot of efficiencies:

1. Candidates receive immediate acknowledgment;

2. Depending on the vertical, adding a pre-qualification survey prevents unqualified candidates from getting time on your recruiters’ calendars; and

3. Adding a calendar booking link to the autoresponder email streamlines the entire recruiting process.

In terms of bang for your buck, an autoresponder improves the candidate experience, protects your recruiters time, and streamlines the recruiting process. 

Where I’ve seen recruiters get real value out of automation is in post-placement. Once a placement is made its easy to move on to the next requirement and the next candidate, but automations can be used effectively to maintain effective communication while improving your ability to make further placements down the line with your existing network.

 

For permanent placements recruiters can automate ‘check-in’ tasks or emails with placed candidates to ensure they have all the correct information before starting, and feel valued as they settle in at their new company. These can be used to strengthen relationships, help to proactively highlight issues (avoiding any painful rebate conversations) and also use surveys to strengthen processes.

For contract placements it’s even simpler – automate your communications, status updates and task creation to ensure you’re on top of your current contract book, end-dates, extensions and availability so you’re effective at getting the most value out of your network. It’s something we all wish we could juggle on our own, but some carefully considered automations can help recruiters to prioritise their workload and increase their billings!