Use Technology to Improve the Candidate Experience

As time goes on, technology continues to play an ever more significant role in our lives and society as a whole. Recruiting is no exception — we've seen how technology can be used to improve the hiring process in multiple areas, helping you connect with more aligned candidates more reliably and affordably.

In a recent report by LinkedIn, 68% of respondents agreed that investing in new recruiting tools and technology is a highly effective way to boost your team’s performance. And research by Capterra has found that 94% of recruiters and hiring professionals believe using recruitment software has positively impacted their hiring process and talent acquisition.

So how can you tap into the power of recruiting technology to tune up your hiring processes and drive your business forward?

Why technology is so important in recruiting

There are many reasons why startups and recruiters should invest in recruiting technologies and tools, such as:

• The right tools can streamline your staffing work and make it faster and more efficient, saving you time and resources to invest in other areas of your organization. Automation has also been shown to improve hiring satisfaction rates by 36%.
• Technology can help minimize errors so fewer of the right candidates fall through the cracks. For example, software that reminds you to follow up with certain candidates on a regular basis can be useful here.
  

• Tech allows for remote hiring so you can expand your outreach far beyond your immediate geographical region and connect with top talent in a more convenient way. Given that remote work has increased by 159% since 2009, this can be a good way to connect with a wider range of candidates.
• We live in an increasingly digital world. Investing in recruiting technology shows candidates from the start that your company is forward-thinking and unafraid to embrace digital tools.
  
  

Now let’s take a look at some specific ways startups can use technology to improve the candidate experience and refine their hiring process.

How technology can improve the candidate experience

Greater accessibility

Tools like Zoom, Skype, and Microsoft Teams make it easier than ever to connect face-to-face with people on the other side of the country or the globe with video interviews. When it comes to recruiting, these tools allow you to connect with a much wider range of candidates.

Imagine you connect with the perfect candidate but they live on the opposite coast. Just a decade ago, they would have been forced to cross the country at great expense just to attend an interview. As a result, many promising candidates missed out on what could have been their dream career move.

Today, you can connect with candidates in a matter of seconds via a high-quality video call. Video chat software also makes it easier for other team members to join an interview without taking large chunks of time out of their day to travel to an in-person meeting.

Optimizing for DEI

Implementing DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) strategy in your recruiting is incredibly important. Diverse companies tend to perform better across a range of metrics, and no company wants to be seen as exclusive or biased.

Technology can be used to optimize for a robust DEI strategy and make your hiring process more inclusive and fair. For example, tools like Entelo help recruiters identify and connect with more candidates from under-represented groups.

Outsource challenging recruiting work

There are many tasks involved in the hiring process that are extremely time-consuming, difficult, and tedious for recruiters but are also unavoidable. Fortunately, it’s now possible to outsource many of these tasks to technology solutions that are able to perform them much more quickly and effectively than humans.

One example is technical screening — evaluating and testing tech candidates' skills and experiences according to your company’s requirements. This formerly challenging process is now much easier thanks to tools like Codility and WeCP.

Applicant tracking and management

Tools like an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and recruiting software make it easier than ever to manage your hiring activities and stay organized. This allows you to be more efficient with hiring, avoid any mistakes like interview scheduling clashes, and create a smoother and more rewarding experience for your candidates. For example, an ATS can:

• Automate responses to engage with candidates more effectively and frequently, keeping your company top of mind
• Source and connect with candidates automatically, reducing the amount of manual work recruiters need to do
• Screen resumes and applications more quickly than human staff can
  
  

Personalization

Personalization is a powerful tool across the web. When it comes to recruiting, personalization allows you to target candidates more effectively, connect with them in a more meaningful way, create tailored candidate journeys, and improve your onboarding processes for new hires.

A more personalized and dynamic careers page can also be highly useful, giving candidates a more personal and welcoming touch from the very beginning of their relationship with your company.

Personalization relies on the use of data. Today, companies have access to more data on potential candidates than ever before and can use tools like a CRM to use this data to build personalized recruiting experiences.

For example, with a CRM you can send a personalized message to a candidate — based on the information you have about them — to stand out amongst more generic, templated communications from other companies.

Time-saving

Technologies like automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence can be used to save time with your recruiting activities, making things faster, easier, and more convenient. One example is using AI chatbots to connect with job seekers who visit your website’s Careers page. The chatbot can collect basic information and answer simple questions for candidates ahead of time. This removes the need for a human team member like a hiring manager to do that work — freeing up time to focus on other stages of the candidate journey — while also pre-screening candidates automatically.

Another example is offering Easy Apply within job descriptions on your careers page. This feature allows applicants to quickly share a short snapshot of their LinkedIn page with key information, removing friction and helping you quickly pinpoint promising candidates to reach out to.

More communication options

Companies today have access to a wider range of communication channels than at any other point in history. This makes it easier than ever to connect and communicate with your candidates in their preferred way.

Email, social media, video chat software, collaboration tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams, and messaging apps like WhatsApp are all potential ways to keep in touch with your prospective hires throughout the recruiting process. Job boards and LinkedIn are also good examples of ways to connect and communicate with potential candidates.

One advantage of these communication tools is that they allow you to interact with candidates in unexpected ways, making it easier to stand out and catch their attention. One example is a recruiter responding to a candidate’s tweet, or sending them a LinkedIn message praising a specific one of their recent posts.

Finally, these platforms allow recruiters to see far beyond a resume. They offer detailed, long-term insights into how candidates speak, think, and behave in public.

More ways to discover candidates

Technology makes it far easier to find and connect with potential new team members. In addition to job postings on career-specific sites like Indeed and LinkedIn, recruiters can also use social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, ads on sites like Google, email outreach, and many more methods to find candidates, reach out, and start the recruiting process.

Harness the power of your network

One of the most exciting use cases for technology in recruiting is the ability to use your personal network to connect with the best candidates for your company. Typically, candidates from your network are higher-quality than those found through other methods and tend to stay in the job longer.

This is known as network recruiting, and if used correctly it’s an incredibly powerful tool for recruiters and startups today. The best way to effectively harness network recruiting is to use network recruiting technology, which makes it easier than ever before to mine your network for references — shortening hire time, reducing turnover, and connecting with higher-quality prospects.

That’s why we built The Swarm, to help you harness the power of your network, hire the most talented professionals, and grow your business. Start free at theswarm.com