Ways to Hire & Onboard Remote Workers Recruiting remote workers has shifted to become a main focus for many businesses. Prior to the pandemic, many companies had little to no best practices in place for recruiting, hiring and onboarding remote workers and had to...
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How to Get the Most out of your HR Software
Many recruiters make use of an applicant tracking system, otherwise known as recruiting software. This investment in a software can help keep track of candidates, job orders and even help make the placement process much more efficient.
Along with it are features that typically try to stay flexible and helpful for the recruiters use case. Often though, there may be features that are simply overlooked or not taken advantage of quite as much – but could be used in a really powerful way. Sometimes it’s enough where it can be considered a return on your investment.
Here to possibly help you find a new way to use an applicant tracking system, here are some features that can be used to make the most of your experience:
Pre Screening questionnaires
This can be really helpful for both recruiters and corporate staffing. When you are out trying to find that perfect candidate, it can be a challenge to really grasp what a person’s qualifications are just based off of a resume. When it comes to hiring a professional with a specific area of expertise, often it is best to have some pre-screening questions to get to know them.
Typically, this is a feature that applicant tracking system’s use. With the amount of time that is put into a candidate being placed, it is worthwhile to use some of these questionnaires to make the process go smoother. This can not only save the candidate time in their job search, but it saves you time as a recruiter being able to have only the most qualified candidates going after your position.
Seen pretty often in computer science for example, there can be pre-screened questions that include a candidate’s experience with certain programming languages. With many different questionnaire formats, it is possible to shape them for your individual needs as a recruiter.
Have preset email templates and triggers
With any candidate coming into a job pipeline, there can be many stages to go through. There is the pre-screen, background check, interview, follow-up, second interview, and so on. Between each stage and with multiple candidates, it can be hard to remember to send out timely emails to each individual.
With a feature such as email triggers, you can be saved both time and attention to the emails that go out to candidates. Each time there is a hiring stage change, there is the opportunity to utilize these emails which can save you time in the long run.
This can also be really beneficial to you and your brand. Whether you’re a single recruiter or an HR staffing specialist, having really good communication with applicants is important. Oftentimes, many candidates can be left in the dust waiting for any response at all!
Utilizing the Reports function
Reports often are really helpful when in an agency setting for recruiting. When it comes to reporting on your weekly, monthly or even yearly performance – reports are going to have your back. Certain Applicant Tracking systems have a built-in center for both reports and Key Performance Indicators.
By making sure that your candidates are logged correctly and get organized into specific groups, you can utilize reports to its fullest potential. Some of the things you can track are:
- Qualified candidates
- Cost-per-hire
- Placement ratio
- Retention rate
- Offer acceptance rate
Job Boards + Job posting
This feature is usually well used by corporate or in-house users — and for good reason. It usually is a really great tool for getting your job information out there. If you have certain jobs in your company that are open, using these job board features can bring candidates straight to you.
For many recruiting software platforms, they automatically post to the big job websites out there. But often, this is a good alternative and having your own website to gain credibility. In some cases, this also lines up with the scheduling that is done for interviewing and beginning onboarding.
Segmenting and Boolean Search
One feature that often gets overlooked is the ability to use a specific search. In applicant tracking systems, there is usually a system in place to be able to group your candidates. Whether it’s based on experience, education level – different talent pools can be created to make it easier for you to find them when you need them most for a placement.
Boolean search operations come in really handy also when you are doing some searching within your database. Using the AND and OR operators is something that doesn’t always get used frequently but is very powerful when you have too many candidates or job orders to sort through.
Making use of Lists
Whether you are by yourself or on a team of hiring partners, there is always the function of lists that can come into play. Especially in a team setting, this can be used to keep track of onboarding procedures, legal proceedings, important contacts or candidates coming through – you name it!
Lists often go unnoticed in recruiting software because of all of the other functionality. But forget your pen and paper, use the built-in feature! Keeping better track of the processes that go on within your recruiting can help you save valuable time and help you be more efficient.
In Conclusion
Following these tips can help you squeeze every last ROI out of your ATS investment. With overlooked features and different use-cases, recruiting software is designed to streamline your placement experience — so why not make the most of it?
5 Tips to Improve Hospitality Recruiting
As a wide industry that often gets thrown around in conversation, hospitality is quite large. One of the main factors of any hospitality company is that they have customer satisfaction as one of their goals. Examples include sectors such as entertainment, travel, food industry, events, HR, sales, marketing and even education.
In such a wide range of fields, there is always an increased demand for the upkeep of these operations. This can also make it hard to have a strategy because there is such an array of industries tucked under the hospitality umbrella.
Follow these tips to help you within the hospitality field:
1. Leverage Referrals
Referrals typically make for pretty good employees as they have had a referenced entry point. They typically perform up to 15% better than other hires and have a higher retention rate as well, making them worthwhile hires for a company.
If a staff or company has a plan in place to create a referral program for employees, this can help encourage messaging to their respective networks. This makes the whole recruitment process much easier and gets possible candidates to the front door. Then once they are there, all you need is an HR software to help manage and organize them.
Tools such as Linkedin can be really powerful tools. With a few employees sharing a job order to their connections, you can easily garner thousands of valuable impressions to get some traction from potential candidates.
2. Peer Interviewing
Typically recruiters make some placements outside of their area of expertise – but that’s where your peers come in handy. If you know someone who is more capable or knows good hospitality talent when they see it, listen to them!
Handing the reins over to another trusted person can be the saving grace of finding a good candidate. It is also typically like a referral in that it can lead to a great hiring process and even better retention.
This process is similar to split recruitment in that if you team up with another recruiter, you can both succeed in making the placement. One of the best Split-fee networks to do so is the Top Echelon Network, filled with over 1000 candidates and job orders – the opportunity is there!
3. School recruiting & Apprenticeships
For a little bit more of an active approach, you can always go out and search for candidates to fill these positions. There are often school job fairs designated throughout the year. Even during the last year of the pandemic, events were held in an online event setting.
This can help you target students who are specifically looking for part-time work or experience within the hospitality industry. This is definitely a more proactive approach to recruiting, however it could pay off in the longer run in getting placements.
Taking care of these employees matters as well. Ensuring them what the jobs offer and what sort of experience they can achieve would be a really great way to just open up the communication regarding the position.
4. Create Giveaway Marketing Materials
Getting brochures, small newsletters or even just business cars can help get the word out there. In some ways, it can help to market your HR or recruiting firm. By giving your staff these materials, they can be free to hand it out to anyone they feel fit for certain positions that come their way.
This leads the recruiter free to find some easy leads in their down time and can create another avenue for potential candidates.
5. Utilize Social Media
Rather than traditional routes of finding jobs, many people are out using social media in an attempt to find job opportunities. In 2019, 79% of job seekers looked for new jobs on social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn before going to traditional job sources. This makes it a really good place for recruiters to gather contacts and candidate information for potential placements.
So while you or your company also promote yourself, there is the chance for outreach and doing some gathering of candidates from social media. Go into it with a strategy to connect with these potential candidates and stick to the ones that will be relevant!
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many different ways you can develop your recruitment strategies surrounding the hospitality industry. This is a sector that will continue to remain wide and increase as more and more people need personal services.
Some strategies can be more tough than others, it is all about what you think will work best for you. We are in a constantly changing world, so some of these might be more effective than others in 2021 – but rest assured it will be a great area for recruitment.
How COVID-19 shaped 2021 Hiring Trends
The past year has no doubt been an impactful one. Still in 2021 and beyond, we will see and feel changes to our processes in the workforce. This includes the recruiting and hiring industry. As 2020 wasn’t the greatest year for job outlooks, we look forward to different approaches to hiring and new talent acquisition trends to ease us along.
As COVID vaccinations become more and more common and it is more dealt with, businesses will be able to return to somewhat of a normal state. For many this may be the same as before the pandemic – for others, not so much.
What are some of those changes you ask? Here are some to note:
Virtual Hiring
For many, this was a change that had never been done on a big scale before. Sending workers home to work remotely was a first, and could remain common now that employees have had a taste. When it comes to the hiring processes, it was safe for both parties to remain in their own locations. With the use of technology, it was possible to interview and facilitate the majority of onboarding without ever having to meet in-person.
Interviews will most likely continue to be done largely from remote locations, simply due to the fact that it saves time and costs. According to a LinkedIn survey, around 70% of professionals said that hiring processes will become increasingly standard.
The marquee question is: when will post-COVID begin? Since there could never truly be a definite “end” to the COVID virus, the virtual recruiting will look to continue to also act as something of a safety measure for both parties in the hiring process. Even more important through this process, is the use of an applicant tracking system. Being able to manage your job postings, send out pre-screening questionnaires and have paperless onboarding are huge benefits.
While these times of remote work are essential now for safety, many also speculate that we will return to workplaces with regular face-to-face interaction at some point. Humans are social beings, and so therefore it will be in our best interests to create some sort of balance.
Internal Hiring and Mobility
According to LinkedIn Data, internal mobility and job changes are up by 20 percent in the last year. With hiring budgets immediately slashed by many organizations last March, an increased look at already available talent was the way to go. Since many businesses will have the engagement of internal employees already, there are fewer costs and shorter hiring processes.
Another benefit of this process is greater retention. Retention and churn is something that many companies have tried to focus on in recent years with their own employees. As time goes on and people are well equipped to take on more challenging roles, they expect mobility options. This benefits both the employee and the company in the grand scheme of things. By working together to create mobility through additional skills and technology, this is an area that can gain pace in the new year.
Choosing to decide between building talent and adding headcount in your company can be a real challenge with uncertain times ahead. Ensuring you have flexibility and the means to react to immediate business needs would be the best strategy to approach 2021 with.
Diversity and Inclusion
For many individuals looking at job openings, one of the key things they tend to look at are its values. With this, comes its responsibilities towards its employees, greater society, its shareholders and so on. A focus for many organizations in this matter will include diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. According to Workplace Intelligence, 70% of job seekers said they want to work for a company that demonstrates a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Advocating for more diverse pipelines will come through recruiting funnels. With any potential for bias being removed, creating this diversified workplace is imperative for many companies. For the opportunity awaits for recruiters to take lead on this initiative. Whether it be through interview panels, using data-driven reports or just having diversity goals to set forth – there is work to be done.
Expanded Skill Sets
Being able to adapt to the times is an increasingly important skill, especially if something such as 2020 happens. Through challenges, there will be ways to persevere and grasp at opportunities for some. For many recruiters, this meant learning and self-growth within the first months of the pandemic.
By providing new ways for outreach, talent acquisition and networking skills, hiring professionals can expect this to see results of this big wave in 2021 and beyond. One of the best investments you can make is in educating yourself, and that is seemingly what many did amidst COVID-19.
With this learning process, come tools that often make these challenging hiring needs easier and more timely. In using an applicant tracking system such as The Applicant Manager, the tools you need as a hiring professional are right at your fingertips. Given the ability to keep tabs on current applicants, update a job portal or even provide onboarding paperwork remotely – this is something that can make 2021 even easier.