If you had to name your biggest recruiting challenge today, what would it be? The answers might differ based on the size of your company and the roles you’re hiring for, but I am sure sourcing qualified candidates would make it to your list of challenges.
Talent sourcing is getting more difficult with each passing day. Talent acquisition teams are tasked with achieving hiring goals with lean teams and leaner budgets. While larger companies might have dedicated sourcers in their talent acquisition teams, sourcing might be one of the (many) responsibilities for recruiters in smaller companies. Relying on sourcing tools for recruiters to find candidates is a great way to enhance recruiter productivity in both cases.
In times of uncertainty, talent acquisition leaders are focusing on maximizing the ROI on their existing tech investments and getting the most from recruiting tools to drive efficient growth. In this article, we will explore commonly used recruiting tools for sourcing and some best practices to get the most out of them.
These are some sourcing tools recruiters use to boost their top of funnel:
A sourcing chatbot is like having a 24/7 recruiter on your team and when used correctly, can cut time-to-hire in half. Powered by machine learning, natural language processing (NLP) and understanding (NLU), AI chatbots can answer candidate questions instantly, recommend relevant roles they should apply to, and collect their application details in just a few minutes.
Text recruiting tools enable you to reach multiple candidates at once. Texting helps build deeper candidate relationships and allows candidates to engage in free-flowing conversations with recruiters. Texting is proven to improve response rates and boost offer acceptance rates.
Also read: Top 5 Texting Platforms for Recruiting
With 800 million+ users worldwide, LinkedIn is one of the most commonly used tools for candidate sourcing. According to research, 36% of the existing workforce is actively looking for a new opportunity at any given time. You can tap this segment on LinkedIn and let them know about open positions. It is a great platform to source passive candidates.
Job boards are primarily used for job advertising and are often integrated with ATS. Recruiters and candidates have been using job boards for years. However, sourcing via job boards is getting increasingly expensive and recruiters often struggle to find qualified candidates.
Slack is a great internal communication service and in recent times, recruiters have also used it as a candidate sourcing tool. There are several sector-specific global hiring channels and communities on slack that connect recruiters and candidates.
We work with several enterprises that leverage AI and automation to drastically improve their hiring speeds. Based on our experience and research, here are some best practices to follow to get the best results with recruiting tools for sourcing:
Texting is a highly effective way to reactivate passive talent as the average person checks texts within 90 seconds of receiving them. Texting is scalable, personalized, non-intrusive and delivers a response rate of up to 51%.
Even if your messages are going out to a larger group, every interaction should feel personal. Boost your talent pipeline by sending out dynamic broadcasts to let your database know about open roles and hiring events.
Create personalized workflows across multiple channels and at specific intervals of time - such as a hiring or networking event. You can target specific segments based on their function and location to maximize conversions. Your chances of getting an immediate, positive response are much higher in these cases, making it a must-use recruitment tool for sourcing.
Candidates spend a lot of time on their phones. Browsing open roles, reading hiring emails, checking Glassdoor reviews, all of it happens right there. Enable candidates to complete their applications easily and quickly from their phones to boost your top of funnel. While SMS is the preferred text messaging platform for candidates in the U.S., global candidates are most active on WhatsApp. Leverage these mobile-friendly channels to improve submissions.
Capturing a job seeker’s attention the moment they land on your careers page is critical to starting their experience on a positive note. Leverage sourcing tools like AI chatbots on your website to engage candidates visiting your career page instantly, answer their questions and direct them to relevant jobs. This proactiveness in engaging candidates instead of keeping them waiting drastically improves the candidate experience and increases hiring speed.
You have invested a lot of time and resources in building a candidate database, but is the data always up-to-date? Candidates are always upskilling, changing locations, and updating their contact details. It’s nearly impossible to keep this information updated in your ATS and that’s where automation can help! With the help of automated surveys, you can collect the latest candidate information and keep your database updated - always! This will turn your database into a primary channel for sourcing candidates with no additional $$ spent on job boards!
The numbers don’t lie - data shows that AI-powered recruiting tools, like Sense, have improved hiring speed by 3X. If you want to know more about automated recruiting tools for sourcing and beyond, explore our Recruiting Automation Playbook for 2023!
