There are few industries more personal than recruiting, and as we’ve written about pretty extensively in the past few years, talent is demanding a more personal touch from recruiters than ever.
Past trends and recent events have only elevated the need for a personal touch. And thankfully technology has made it more realistic than ever for recruiters to add that personal touch to their interactions. Conversational recruiting has been an emerging buzzword in the staffing industry for quite some time. With so many other trends and buzzwords to follow over the past several years, it’s okay if conversational recruiting hasn’t been on your radar (check out some of our recent blog posts for an introduction).
Now more than ever, though, it’s time for conversational recruiting to move squarely onto your radar. And although your instincts may say that more technology leads to less personal interaction, I’ve got some good news -- the opposite is true.
Conversational recruiting is focused on creating more human, personalized experiences for candidates. This includes using text recruiting, chatbots, personal emails, and LinkedIn communications.
As I mentioned before, candidates have more on their plates than ever before -- PLUS they’re looking for work. They may not be able to call or email your staffing firm between 9 and 5. Or walk into your branch and chat with their favorite recruiter or drop off an updated CV. Maybe they have questions about a job, or want to schedule an interview, at 11 o’clock at night, or first thing in the morning before their kids get up. Conversational recruiting strategies provide numerous benefits for candidates in the above scenarios. Below are some of the benefits.
With conversational recruiting, candidates can interact with your company and have real, personal conversations whenever they are available. Using artificial intelligence and Natural Language Processing (NLP), an AI recruiting chatbot will ask and answer relevant questions and provide important information. If and when it’s necessary, it will help schedule a one-on-one call with a recruiter.
Your talent feels heard and valued. They feel like someone is working on their behalf, even in the middle of the night. And, their search for jobs is moving forward, all while your recruiters are (probably!) sleeping.
We’re in a strange time for recruiters. Even those who have fewer reqs on their desk are still overwhelmed with administrative tasks (our research shows that recruiters spend about 2/3 of their time on them!). When we only have ⅓ of our days to spend on the most important tasks, it can be difficult to make every encounter as meaningful as you can.
We’ve touched upon how conversational recruiting, and specifically, recruiting chatbots, can hold real conversations with candidates 24/7. What’s especially critical about this technology and capability for your recruiters is that it removes a lot of the back and forth, and information gathering that eats up so much time such as data-entry and qualification verification or scheduling.
And as I mentioned, it only moves conversations to recruiters that need one-on-one, human interaction. That means your recruiters are gaining more time because the conversational recruiting chatbot handles lower-level information gathering and question answering. And when they DO get on the phone or video call, they can spend that time on important things (that matter to both talent AND recruiters), making real, meaningful connections with candidates and contractors.
Recruiters are less harried and busy, and are spending more time doing what they enjoy the most -- talking to and placing candidates!
Have you ever called a company or doctor’s office, only to get handed off to three people before you get to the right person? And each time, you’re telling your story or asking your question again? That fractured experience is not only unsatisfying, it’s frustrating.
Candidates are traditionally VERY frustrated with recruiting and recruiters. Some organizations have commoditized talent over the years, much to the dismay of talent. Oftentimes, they are coming in with an edge. They want you to treat them well, but sometimes they don’t expect it. What a shame!
We’ve already walked through how conversational recruiting can facilitate real-time conversations with talent, and how it can empower your recruiters to spend more time on the phone (or sending emails) in meaningful conversations that matter to talent.
Putting these pieces together, it becomes clear just how SEAMLESS the experience becomes when you engage conversational recruiting technology. The experience for candidates moving from a conversational chatbot to recruiter feels natural and organic. The recruiter is armed with data from the chatbot conversation, plus data from your ATS and any other engagements. When the time comes for that one-on-one recruiting conversation, the candidate feels at-ease, as if they already know your recruiters. Since their conversation doesn’t focus on answering easy questions and gathering data (the chatbot already handled that end of it), candidates hang up feeling GOOD about your recruiter and your staffing firm. Although technology facilitated the process, it facilitated a SEAMLESS one that was more personal and engaging.
Recruiters, whose days are often dictated by responding to things and chasing small details or basic information, instead get to control their days. Filling reqs becomes more of a seamless experience for them as well. Happy satisfied recruiters and engaged, loyal talent are integral to making this industry tick.
Thanks to conversational recruiting technology, they’re not just checking off boxes and getting more done, they’re getting it done more quickly and in better quality -- which leads to ⬆️ revenue.
Our technology is developed and supported by best-in-class recruiting experts. To learn more about our candidate engagement platform and how it can power more personalized candidate communications and experiences, schedule a demo here.
