I have recently come across an interesting study conducted by TrustRadius titled ‘The Buyer’s Guide to Recruiting/ATS Software.’ It offers an overview, user ratings and feedback on some of the top ATS software products available on the market. While you can download the full report and read reviews of various vendors, I wanted to share some interesting trends highlighted in the report about trends in recruiting technology.
1. Applicants = Customers
Increasingly, recruiters have come to the conclusion that to attract top talent, they should treat them the same way as marketing departments would treat customers. You need to nurture your network, be responsive, engaging and see the value of a candidate beyond what’s written in his/her CV. As a result, there are more and more solutions on the market that gamify the application process and engage potential applicants through social media platforms.
2. Data Mining
As of this year we’ve created so much digital data that you can find publicly available information on pretty much anyone. The recruitment tech market is now offering solutions that would allow hiring managers and recruiters to mine this vast digital bank and identify candidates based on very specific skills, qualities and experiences. Data mining is shifting from sourcing through unstructured browsing to a more strategic approach, for example “People Aggregator Sourcing.” Software solutions can now be of great assistance to recruiters sourcing through social data, which is not limited to sources like LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, but can also integrate information from smaller, more targeted platforms such as About.me, Quora, etc.
3. Mobile
Organisations increasingly realise that in this day and age in order to have a shot at getting top talent on board in the near future, the application process must be mobile enabled. As Millenials and Gen Z make up a growing percentage of the workforce, their habits and interaction with technologies must be one of the top factors to consider when designing a job application process.
4. Video Interviewing
Video-enabled devices are the new norm – whether in the form of mobile phones, tablets or laptops. Video interviewing is not only a time-saving tool but, with an increasing number of workers telecommuting, it is turning into a primary method of candidate assessment. As a result, ATS software providers are now offering solutions with integrated video-interviewing capabilities.
5. Job Boards
Jobs boards have not and probably will not ever disappear. However, two types of platforms are taking market share from traditional job boards – niche ones and aggregators. The former collects job ads targeting a specific industry or region. The latter, collects postings not only from job boards across the web but also directly from companies’ websites. This single easy-to-use interface is often times found to be more useful for candidates than searching individual boards and companies’ postings.
6. Resume Management vs Assessment
The recruitment industry is slowly but surely shifting its focus and priorities from resume management and applicant tracking capabilities to sourcing, analytics, assessment and interview technologies. While some may think it’s bad news for ATS, vendors at a growing rate offer solutions with integrated analytics, soft skills assessment and social media platforms.
Overall, it appears that ATS and recruiting tech are becoming less about processing large amounts of data but about smart processing of this data, in a manner that can identify passive candidates, engage the right talent, and provide insight into what skills and qualities make applicants successful in particular jobs.
