YOUR GUIDE TO PURCHASING
RECRUITMENT SOFTWARE
Candidates used an average of 2 sources
to search for a job.
Recruiters’ tools included a fax
machine and filing cabinet.
The line connecting candidates and
recruiters was straight and narrow.
That number is now 18!
Recruiters use a resume database,
social media strategy, career site, talent
network, an ATS, CRM and HRIS. Whoa!
It’s a lot more complex.
You have big talent acquisition problems that need to be solved. Or maybe you don’t even realize you have a problem at all. Does your current technology solution improve recruiter efficiency, provide data-driven talent strategy and give candidates a great experience? If it doesn’t, it might be time to purchase a new solution that will help you evolve with the rapidly changing recruitment landscape.
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MEET MARY:
Your Recruitment Software Advisor
CareerBuilder executive Mary Delaney has more than 20 years of experience in the recruitment technology space, both using and purchasing software. Mary has been on the forefront of delivering talent acquisition technology solutions that have continuously challenged the status quo. An employment and talent expert, Mary regularly discusses hiring trends and workplace issues. She has appeared on Larry King Live, CNN, Headline News, FOX and CBS National Radio and in the Harvard Business Review.
Mary offers her insights and analysis in this recruitment software guide.
I have worked side by side with startups,
Fortune 1000 and global companies
alike to develop and implement their
talent acquisition strategies during this
changing economic environment.
– Mary Delaney, President of Recruitment Software
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What To Look For IN A RECRUITMENT SOFTWARE PARTNER
You’re not just buying a system — you’re buying a partnership. If your vision and
values are aligned, then it’s a good fit — versus just buying talent acquisition
technology off a paper checklist.
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Buy for the future.
Understand whether the company you’re about to invest in shares your priorities. Don’t be afraid to ask your future technology partner where they will be investing their dollars and their human capital. Gain an understanding of how many people — including
engineers, product managers, user interface specialists — they have focused on recruitment innovation. Mary believes a partner shouldn’t be in it to sell you something — a true
partner helps you achieve your goals.
Invest in a true partnership.
A pre-hire platform partner should be willing to connect with your existing software solutions. You have relationships with a variety of recruitment software tools that provide necessary
components needed to hire a candidate. A talent acquisition solution should allow you to keep those partnerships and allow you to integrate them easily through open application program interfaces (APIs).
Invest in technology partners who are committed to your success.
Mary believes that software is one part technology and three parts people. It’s the people that make the software successful. Aside from ensuring the right cultural fit, ask questions such as: Who is my project manager? Who are the key people who will support me in achieving my goals? Will they be able to coach me to improve my current processes? Will I have technical support and will I be able to talk to a live person when I have questions?
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Create the most effective candidate experience possible. Ideally, your talent acquisition software will
provide a mobile optimized career site designed to attract and engage the most qualified candidates. Mary recommends a career site with an easy application process that does not require the candidate to register. When a candidate is required to register during the application process, there can be up to a 95 percent drop-off rate.
Build a talent community and keep in touch. Can candidates connect with you on their time? This means
that candidates need the ability to easily connect with your company and form a relationship. If you don’t offer them the option to quickly join your talent network, then you’re assuming that you will meet every candidate at the exact moment they’re ready to apply. Your recruitment tool should match relevant candidates to your positions and automatically send targeted emails. By doing this, you are able to keep your candidate database updated on available opportunities. By doing this, some companies have experienced a reduction in their overall time to fill and cost per hire. When speaking with a potential partner, ask if the software solution will offer automated re-engagement. Mary advises that you ask the software provider to share stats on open rates and click-through rates of automated emails.
Search candidates effortlessly. Does your platform bring together all candidate pools into one place so
you can quickly and effectively find and hire the best candidates? An internal candidate database takes time and money to build and it’s crucial to keep all of the candidates in a single place. The value of the single candidate database is unlocked with a powerful, reliable search engine. Mary believes that the search engine within your talent acquisition technology solution should be able to do exactly what Google does for general searches: return your candidate search results in order of relevance, with the most relevant candidate at the top. If you have to create folders or tags or search by parsed fields, then you don’t have a powerful search engine.
What To Look For IN A RECRUITMENT SOFTWARE SOLUTION
It should be intuitive and easy to use. A simple interface is key. Recruitment software should be efficient
and easy to use, saving valuable time in your day. A solution should be able to streamline daily recruitment activities with minimal clicks to perform tasks. If a software solution is too tedious, users will take
shortcuts and it will end up corrupting your data.
Understand the importance of analytics. Immediate access to easy-to-consume analytics is crucial in
today’s metric-driven world. Mary suggests that you take a careful look at the standard reports available within the system and understand if those reports will meet your business needs. Immediate insight into ROI of sources and time to hire are two of the most basic reports. Many systems allow users to create on-demand and custom reports, but those reports can sometimes come with large price tags. It’s great to understand where the ‘hidden’ fees can be lurking before purchasing software.
