The Evolution And Future Of The Recruiter Role

As seen on Forbes

The backbone of every company is the manpower behind its development. Therefore, recruiting is paramount to every company’s strategy and long-term success. Think about it: How can you have stellar support without great customer service reps? How can you achieve record-breaking sales without great salespeople? How can you create great products without the best engineers?

There is a massive amount of pressure on human resource (HR) professionals to find, screen and hire the best talent available in the market. A company is only as strong as the people it employs. That all boils down to one department, and it creates a crucial need for a strong and efficient recruiting process.

If you spoke to a recruiter a couple decades ago, their day-to-day tasks would be extremely different than those of an HR professional today. Although the end goals of the job are the same, the ways in which those goals are reached have drastically shifted.

In the early days of recruitment, most companies tracked the status of candidates through Microsoft Excel and email. This tended to be very laborious for the recruitment team and demanded that staff be constantly logging into third-party applications to achieve the results they needed. There were a lot of moving parts in the old days of HR — and a huge lack of technology — compared to 2017.

The rise of technology, particularly cloud-based tools, disrupted the recruiting industry. It provided an opportunity for entrepreneurs and software professionals to enter the space. HR professionals now had access to software that centralized their recruiting process from job board distribution to candidate pipelines. The space became flooded with applicant-tracking systems aimed to streamline the recruiting process.

The key to surviving in the early software market was flexibility. A lot of these emerging systems did not remain on the market long due to their lack of functionality and increasing competition. As technology continued to evolve, mobile capabilities and a variety of web browsers became huge challenges when creating a centralized platform.

Prescreening questions, auto rankings, employee referral portals and background checks expedited the selection process. Payroll, calendar management, tools and electronic form integrations simplified onboarding. Some applicant tracking systems (ATS) can host up to 15 distinct integrated portals to streamline the recruiting process from cradle to grave.

The cloud also allowed for access to a large distribution network in real time. Job boards and search engines became very powerful tools for reaching candidates actively searching for employment. Social media then presented the opportunity to get job openings in front of candidates who were not actively searching.

Human Resources quickly moved from a regional scale to a global one. It soon became possible to reach the best candidates no matter where they were in the world.

Finally, integrations were key to recruiting toolkits. Early players that integrated with other companies in the HR space turned their software into a powerhouse. The consolidation of third-party integrations brought opportunities like payroll and skill assessments into that single platform. ATS systems completely revolutionized recruitment.

So what else could possibly develop?

Artificial intelligence is a crucial addition coming to most cloud-based systems. AI is the future of technology and especially important to the future of HR. There has never been a more exciting time in HR, as AI will be the ultimate tool for deeper insight when it comes to recruiting job candidates.

Proactive companies that integrate AI into recruitment will become the next generation of shining stars.

New ATS Portal Automates Candidate Reference Checks

For a lot of people in HR, the worst part of recruiting is reference checks.

Reference checks are essential in verifying the qualifications of a potential hire. However, it is tedious to sit and dial multiple phone numbers and spend hours trying to reach references.

Our new Reference Portal automates the collection and confirmation of candidate reference information!

The portal works in three simple steps:

  1. Candidates receive an email from the portal in which they enter or confirm their professional references.
  2. An email is then sent to each reference asking for feedback.
  3. Finally, the reference is asked to endorse or reject the candidate.

This feedback is displayed under the candidate profile for review.

Retail Segment Doubles Applicants with Job Search Engine

With hundreds of job boards on the market, it can be overwhelming for HR Directors to choose the best place to look for candidates. An Applicant Tracking System such as Pereless Systems streamlines the recruitment process from job postings to onboarding.

Pereless partners with leading job boards and search engines to ensure our clients have the most exposure to the applicants they are looking for. Clients across all industries find success working with Pereless, including non-profit organizations, retail, and healthcare to name a few. However, some interesting statistics can be drawn from our retail sector as our partners have continued to provide a large quantity of high quality candidates.

A key part of the retail sector is the fact that successful hires come from a variety of experience levels.

Contrary to popular belief, the retail sector does not only consist of only entry level sales associate positions, our clients have found success filling higher-level positions such as Store Manager and Assistant Manager positions.

Within the past 5 years, Indeed has remained the leading source of candidates for Pereless retail clients. Looking at the data from Pereless source tracking, in total, Indeed has expanded client candidate traffic reach to more than double what a company’s own career site organically brings in. Indeed brought in 115,000 applicants while other job boards brought in 10,000 applicants. Therefore, in 2016, Indeed brought in 11.5x more applicants than all other job boards combined.

Through Pereless’ partnership with Indeed, when employers create a job inside the ATS, the job is shared to Indeed automatically and includes Indeed Apply.

When employers use Indeed Apply, their job listings stand out in search results on Indeed marked as “Easily Apply.” Jobseekers can use their Indeed resume to apply from any device including mobile devices. Indeed Apply also supports screening questions and can be configured for most custom application processes, providing an easy, consistent application process wherever job seekers are.

For one specific retail client, Indeed accounts for 67% of applicants. Indeed Apply was the key to expanding their quantity and quality of applicants. Full page applications directly from a company career portal only accounted for 19% of applicants for their current open jobs.

Another client example shows a combination of Indeed Apply and redirects from Indeed made up 37% of applicant traffic, double the amount of traffic the company received through their company website alone.

Through these examples, it is clear that the retail segment greatly benefits from posting jobs on Indeed.

However, it is not only the quantity of job candidates that are important to our retail clients.  Our clients were able to find over 6,000 hires through Indeed. This high correlation of applicant numbers and hires also suggests that the highest quality candidate for over 6,000 job openings came to our clients from Indeed, backing their promise for quality.

Custom Reports For Applicant Tracking

A new survey conducted by reThinkData revealed that a majority of applicant tracking system (ATS) vendors are beginning to focus on improving reports and analytics for 2017 (based on customer feedback).  For years, Pereless Systems has worked closely with our clients to build an ATS platform that delivers exactly what they need.  Reports and data tracking have always been key functionalities for our system to which our clients directly helped us customize and build.  Take a look at a running list of the most commonly used reports within our system:

 

Build Your Own Report – Custom build a report for any and all tracked fields at the candidate, job, recruiter, or EEO level.

Agency Summary – Returns a list of candidates that were sent through the ATS agency portal.
Job Approval – Provides real-time data of job(s) currently within approval status or that have already been approved.
Individual Approval Level – Export job approval history for free and unlimited recruit team members (learn more about recruit team members here).
Offer Approval – History of offer approvals from start to finish – pull data based on customized date ranges and custom fields.

Total Candidates/Jobs Summary – Current recruitflow status of candidates and/or jobs displayed by recruitflow.
Prescreening Question – Candidate responses to custom prescreening questions.
Daily Activity – Overview of active jobs and the number of candidates that applied during selected dates.
Conversion Rate – Status of candidates in a specific recruitflow based on the date they applied plus the percentage of applicants within a specific flow.

Resource Return On Investment (ROI) – Return on investment for each job posting resource.
Candidates/Jobs Activity (Logged history) – Activity and disposition history of candidates within each recruitflow.
Candidates/Jobs Activity (Current) – Current recruitflow status and other vital information of candidates/jobs by recruitflow.
Candidate Source – Track source of incoming candidates, where they heard about the position, and other helpful analytics.
Candidate Referral – Track candidates who were referred by employees.

EEO Applicant – Activity for EEO reporting purposes (internal and external).  Displays gender, ethnicity, and other related data reported by the candidate.
EEO-1 – Information for hired candidates in the standard required format for specified dates.
Custom EEO-1 – EEO information for all candidates in the standard required format for specified dates.

Job Status/Recruitment Activity – Track activity including job resource information, number of hires/openings to single application, and number of days a job has been open.
Cost Per Hire – Tracks new hire information including the costs recorded within the hired screen.
Time to Fill – Tracks activity ranging from job creation to hire – the job timeline or time to fill calculations for an individual job or group of jobs.

 

candidate report

Pereless Systems – Candidate Report

 

Pereless Systems is unique because we customize our platform based on customer suggestions.  Innovation is our primary goal, and we are always updating our interface and modules to keep up to speed with modern technology.  Request a demo to learn more about what our system can do for you!

Organic Feed Adds Value to Free Job Posting

Modern advances in technology constantly disrupt a range of industries, and human resources and recruitment is no exception. HR technology has become an integral tool to distribute job postings internationally and match companies with quality job candidates around the world.

Pereless Systems, an applicant tracking system (ATS) for enterprise recruitment management, provides access to hundreds of job boards through partnerships with third party integrations. The ATS provides one centralized platform for a variety of recruitment and hiring processes, from job distribution to onboarding.

5 years ago, Pereless partnered with ZipRecruiter, an easy-to-use marketplace with 100+ job board partners that is used by millions of job seekers every month.

This partnership was more than just an integration. The two companies built innovative tools for ATS clients aimed at producing greater exposure for job postings and improving candidate flow and hire rates.

The integration also gives Pereless clients free access to the ZipRecruiter platform. Once a Pereless job post is created, clients can select to upload the job listing directly to ZipRecruiter.

The free organic feed provided by ZipRecruiter is priceless for Pereless clients. Access to the ZipRecruiter organic feed brings all active jobs from the Pereless’ ATS over to ZipRecruiter, exposing every job posting to more qualified candidates and increasing overall traffic to clients’ websites.

With increased visibility comes greater exposure to quality candidates. Opt in to the free ZipRecruiter traffic feed to find your perfect hire.

Hire With Confidence Using This Reference Check Tool…

Employers on the verge of sending job offers to candidates want to be sure they make the right hiring decisions. Often times, employers will contact the applicant’s references to confirm qualifications in work, education, and other important aspects of their experience before making that final decision.  Pereless Systems applicant tracking system makes it easy and convenient for recruiters to connect with candidate references and manage their data with one platform. Here’s how it works:

1) Employers send an email to candidates with a secure login link and pass-code.  

pereless reference check

 

2) Candidates then add, remove, and confirm their references personal information.

pereless reference check

 

3) Candidates can then write a personalized message and send an email to their references requesting they review and confirm recommendations.

4) Once references receive the email, they have the ability to review, accept, or reject endorsements plus write custom responses which are sent and recorded into the applicant tracking system.  

This email method makes it easy for busy recruiters to gather the information they need quickly into one system while not having to worry about playing phone tag with busy references.  If you are in the market for an innovative applicant tracking system that does it all (without killing your budget) request a demo with us today!

Recruiters: Stop Paying Based On Company Size

Do you think it’s logical that applicant tracking system (ATS) vendors charge companies based on the total amount of employees they have versus how many users actually use the system? We don’t think so, which is why our clients save tons of money without sacrificing quality.   We charge clients per user and depending on the user level access they choose per user.  Best of all, we have a free and unlimited user option!

  • Power users (Also known as system administrators, these are the “see all, do all” users of the ATS)
  • Hiring Managers (Users with a restricted login portal who are assigned jobs, candidates, and other accessibility by power users)
  • Recruit Team Members (Free and unlimited users that do not log in to the ATS but are sent emails to participate in the candidate review and hiring process)

We also make it easy for power users to activate or deactivate ATS users as needed and replace them with new users. For instance, let’s say you have a hiring manager who is going on maternity leave for 3 months. Instead of purchasing a new user seat for an additional fee, you can inactivate her license temporarily and replace her with another employee without cost. The absent employee’s activity is saved while the new user’s activity is completely separate and reportable. When your hiring manager returns, power users can reactivate her in a matter of seconds! Power users have full control of their team and the access they have to the ATS!

 

Want to learn more about pricing?  Let’s talk!

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Stop Playing Phone Tag With Your Candidates!

Tired of playing phone tag with job candidates?  Switch up your strategy by using an applicant tracking system (ATS) to contact them via text message.  An estimated 77% of Americans own a smart device and use it to text twice as much as calling someone.  65% of them are using their mobile phone to search for jobs online.  Job recruiters tasked with reviewing applications and contacting candidates for interviews have a main goal of hiring the best talent in the shortest amount of time.  Making communication easy and convenient for both recruiters and candidates is an effective way to get things done quicker while creating a positive and innovative experience.  Using an applicant tracking software like Pereless Systems that is equipped with text messaging functionality will accomplish just that.

Mobile-friendly career pages and applications – The first step to capturing mobile-active candidates is to have an apply process that is compatible with their device.  1 in 10 millennials reported they would dump a company – or skip applying for jobs – if they lacked a mobile apply process.   Pereless Systems builds all career pages and applications mobile-responsive by default.   Make sure the ATS provider you’re currently using does the same.

Text message functionality – The Pereless platform is equipped with SMS text message functionality allowing hiring teams to contact candidates on their mobile device.  Use the ATS to instantly send a text using a generic phone number to introduce yourself to applicants, ask additional questions, and send interview invites.  All conversations are stored within the ATS and can be accessed at any time.

 

pereless text message

Pereless Systems text message functionality

 

Send interview invites based on schedule availability – One of the major benefits of an applicant tracking system is that you can create and manage schedules within the platform. Pereless System’s scheduling feature includes an innovative invite functionality that sends applicants text messages and emails with available dates and times for interviews based on your schedule.  Candidates can then accept or reject their choices and continue to connect with you via text message.  Have multiple team members involved in the interview process?  You can assign them to the confirmed interview date and send them reminders via text and email too!

Pereless text

Pereless Systems text message interview invite

 

 New Pereless clients get their first 5,000 text messages free!  

Contact us to learn more about our mobile functionality and innovative applicant tracking system.

 

Not Hiring? You Can Still Passively Recruit With This Tool…

Is your company career site optimized to its full potential? Even if you are not actively recruiting for positions, you can still passively recruit job candidates by adding a talent network portal to your site. Talent networks provide individuals interested in working for your company an easy way to submit their contact information, resume files, and skill portfolios for future consideration.

Applicants who wish to enter the talent network simply sign up using their email address or login credentials from sites like LinkedIn and GitHub to create an applicant profile detailing their qualifications and showcasing their experience. Once completed, their information is saved and sourced into an internal talent pool within an applicant tracking system (ATS) that can be easily accessed by hiring teams when needed. The ATS system will even trigger alerts to candidates within the talent network when positions aligning with their qualifications are made available.

Pereless Systems Talent Network

Pereless Systems Talent Network Login Form

 

Candidates attracted to your company based on reputation are more likely to be qualified, compatible with company culture, and remain long-term employees if hired.   Providing them an open door to potentially become an employee is not only a smart employer branding strategy, but also provides recruiters an instant list of qualified and interested talent when they need to start filling jobs.  It is a win-win situation for both parties!

 

Check out Pereless Systems applicant tracking software and get the Talent Network portal included FREE!

4 Unique Hiring Strategies

There are many hiring strategies for attracting potential employees to your company. You can draw in candidates with tools other than social media and online postings.

1. Search outside of the US

Once your company is big enough, do not limit your job hires to only people in the US. Look into international hires. Many international candidates have the skills that you need and a foreign perspective can bring new ideas to the company.

2. Billboards

Although most people will search online for a job, a billboard in a more populated area is likely to gain quite a bit of attention, especially if you are looking to hire within a certain radius. Billboards will not only get your brand more visibility but it is also a unique way to display “Now Hiring.”

3. Creative business cards

Your business card can be a lot more than just a name and contact information. When spreading the word of your open job position, hand out some well-designed business cards. This shows that both you and the company that you are a part of are innovative and different. You can see some business card ideas here.

4. Use videos

You can have some typical social media postings to show that you’re hiring, but a creative or funny video may be more likely to attract candidates. You can find out more about creating a social media campaign here. This also sets your company apart from the competition. You can relate to your audience on a deeper level.

The job market is extensive and competitive, attracting the perfect hire is a process, but these small steps can at least bring your company some positive attention. After you have brought in several candidates through your creative hiring strategies, make sure that you have the best ATS to handle it.