The internet has transformed the way people and businesses work, and it also has revolutionized the way the best management practices are executed. Automation has become a prevalent aspect of having online tools at hand, but there are much more in store for professionals to further their learning curve and skills and for businesses to expand and grow.
Online self services are also becoming popular. User initiated actions make internet users feel that they have more control over what they want to get at the moment. For example, an interested customer that wanted to know more about the future products of his favorite brand can opt to sign in for an email newsletter. In search engines, you type in a keyword associated with the information you want to access, and you will be offered with relevant choices only. That is what online user controlled activities are all about.
When it comes to information seeking, solution finding initiatives, internet is still the go to source for users. Not only that it provides thousands of relevant information but also accessing it is so fast and very easy. Nowadays, customers are also flocking e-commerce retail sites for their purchasing needs. Services like ticketing, bookings, and applications are also being staged online. Businesses are utilizing cloud-based services for storage, management, communication, collaboration, transactions, etc. With the proliferation of mobile devices, more consumers, and even professionals alike, are migrating most of their activities online.
The Office of National Statistics in Great Britain released an internet usage statistics for their country this year (2016), and it was found that 82% of adults have used the internet daily or regularly, which has increased from 78% in the previous year (2015) and much more from 35% in 2006. From these numbers, it is safe to say that the working group belongs to this majority. No wonder, even human resource efforts are also utilizing the internet with their talent pooling and recruitment. Internet savvy work hunters are benefitting from getting the information about anything and everything about how to improve their skills, which even includes a job, if they wish.
How Does Online Recruiting Works?
Businesses are understanding that they can benefit from digital technology through automation and paperless system. However, as these two concepts become a norm, managers and executives are looking for more development and impact from technology when it comes to their specialized activities. In human resource management, the same is being expected from technology too, which should not only provide convenience for employers and job seekers but also in providing a smarter way to get the best and most appropriate talent for the job.
An online recruitment software, first and foremost, automates the repetitive processes involved in recruitment, such as resume pooling, talent banking, and interview scheduler. It is also capable of managing job postings and in monitoring applicant traffic. It can also sort the resumes according to their qualifications, job recommendations, and other filtering options that you can indicate.
Initially, a staffing software can provide an online job application form that a user can fill in. It can also accept a more comprehensive resume to be uploaded into its system. When the HR manager receives a memo that the company is looking for candidates for a specific position, he or she can input the activity in the system, and it will be returned with results in no time. If no match has been found, he or she can also use the same system to upload a job post on their own website together with the list of qualifications and requirements.
When the deadline for application submission has been reached, the system automatically ceases the posting or may render its status as “inactive” or “closed”. The HR manager can then have a rundown of the applicants, which is easier and faster to do because qualifications can be automatically categorized. Upon selecting qualified people, the same system can also directly email them for interview schedules. An automatic email system is also integrated in a recruiting tool, which makes it easier to send interview requests and receive confirmations as well.
Overall, recruiting tools are essential partners for businesses, especially with HR managers. It makes the recruitment processes faster to accomplish and also frees up managers from doing time consuming tasks. This can help him or her give more attention in managing his or her employees within the company.
Features of Recruiting Management Software
Current online recruitment systems are normally integrated into the company’s web portal. This is done to centralize incoming information for more efficient management, storage, and retrieval. Recruiting tools are also capable of bringing benefits not only to the human resource department but also to other aspects of the company. Here is an expansive list of features of an online recruiting software:
- Resume Management
Usually, job postings generate a lot of applicants and consequently, tons of resumes. Sifting through the pile is very tedious and time consuming. Using a software to manage these resumes can free up managers from receiving and initial filtering processes. The system can automatically collect resume attachments from online applications forms and sorts additional information from it. The system can also detect duplicate forms and gives you an option to discard the unnecessary ones. It can also accept resumes in different files and format.
- Applicant Tracking System
A recruiting agency can utilize the resume search feature to locate potential candidates from its own pool before posting it the job requirement online. One can also customize the overall recruitment process where he or she can designate the sequence of steps and ask for specific requirements in order to complete the stage. With its robust applicant tracking system, HR managers can also monitor the status of each individual applicant within the system itself. You can also customize the questions in the questionnaire in order to get the specific information you need. You can also effectively sort and archive all applications and can categorize them as active or for pooling applicants only.
- Hosted Career Site
Most recruitment agency software come with its own career management site where you can customize job posting related activities such as job listings, widgets, and forms.
- Collaboration
The software can also centralize communication between applicants and the management, as well as among the members of the HR department. Department members can gain access to different stages or processes in the software to be able to contribute to the hiring process. Your team can even share note insights, candidate profiles, and documents internally, and the HR manager can also delegate tasks to the team as well.
- Automation
Through resume archiving, an HR manager can have better insight about each individual’s qualification. This is done automatically using the recruitment tool. One can also create email templates, auto responses, notifications, and alerts to support interview initiatives. It can also be effectively integrated with other software like email so that information can flow through different technologies.
- Sourcing
If your HR department has an existing talent pool (digital copies) prior to using a software, you can still upload it in the system, even in bulk. The software also comes with a host of other sourcing features like social media sharing option (for job postings), email forwarding (when you receive job applications from your personal inbox, it can be automatically forwarded to the recruitment system), job search syndication, and job broadcasts. If your company is utilizing a third party recruitment host, you can also give access to specific users in order to use the system.
- Reporting
One can export information from the system to desktop tools like spreadsheet. The software can also give you insight about where the applicants are coming from and where they are in the recruiting process.
- Interviews
The HR manager can also schedule interviews automatically using the online software. He or she can also retrieve data from interview feedbacks and integrate his or her own calendar app with the integrated one in the software to keep track and be alerted of upcoming interviews and appointments.
- Authority and Privacy
With this feature, the software moderator can limit access to applicant profiles to control the users, which can retrieve information from it. The system can also open private conversations, create private fields in the questionnaires, or post private openings for selected requested applicants.
- Top of Its Class Software
The general benefits of data security, pricing transparency, uncompromisable reliability, and 24/7 technical and customer support can be also achieved from using a recruitment management tool.
Finding the best recruiting software for each specific industry’s ever changing needs may entail one to do exhaustive research about the pros and cons of the tools available in the market. The best tip is to look for the software that can offer long term solutions out of its flexibility, scalability, and the credibility history of its provider regarding updates and improvements, and not just the one that over promises without substantial proof.
For actual client feedbacks and user ratings of the different recruiting tools you can find today, check out CrowdReviews.com’s reviews of recruiting software.
Trevor Price
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