How to select a recruitment system
Written by: Oz Oved, Customer Service Manager, Niloosoft
Today, many agencies manage the process of recruiting employees manually, while others do it with the help of Excel, or use a special recruitment system. A large majority of these agencies are not satisfied with the way the recruitment process takes place or with the system they are working with. This can happen when the system does not accommodate a specific recruitment process, or does not conform to the agency’s requirements.
The recruitment process is an important component in any organization, and mismanaging it can harm the company’s ability to recruit the best and most suitable employees, and as a result diminish the organization’s effectiveness.
In order to improve the recruitment process, it is recommended to use software for managing and tracking applicants (ATS) and talent (TMS) along with a human resources management system (EDGE, HRIS) specifically adapted for recruiting candidates.
So how do you choose a recruitment system that will manage the candidate’s recruitment process from the day his CV was found, and completely fulfill all of the agency’s requirements and conform to its specific recruitment processes?
For the recruitment system to be efficient and effective, it must have the following capabilities:
• Running a search for employees whose specifics address the vacancy’s requirements and bringing the most suitable ones to the top of the list:
Searching for information about a candidate, such as age, place of residence, experience, education, etc. in order to find one suitable for the vacancy is a long and tiring process which can take several hours and be full of errors. A system that automatically files the candidates and then runs a search using key words that represent the vacancy’s requirements by using artificial intelligence, along with a rating system that will put the best suited candidates at the top of the list, will save valuable time and allow the company to find the most suitable candidates for the vacancy and contact them immediately as soon as their CV is in the system.
• Receiving candidates and automatically filing them, without human intervention:
When recruiting employees and publishing vacancies, agencies are sent hundreds and even thousands of CVs a day. Manually inputting them into a system will waste personnel and valuable time, and there is the chance that an applicant who is suitable for a vacancy will become irrelevant after being recruited by someone else. Therefore the system needs to obtain the employee’s details and automatically file them as fast as possible without any intervention by the agency.
• Preventing duplicate candidates in the system:
A large percentage of CVs that are accepted into the system are actually duplicates, since there are many candidates who send in their CV several times, and on occasion even change some of the details and wording in order to make themselves more compatible for a number of different vacancies. The recruitment system needs to prevent duplicates from being accepted, merge the CVs and display the candidate only once, with the most up to date CV.
• Up to the minute matching of new candidates to existing vacancies:
The recruitment system needs to be able to identify a new candidate who matches the search that has already been performed for a particular vacancy, automatically file their CV, and display it as a new candidate who matches an existing search.
• Tracking the candidate, matching him to a vacancy, and managing his recruitment process:
As soon as a suitable candidate has been found for a vacancy and his recruitment process has begun, the system needs to be able to document and manage the process and the events the candidate goes through from the moment he is selected as suitable. This will cover every interview he goes through up until he signs the contract, and will then cover his employment conditions, the number of vacation days taken, and other activities he has participated in.
• Supervising recruitment manager’s performance:
When a suitable candidate is found for a vacancy and his CV is passed on to the recruitment manager in order to contact and interview him, the software needs to be able to display recruitment manager tasks and track their execution.
• Automatic advertising of vacancies on career websites as well as the company’s website:
When a company is looking for candidates for a new vacancy, it needs to advertise it in as many places as possible. In order to reach out to numerous candidates, the recruitment system needs to advertise the vacancy on career websites as well as the company’s own website. This should be done automatically, immediately after the vacancy has been input into the system and without the need to type in the vacancy and its requirements over again. This option will allow automatic advertising on additional websites, make the process more effective, and allow more candidates to be exposed to the vacancy and apply for it.
• Recruiting through social networks:
Today, when the world of computers and the Internet is involved in almost every facet of our lives, the Internet and social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn are very important to advertise the company’s vacancies. These networks are mostly used to find potential candidates for the vacancy by the system searching for certain requirements in their large information databases and presenting them to the company’s recruiters.
A system that, in addition to searching in the company’s databases, can also search for suitable candidates through the Internet, will have an immense advantage over other recruitment agencies when dozens of additional high quality candidates who are suitable for the vacancy come up, although they are not in the company’s database.
• Documenting every activity carried out with the candidates on social networks:
One of the problems that exists today in recruiting through social networks is that the entire process is carried out in “another system”, and all of the information gathered about the candidates remains in that same system – the social network.
When choosing an advanced recruitment system, it is important to see if the system can document all of the activities carried out with candidates on social networks. If the recruiter should leave the organization, all of the information that has been gathered about the candidates will remain in the recruiter’s social network profile, and the organization will be left without any documentation.
Advanced recruitment software is required to document all of the processes performed with the candidates through social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook.
• The option of allowing candidates to access and update their profile:
There are times when receiving a CV is not sufficient in order to know if the candidate is qualified for the vacancy or not. There are also situations in which high quality candidates who did not write their CV well will not get past the first filter, while candidates who are less suitable but have a well written CV, will easily get past it. The system should permit the candidate to edit his details, and add information that can contribute to the company’s filtering process. This will make the recruitment job more effective and improve performance, as high quality candidates get a chance to highlight their talents and the recruitment department can locate them more easily.
• Integrating extensive and diverse information systems in large organizations:
Today, large organizations, characterized by an abundance of information systems, often use more than one system at a time because each system manages a different part of the organization or process. Often the need arises to integrate these systems and allow communication between them. Such connection makes it possible to synchronize all of the organization’s relevant systems, and as a result significantly improves process effectiveness. In addition, in certain organizations there already exists some kind of recruitment system, which for one reason or another cannot be replaced, in spite of the organization’s desire to employ advanced recruitment technology. This type of integration can be done by a recruitment system that was developed with service oriented architecture (SOA). A system like this can utilize web services that will allow other systems to connect to it in order to pull, update, add and delete information and thus allow information sharing among the organization’s systems.
• A simple and convenient interface, combining all of the tools necessary for recruiting employees:
The software’s interface needs to be easy and convenient to use, so as not to complicate the recruiter’s work in searching for the right pages, which will cause him to get lost and lose valuable time when operating the system. It should place all of the tools for searching, filing, updating and communicating with candidates in one location.
• Software as a Service (SaaS):
There is no reason today to spend tens of thousands of dollars on software, purchase servers and employ maintenance people, perform back-ups, install, upgrade, etc. Cloud computing allows any organization, whether large or small, to utilize the concept of Software as a Service, something that was formerly accessible only to very large organizations who could afford to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• Direct connections to placement agencies:
Using placement agencies as a recruitment source serves as an initial filter for candidates, but on the other hand may cause difficulties and complications in tracking each candidate’s recruitment process when using more than one agency at the same time. One of the tools the system needs to provide is the capability to track candidate CVs which come from placement agencies. A special interface that serves as a line of communication between a placement agency and the organization, will notify the company of a new candidate in the database, update the placement agency of a change in the candidate’s status, and assist the collaboration between the organization and placement agency.
• Payment based on actual use:
Cloud computing currently enables anyone to utilize the concept of Software as a Service (SaaS) in order to benefit from services that were formerly only accessible to very large organizations, at a monthly cost that is suitable for the organization and its size. This business model allows organizations to pay for the software according to actual use (“on demand software”) rather than committing to long term expenses without knowing what the future holds. In this way, the organization can increase or reduce the number of its required licenses according to its true needs.
When selecting an advanced recruitment system, you want the system to be provided – based on the SaaS model – with maximum flexibility which will provide the organization with the adaptability it requires.
Lior Ben Dror, Asst. CEO at Niloosoft: “I wholeheartedly recommend switching to Cloud computer systems – sometimes the costs are higher, but these systems usually come from serious companies who have developed a large, professional system. Make sure that you are not the first customer and are not the test case – and you should confirm that the company’s customers are large ones. Make sure the company you sign an agreement with is reputable, with hundreds of customers, and over 5-10 years of experience in this field.
It is better to pay for professional service and be provided with updates and upgrades every two to three weeks, and to know that there is someone who is responsible for the system and is available 99% of the time. This will result in almost zero failures, no excuses, and no need to bring in one of your own computer people in order to check what the problem is and why the system is not working.”
In summary, before selecting a recruitment system it is important to make sure that the system provides a solution to all of the problems an organization can face throughout the recruitment process, fulfilling the company’s specific requirements, and of course meeting the requirements that were previously listed.