Automation has gained a bad reputation over the years. Depending on the industry, you have some who view automation negatively, and others who view it in a positive light. Technology is evolving so rapidly and one thing is certain, automation is inevitable. At What Now Works, we lean on the side of automation being a net positive for talent acquisition. Being able to have manual tasks streamlined will result in your business saving time, money, improving your candidate experience, and reaching the goals you’ve set.
Currently, there are a couple of forces at play that businesses should be aware of that will result in a surge of applicants applying for their open positions:
Remote work is here to stay. There are many companies that’ve adopted telecommuting policies since the pandemic and many job seekers prefer this style of working.
The unemployment and underemployment rate combined is 10.4%.
Loosening of COVID-19 restrictions and the wide availability of the vaccine.
Each of these factors attribute to a surge in applications companies can expect when advertising opportunities to a robust workforce. As a result of this, we want your business to work smarter, not harder as we adapt to another shift in the business paradigm. We've gathered some insightful strategies your company can apply today that will not overwhelm your talent acquisition teams.
Candidate Sourcing & Attraction
Like many industries, artificial intelligence (AI) is the leading force solving gaps in processes, and recruiting is no different. Programmatic Job Advertising tools are being used to optimize the targeting of individuals with specific skills you’re looking to find rather than posting on job boards and hoping the right person applies. Businesses are adopting tools such as Wonderkind, Appcast, and even LinkedIn to highlight company culture aimed at differentiating their company from their competition.
Pre-Screening Candidates
Whether you have an applicant tracking system or you’re using another system, businesses should consider using Knockout Questions to pre-screen candidates. These “yes” or “no” questions will eliminate candidates who don’t meet the basic requirements.
Have perspective candidates submit Pre-recorded Videos answering preliminary questions will also save time on eliminating unqualified candidates. Be mindful that there will be candidates who are not comfortable on video. Consider having alternative solutions such as requiring cover letters and make sure candidates are explicitly saying why they want to join the team.
Interviewing
Too much time can be wasted on finding a time to meet with your potential new hire. It’s best to remove yourself and your team from the scheduling process and have the candidates pick times and dates that work for you. Adopting tools such as Calendly or x.ai can be easily implemented to streamline this process.
Candidate Experience
People will always remember how you make them feel. This same sentiment applies to the hiring process. You can view thousands of reviews on Glassdoor where candidates are sharing their frustrations when businesses do not get back to them. IT’S IMPORTANT THAT YOU ALWAYS GET BACK TO ALL CANDIDATES, NO MATTER WHAT. Regardless if the candidate is not chosen for the role, an explanation of why they were not chosen is important. To help with this manual task, you can automate messages to go out to multiple candidates using tools such as Mail Merge.
Onboarding
Digitizing your onboarding enables new hires to focus on getting acclimated to the job faster rather than spending time filling out paperwork. Send documents that be digitally signed ahead of time can keep new hires engaged and save your talent acquisition team a significant amount of time.
These automation suggestions are essential when restoring your talent acquisition strategy to drive your business objectives. Our goal is to help you adapt to changing workforce and increase your capacity to handle the surge of applications that are inevitable as the world returns to “normal”. If your company is dealing with a surge of applications or need help implementing these automation strategies, we have a team of talent acquisition professionals to help you reach your hiring goals. You can let us know how we can help by taking a few minutes to fill out a brief survey.