Comments on: Top tips for online recruitment success: Managing Candidate Applications

By: Adam Gretton

Adam Gretton — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:03:05 +0000

You can now find ATS systems that cater for the SME market. Many of the well-established providers are too big, unwieldy and expensive for a company with modest recruitment needs to be able to consider.

Your inbox should be the last place to send applicants IMHO. Do you really want to get continual interruptions and a swamped inbox? If you direct applicants into your ATS instead, you can then choose which ones to have proper dialogue with, and mass-reject the rest, with a nice polite ‘thanks, but no thanks’ auto-email.

ATS is no longer the preserve of huge global companies with mammoth recruitment needs. Our entry-level product is under £500 per quarter, and we have a number of clients who use it on a campaign-by-campaign basis.

And the really good ATS providers – us included of course – will be able to tell you exactly when and where people are dropping off, so you can improve your process and get more ROI from your advertising.

Another thing you should avoid is having a single application form that everyone has to fill out, no matter what job they are applying for. Why lose out on some of the best candidates by forcing them to jump through inappropriate hoops in a “one-size-must fit-all” application form? With the best ATS providers (can you see a pattern here?!), you can create application templates and amend as appropriate to each job’s requirements – or build a new form easily from scratch.

The technology is out there – at a reasonable cost – to make your life and that of the candidate, easier.

By: WJS

WJS — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:37:35 +0000

I agree with everything you say with regard to communication with candidates. However, for many smaller companies who will be trying online recruitment for the first time, they will not have ATS systems or others systems to manage this process. In our online poll last month we asked our users how quickly they responded to candidates who applied for jobs. The majority got back to candidates within the first week but some 36% said they never ever responded to candidates at all. That's a lost pool of candidates and probably lost customers too.

By: Lis Wilson

Lis Wilson — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:53:28 +0000

Candidates should make the effort to apply for jobs and yet recruiters need to ensure that they make the process as simple as possible. If the initial process is too complicated and candidates are not being directed straight to the job posting on the company website then a high drop off rate is to be expected - remember the 2 click rule. However, with the advances of online recruitment technology, the whole recruitment process can be automated, effecient and effective for all parties concened. As increasing numbers of companies are embracing e-recruitment systems and Applicant Tracking Software, there should be no excuses for lack of communication, updates on status or even text alerts to advise applicants to log online and book themselves in for interview. It does matter how the applicants are directed to your company from the job board, especially if you want to nurture your talent pool and engage with tomorrows talent. online recruitment software can do this at the touch of a button rather than having your inbox full of CV's!