Four Tips to Consider When Evaluating New Recruiting Tools

There is a lot of noise surrounding the latest recruiting tools and how they’re impacting the staffing and recruiting industry—but what’s the chatter all about? I recently spoke with Chris Delaney, veteran recruiter and leader responsible for evaluating recruiting tools and defining creative sourcing strategies at Superior Group. In our conversation, Chris shared insights on recent trends and offered helpful tips to help you prioritize your efforts and maximize your time.

Get the most value from your recruiting toolsChris suggests focusing on these four areas to really take full advantage of the best recruiting tools and technology:

1. Make the tools work for you; don’t work for the tools. It can seem easy to get lost in the technology that is impacting recruiting today, but it’s important to remember that recruiting centers around people. Don’t ever sacrifice the human elements of recruiting to get “more” from a tool. Training is also essential—ensure your team has the hands-on training and knowledge needed to take full advantage of your investments. Launch beta groups for testing how the tool will impact your day-to-day processes before a full rollout, monitoring relevant metrics and using data to build a communication and rollout strategy. Encourage continuous feedback after the initial launch to ensure that tools are being utilized correctly.

2. Manage mobile first. Mobile usability extends well beyond reading information on a website. Candidates today expect smooth delivery of information on mobile devices during the job search and application process. This can extend to both your mobile-friendly website or an app. For instance, Superior was early to market with a jobs app that they continue to iterate to respond to trends in jobseeker behavior, seeing increased traction from candidates with each release. Thinking about mobile first means understanding how this data will integrate into your back-end systems. Also, when it comes to mobile, be sure to set expectations early for communication with clients and candidates. Phantom texts from unknown numbers can be seen as very invasive and impersonal—in many ways, unsolicited mobile communications are worse than spam, as there are no regulated opt-outs just yet. Setting expectations early ensures people will expect and even look forward to your mobile communication.

3. Define the intersection of your company and employee personal brands. Recruiting enters a gray area when it comes to personal branding. When candidates and clients interact with recruiters, they’re interacting with both the recruiter’s personal brand, as well as your company brand. The tools you provide your recruiter can go a long way toward establishing both brands in a professional and engaging way. For example, are you providing your teams with guidance on

how to build their LinkedIn profile effectively and sharing a company-branded header image to use? Choosing the right tools here is essential. Also, defining how recruiters will represent themselves in content marketing or social media is an important step to protect your company brand.

4. Understand how data really fits into the equation. Be careful to avoid analysis paralysis when it comes to data—the sheer volume and potential of data coming from recruiting tools and other technologies can be overwhelming. During the beta testing and launch phase mentioned above, it’s important to identify what benchmarks and data are most relevant to your company so that you can avoid getting so far into data overload, you’re unable to truly evaluate or take advantage of the tool. Also, don’t forget that, while data can prove immensely helpful, the human element of recruiting will always be the most powerful. It brings to mind the “last mile” theory: the last mile is often the most critical part of delivery in many logistical scenarios. Particularly in recruiting, while the ATS technology or mobile communication tools can help streamline and maximize the recruiting process, candidates will ultimately want strong relationships and connections with a recruiter before making a major life switch like choosing a new job.

I think Chris’ insights offer a great grounding point when considering and investing in new recruiting tools. What has worked for your organization? How have recruiting tools improved your processes and relationships?