Automate or die!!!

Picture the scene: you own and/or run a recruitment business with all the joys and pressures that brings. You're probably finding yourself being the oldest person in the room for the first time in your career. Your life is now one of responsibility and decisions. Big decisions about every aspect of your business and how you keep it fit for purpose in an ever changing and more competitive landscape.

Your LinkedIn feed is cluttered with pictures of "thought leaders" at Bullhorn Engage, Hoxo, Access and the rest selling you a tech panacea which will cure all your ills and propel your business into the stratosphere.

Every week one of your team tells you about a new piece of software you must have, "my old company had it, it's a gamechanger." It sounds great, you are an outward looking inquisitive person so you reach out.

In walks in the account manager - it looks great, its more than you want to pay but they illustrate the money you will lose without it, "place a few people and it's paid for itself." You try and be forensic, find any flaw but, you know what, if you find something it doesn't do the response is "sure we can configure that!"

So you sign your life away and buy it. Maybe it is really good but:

• does it properly configure with your current system?
• do your guys get proper training?
• do they use it?
• is it a gamechanger or just another cost?

I have rarely met a business owner who has wasted money in this area. In one business I ran I looked across the Tech Stack when I joined and there was c£60,000 of tech that weren't even being used!

There are so many different types of kit out there and it changes so quickly.

What do you need to know/consider?

Let me give you a quick (and by no means complete) run through of your options:

Applicant Tracking Systems ATS

An ATS is the backbone of most recruitment businesses, helping manage candidates efficiently. Modern ATS platforms integrate automation to streamline processes like resume parsing, job posting, and candidate tracking.

• Bullhorn: A market leader that offers end-to-end recruitment automation, including workflow optimization and robust integrations.
• Workable: A user-friendly ATS that automates sourcing, applicant evaluation, and interview scheduling.
• JobAdder: Known for its ease of use and automation of repetitive tasks like sending follow-up emails.

2. Sourcing Automation Tools

Finding the right candidates quickly is a key challenge for recruiters. These tools use AI to identify, engage, and nurture talent.

• LinkedIn Recruiter: Leverages AI to suggest profiles that match your search and improve outreach personalization. Great stuff but an ever increasing price point.
• Hiretual: Combines AI-powered sourcing with deep search capabilities across 750+ million profiles.
• SeekOut: Uses AI to source diverse talent pools and analyze workforce data for strategic hiring.

3. Candidate Engagement Platforms

Engaging with candidates effectively is critical for building strong talent pipelines. These tools automate communications to keep candidates informed and engaged.

• Sense: An engagement platform designed for recruiters, automating SMS, email campaigns, and check-ins.
• Candidate ID: Uses candidate scoring and nurturing workflows to maintain long-term candidate relationships.
• TextRecruit: A communication tool that automates text and chatbot interactions with candidates.

4. AI-Powered Screening and Matching

Screening resumes and matching candidates to roles can be time-consuming. AI tools can analyze resumes at scale and recommend the best fits.

• HireVue: Offers AI-driven video interviews that assess candidate skills and potential.
• Pymetrics: Uses neuroscience-based games and AI to match candidates to roles based on cognitive and emotional attributes.
• Hiretual: Not only a sourcing tool but also excels at AI-driven resume matching.

5. Chatbots and Conversational AI

AI chatbots are transforming how recruiters interact with candidates by automating FAQs, pre-screening, and scheduling interviews.

• Mya: A conversational AI tool that handles candidate queries, pre-screens applicants, and schedules interviews seamlessly.
• Olivia by Paradox: Known for automating hiring workflows with a focus on candidate experience.
• XOR: Offers recruitment chatbots and SMS-based communication for candidate engagement.

6. Analytics and Reporting Tools

Data-driven decision-making is the future of recruitment. These tools offer insights into hiring metrics, performance, and market trends.

• Power BI: A versatile analytics tool for creating custom reports on recruitment performance.
• LinkedIn Talent Insights: Provides workforce and talent market data to inform strategic hiring decisions.
• Tableau: Helps visualize complex data to understand recruitment trends and bottlenecks.

7. Onboarding Automation

Once the hire is made, onboarding is the next critical step. Automating this process ensures a smooth transition for new employees.

• BambooHR: Automates the onboarding process with checklists, electronic signatures, and task reminders.
• WorkBright: Simplifies document collection and compliance management during onboarding.
• Sapling: Focused on integrating onboarding into the overall employee lifecycle management.

8. Social Media Recruitment Tools

Recruiters need tools to automate job postings and engage with candidates on social platforms.

• Hootsuite: Schedules and manages job postings across multiple social channels.
• Buffer: Simplifies social media management for promoting open positions and employer branding.
• Zopto: Enhances LinkedIn outreach with automated campaigns tailored to your target audience.

9. Compliance and Background Checking Tools

Staying compliant with GDPR and employment laws is crucial. These tools automate background checks and compliance tasks.

• Sterling: A global leader in background screening services with fast turnaround times.
• Checkr: Simplifies background checks with an AI-powered platform.
• Veremark: Focused on digital reference checks and compliance tracking.

You're CRM will cover a lot of this (not all), they will be configurable with most of these (not all) and the development cost could be nothing or thousands.

There's great tech out there, getting the correct kit in place can be a game changer but mistakes will cost you money and more importantly time.

How to Get Started

1. Understand Your Needs: Identify which parts of your recruitment process are most time-consuming/could be improved. If there isn't a business need don't do it.
2. Due Diligence: Invest the time in properly understanding what any product can do and how easily it would live in your current tech stack. One of the main reasons Bullhorn has become the number one in the space is they were the first to crack this.
3. Involve Others: Engage some of your more tech savvy people in the decision making. If they are closer to the coal face they will have insight you may not, it will also help later on with adoption rates if you have some people already onboard with the buying decision.
4. Train Your Team: Ensure your team is equipped to use new tools effectively. I can't stress this enough. It isn't a twenty minute session, it's full training, recap sessions, sharing best practice.
5. Monitor and Adjust: Use analytics to track ROI and refine your automation strategy.

If you got this far in the article you're probably exhausted and losing enthusiasm - I feel your pain, I've had to write this! But it IS worth the effort.

Why Automation and AI Matter for Recruitment Businesses

• Save Time: Recruiters spend up to 13 hours a week sourcing candidates manually. Automation can reduce this drastically. Compliance, training, payroll and marketing can all be transformed with shrewd investments.
• Increase Productivity: Agencies using automation report a 64% improvement in candidate matching (Bullhorn).
• Improve Candidate Experience: 60% of job seekers abandon applications due to lack of communication—automated engagement can solve this.
• Enhance Decision-Making: With AI-driven insights, recruiters can make data-backed hiring decisions faster.

Please share your ideas and your experiences (good and bad) in the comments - particularly welcome if you currently repressent any tech products we should know about.

#recruitment

#AI

#Automation

#CRM

#ATS

#Technology