Dear Recruiter...
Pinpoint Applicant Tracking System
Pinpoint is the ATS that makes complex hiring simpler.
At the start of the year, I predicted 3️⃣ things that would be huge for talent teams in 2024.
And since it’s the last Dear Recruiter of 2024, I’ve decided to hold myself to account in this extended 🎄 Christmas edition 🎄 intro:
📈 Data and reporting
This has been huge this year, and it’s not a stretch to say it will stay top of mind in 2025. The recruitment landscape is tough, and the pressure remains on TA teams to prove their value.
Your hunger for up-to-date benchmarking data is evidence of this. Since we launched RecruitmentTrends in March, it’s been the most clicked resource in this newsletter, and the site has received tens of thousands of views.
That said, an uptick in attention to data is only half the story. I said in January, “the key is turning the data you have into unique insights for your audience”. And this isn’t happening anywhere near enough.
One respondent to our State of TA Leadership survey back in June was on the money when they summed up the consequences of this:
“The team are under massive pressure to do more with less. Budgets are tighter than ever but results are expected to be better than ever. The industry itself is not taken seriously as a strategic arm of the business.”
When you fail to deliver insights that matter to leadership or hiring managers, your ability to influence your fate is diminished.
🙋🏼 Hiring Manager Experience
This one got a lot of attention on my original prediction post. And certainly, a lot of our customers prioritize this when selecting and rolling out their ATS.
It all comes back to my first point: the effective use of data and reporting. As I said to those who attended my recent talks, you can’t expect accountability without offering visibility.
Hiring managers feel the pain of disengagement in the process—poor candidate fit, slow time to fill—but don’t see themselves as the cause. It’s up to you to use data to open the right conversations and improve everyone's experience.
💻 Workflow Automation & Technology
This was a no-brainer. Short of the Eras tour, there was hardly a more talked about trend this year than AI. And look, AI has incredible potential, but when it comes to TA, what I would say is, you don’t need a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
We’ve seen an evolution in the tools, but not enough of an evolution in how TA teams deploy them.
As many of my Talent Talks guests have echoed, you need to stop getting distracted by shiny tools that promise to fix everything. Think about the 80/20 rule (the Pareto Principle): your team is likely spending 80% of its time on 20% of your processes. Look to automate them, and the impact will be huge.
Effective automation can:
And, best of all, make your life easier too.
📈 Data Point: The year in numbers
Data and insights direct from the Pinpoint team
Your year in numbers
Our customers worked hard this year, expertly managing volume, demand, and candidate experience.
Our year in numbers
In turn, we worked hard to support them, listening, acting, and reacting to what they needed to make recruitment work their way.
Recommended by LinkedIn
🎙️ Talent Talks - with Oli Monks
Quick fire questions to get to know leading recruiters
In our last Talent Talks of 2024, I spoke to Oli Monks , Talent Acquisition & Mobility Lead at Made Tech .
We covered the AI-enabled candidate, metrics to measure quality of hire, and, my favorite, turning data into insights the business cares about.
I love how he flipped the script on what the business says to TA:
"The business might be going, Oli, it's been two weeks longer than we needed to bring in this role. It's costing us reputation, it's costing us from a financial perspective. But vice versa, we should be able to put that back to the business and say we've brought in some fantastic people that have hit the ground running or given us these kinds of business opportunities.”
You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Also, make sure to check out Oli’s photography!
📍 The Pinboard
What's new in recruitment?
🗣️ How thyssenkrupp made implementation achievable (and a joy to work on)
From the Pinpoint team
Budgets are likely close to set, and big plays are planned out. Maybe you’re wondering if you've taken on too much. Or, even, could you push yourself further?
Implementing a new ATS is one of those projects that you know could pay off, but facing it can feel like an uphill battle you don’t have the energy for.
This clip is here to reassure you: that hill isn’t as high or as steep as it seems.
Hear how, with only one other colleague helping her, Sophie Brown , Talent Acquisition Manager at thyssenkrupp, implemented Pinpoint in four months. All while continuing to manage ongoing recruitment.
All that remains for me to say is: enjoy whatever festive break you have this year. No matter who you are, if you work in TA, you have earned it.
We cannot wait to see you back here in 2025, refreshed and ready to make TA’s mark on the strategic map.
In the meantime, Pinpoint wishes you a peaceful and joyous Christmas. 🕊️ 🎄
As always, for any insights or feedback, you can email me at dear.recruiter@pinpointhq.com
All the best,
Tom Hacquoil
Pinpoint CEO
Peer-to-peer Learning for Internal Talent Teams
1wThanks for the mention! Great to see Oli Monks as a guest too 👏