Recruiting & Hiring Blog for HR Professionals

Most HR professionals today have some experience working with HR Tech. In fact, from recruiting, to hiring, to onboarding, to training, to succession planning, software has become an integral part of the employee lifecycle. However, even if you have experience using some type of HR Tech, the idea of selecting and implementing something new can be overwhelming.

Recruiting is one of the most important responsibilities that Human Resource professionals are tasked with. Since recruiting is such a top priority, it is important to have a tool you can rely on. As you start writing your job description, keep in mind, you are about to lay the foundation for your entire hiring process. If the foundation of your hiring process is cracked, you will be facing future trouble. An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) can be the tool you are looking for to lay a solid foundation for your organization.

After so many unqualified applicants and several unreturned phone calls, you may find yourself losing the faith you will come across your “diamond in the rough”. Don’t pack it in after a papercut or two! An Applicant Tracking System can bring the joy back to filling your next vacancy.

Spoiler Alert:  An ATS won’t give you a papercut!

HR has not typically been responsible for a sellable “brand” for applicants. In many respects, creating the company brand is something that largely falls on the marketing or public relations department. We have all heard of a video going “viral” and an average person shooting to instant Internet stardom. However, actions of the HR department going “viral” can have negative effects.

Social media has now turned the tables on employers. Millennials (who tend to be stereotyped as demanding in nature) grew up with the Internet in ways Baby Boomers and Generation X did not. They expect to have a lot of information available on the Career’s page, and they prefer updates throughout the recruitment process.

So with the stage set, and the stakes high, HR needs to create their own brand that offers value to potential applicants. The question is: How do you build a solid talent brand?

You’d like your company to invest in an applicant tracking system, but the key decision maker is afraid the software will miss qualified candidates. This concern may be fueled by personal experience—perhaps he felt he was wrongly passed over when he applied to a company that used this type of software. Alternatively, he may simply have been misled by inaccurate information on the Internet.  

You shouldn’t let the conversation about implementing an applicant tracking system fall by the wayside, however. A persuasive way to alleviate fears is by educating decision makers about how an applicant tracking system screens candidates and comparing it to the manual process your team uses today.  

Here are four facts you can use to help decision makers see past their concerns.

In our personal lives, we are obsessed with having the latest and greatest technological advancement to hit the market. Whether it is the new smart phone, tablet, or computer, we have to have it. Society has advanced to the point where we actually laugh at the “old-fashioned ways” we used to do things. However, in the world of HR, the question remains: how can we leverage new technological advances and incorporate them into our hiring practices? 

Applicant tracking software is a proven way to improve HR productivity levels. However, many potential buyers put off making a purchase. One reason is because they’re not sure it’s the “right time.” If your organization is experiencing one or more of these symptoms, it’s probably time to invest in an applicant tracking system.

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) like Hyrell’s allow HR representatives and managers to tackle many of their biggest hiring and recruiting challenges. As a result, more professionals are ditching their manual methods, such as email and spreadsheets, and exploring their ATS purchase options.

According to ATS review firm Software Advice's recent survey, the percentage of those surveyed relying on manual hiring methods to track applicants decreased 6 percent from 2013. It is clear HR reps like you are increasingly searching for a hiring solution that will make their hiring and recruiting more efficient and organized. Professionals who previously purchased an ATS are also back in the market looking for a new solution that incorporates the latest and greatest features.

To find the best employees you need to sift through a lot of applicants. While applicant tracking systems and hiring automation can help ease the pain of this process, one lingering problem remains: What do you do if you don’t have enough applicants? 

Remember those persuasive infomercials that touted a machine that processed all kind of food ingredients into precisely what you wanted? That 1960’s machine was (and still is) “Veg-O-Matic”, one of the first food-processing appliances ever invented. Then there was “Super Bass-O-Matic 76”, made famous by Dan Aykroyd on Saturday Night Live in the 70’s. That machine was so efficient that you could “process the whole bass without scaling, cutting, or gutting.” Well, fast-forward 40+ years and you’ll find that the same phenomenon beginning to emerge in the HR space. Yes, a tool that ‘automatically attracts, vets, and presents quality applicants that meet your specific criteria instead of settling for large quantities of applicants that don’t.’ Enter “Vet-O-Matic”.