If you regularly hire workers for the same types of positions, you probably have lots of information stored in your candidate database. Lucky you! If you play your cards right, these candidates can also be a primary source of potential leads for future openings within your company.
Think about the last person you didn’t hire. Just because the person you did hire was more right for the position doesn’t necessarily mean your second-place candidate isn’t right for your company. And since you already know a lot about them, reviewing these “silver medalists” could be the perfect way to start your next candidate search.
Data-driven recruitment simplifies your hiring process and reduces time-to-hire. However, in order to optimize a data driven recruitment system, some crucial things need to be set in place.
How Can You Effectively Manage Your Candidate Database
Use a Quality Database System
Maybe you once kept track of job candidates using an Excel spreadsheet and saved emails, but given today’s competitive hiring environment, this practice is outdated. Companies that lack agile recruitment software risk being left in the dust by those that use sophisticated applicant tracking systems with artificial intelligence. Given the time and effort involved in attracting, screening, interviewing and hiring, companies need a strong candidate database to support an aggressive recruitment strategy, especially if they are competing against larger businesses.
In order to make data-driven recruitment the powerhouse of your hiring process, you need to be able to track, sort, and search candidate info with minimal effort.
Build Your Data Resources
When building a hiring pipeline, the quality of your candidate database is only as good as the quality of your data. Your documentation may include their resume, results of skills tests, demographics, personality assessments, and any comments recruiters made about the candidate in previous interviews.
However, the database won’t be very helpful if your information is inconsistent. For instance, if a position requires specific skills, you’ll want to compare the results of candidate skills assessments. But how can you do that if you don’t test everyone, or don’t always document each candidates’ results?
“If you like a candidate’s profile, you should add appropriate notes and tag them into the relevant categories for easy access later,” recommends Recruiteze. “Tagging is a great way to associate a context with your recruitment data for filtering quickly later.”
“The key to good pipelining is thinking strategically about which roles actually need a pipeline,” notes LinkedIn. They recommend focusing on skills that are common in your business, as well as hard-to-fill roles.
Keep Candidates Engaged
Job candidates are a nervous bunch. Don’t leave them dangling and uncertain. They will take another offer if they’re unsure of their status with you.
“Engaging with potential candidates is crucial even if you don’t currently have any vacancies,” says Scotland-based Change Recruitment Group. In addition to developing a strong social media presence, they recommend periodically touching base with candidates. “Try sending personalized emails, helpful content, or relevant company/industry news. One great way to do this is by setting up recruitment profiles so that candidates receive relevant emails and notifications.”
Maximize Your Hiring Strategy
Optimizing your candidate database is a matter of, first, finding the right candidate tracking software and then building the database fully so it is rich with information. Developing your hiring pipeline also involves diligently using the system’s multiple reports and resources and maintaining communication with promising candidates.
The next time you need to hire, you’ll have a stockpile of potential candidates right at your fingertips!
Need to Hire Quality Candidates?
Another way to maximize your hiring strategy is by partnering with Pro Resources Staffing Services. You’ll have their list of candidates to supplement your own database, exponentially widening your candidate pool so you can quickly find qualified candidates for open positions.