7 Best Recruiting Tools To Hire Great Talent

The journey of recruiting the best-fit candidate is not an easy one. Recruiters and talent acquisition teams are under enormous pressure to find and convert highly qualified candidates against the backdrop of tighter competition, scaled growth, and diversity and inclusion goals.

But fret not! HR technology that leverages artificial intelligence and automation can help you discover new talent quickly and at scale. Not sure where to start? Don't worry — you're in the right place. We’re here to help you sort through the options and identify what you really need.

Here are the seven best recruiting tools that every organization needs to attract, engage, and convert the right talent in 2021.

1. Conversational chatbot
2. Talent CRM
3. Video recruiting tools
4. Fit scoring
5. SMS messaging
6. Hiring manager
7. Internal talent marketplace

1. Conversational chatbot

A recruitment chatbot serves as a recruiter's virtual assistant, taking on the traditionally tedious, manual tasks like interview scheduling, sourcing and screening candidates, as well as answering candidate questions.

Conversational AI enables the chatbot to provide instant and accurate responses to common queries (with human nomenclature), similar to the way a recruiter might interact with a job seeker. And here’s the best part: chatbots function 24/7 to attract and engage candidates.

This also makes chatbots extremely useful for global enterprises. If candidates are applying for job roles across different time zones, your chatbot can be there for assistance at all times. As chatbots add value in transforming the candidate experience into an interactive and meaningful one, they’re also collecting tons of data from job seekers.

For example, our Phenom Bot is a conversational chatbot powered by AI that captures leads, answers questions, automates screening and scheduling, and connects job seekers with best-fit jobs. This enables talent acquisition teams to engage active and passive leads, keeping the conversation going until they're ready to apply.

Case study: A French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties decided to expand their business globally through multiple job postings and were actively seeking for new hires. Knowing live career site conversations can be instrumental in converting browsing visitors into applicants, the team relied heavily on their virtual assistant — Phenom Bot — for help.

After the integration, the team was able to meet their hiring demands and drive meaningful engagement with an improved candidate experience that increased the number of job views to apply clicks, and reduced time to apply by 78% in just 5 weeks!

2. Talent CRM

Recruiters can leverage candidate relationship management (CRM) software to streamline the end-to-end hiring process by helping you find qualified candidates that match your hiring criteria — without having to sift through heaps of resumes.

For recruiters, this makes proactive sourcing and campaigning with targeted content a breeze, boosts productivity, and gives them time back in their day to focus on building relationships with job seekers. From talent pipeline automation to effective relationship building, a CRM enables recruiters to filter the best candidates based on fit, re-discover silver medal candidates, nurture leads, and view critical behavior data.

This tool enables a smoother transition from candidate sourcing to conversion, turning it from an isolated function into a positive experience that sets up the rest of the talent lifecycle.

During an employer rebrand, one global tech manufacturer needed a solution to help them attract and convert more job seekers with an engaging career site, easy application process, and way to nurture passive leads.

In addition to using the CRM to screen passive candidates — which has more than doubled the talent pool — the TA team is leveraging it to source for future positions.

3. Video recruiting tools

Virtual recruiting with video has become the norm for many organizations (even before the pandemic) — and is only expected to become essential for employers moving forward. Video interviews offer recruiters a mode to conduct remote virtual interviews more efficiently. It was recorded that during the pandemic, video interviews rose by a whooping 524%.

As employers continue to support remote hiring, bringing video technology into more areas of the candidate journey will be necessary.

Video interviews have become critical in recreating the interpersonal experience of in-person hiring, but it now goes far beyond that. From on-demand video assessments to video resumes, organizations are empowered to hire potential candidates remotely and connect with candidates from around the world.

4. Fit scoring

At the end of the day, recruiters and hiring managers have the same, single goal: find the best-fit candidate for the job. But are our own biases preventing us from doing so quickly?

To make the recruiting faster, sustainable, and more objective, employers should screen job seekers based on hard and soft skills. Fit scoring, powered by artificial intelligence, highlights candidates on exactly that, bringing efficiency and reducing bias in the hiring process.

This can be accomplished in two ways. First, hiring managers should identify and outline the essential skills required for success in a particular role. Then as job seekers undergo screenings, interviews, and even pre-employment assessments, AI can spotlight the candidates that are a close match.

By helping hiring managers and recruiters find quality candidates faster, they’re then able to dedicate more energy towards building relationships with candidates.

5. SMS messaging

Meeting job seekers where they are is essential to connecting with a greater talent pool. Embracing an omnichannel approach to recruiting and engaging talent is critical to ensuring you’re everywhere. This means having a presence and leveraging a variety of communication channels, such as your career site, email, social media, and of course, SMS messaging.

The text messages can conveniently be sent via SMS or whatsapp through your mobile device so that communication is quicker. Shortening the hiring process is a win-win for everyone, and SMS messaging does just that.

Sending emails back-and-forth is time-consuming and tedious. Candidates might miss an email or forget to respond. Texts are quicker to send, allowing more time to focus on other tasks.

You can also use SMS to schedule interviews faster. SMS can also prove to be a useful tool to send reminders to candidates by text detailing important information for their upcoming phone screen or interview.

Case Study: Trilogy Health Services — a large healthcare company dedicated to providing exceptional, comprehensive care to seniors in their living communities — had a major objective to hire more Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs). Due to the pandemic, open roles were in abundance, and the talent acquisition team not only had to occupy these notoriously hard-to-fill roles, but proactively prepare for future needs for new hires in the organization.

To promote even faster applications and a more seamless candidate experience, the team also launched a text-to-apply campaign with Phenom SMS, which garnered 243 leads in less than 2 months. Job seekers can simply text a number to apply for a position or learn more.

6. Hiring manager

Finding the right candidate depends on a lot of factors, but recruiters and hiring managers must work together to make it happen. A tool specifically designed for hiring managers enables them to get a quick snapshot of all hiring activities — from applicant tracking to managing prospective candidates on-the-go.

This also allows hiring managers to have on-the-go flexibility, conveniently manage open jobs, process offer approvals, and take action on the candidates in consideration for their open jobs.

Hiring managers can easily connect with, screen, and review candidates — with the touch of a button. Eliminating the need to switch to a different platform makes it easier for the hiring manager to stay connected with both recruiters and candidates throughout their journey.

7. Internal talent marketplace

The gig economy has been on the rise for years — but now, it’s all about workplace “gigs”— where companies use an internal talent marketplace to match employee skills to special projects or temporary assignments.

The employee experience is critical to not only fostering the growth of talent within an organization, it also enables movement for flexible roles within the organization. To simplify the process, HR teams can leverage a platform that enables managers to create short-term tasks and projects that employees can discover and apply for. Talent marketplaces powered by artificial intelligence connect best-fit employees to projects based on skills and experience. These gigs not only help the employees to upskill their strengths but also keeps them motivated, productive, and engaged.

For example, gigs in the workplace might take the form of employees with strong writing skills contributing marketing content, such as blogs and training materials. Similarly, companies undertaking rapid technology advancements can tap employees to test products and provide feedback.

Finding what’s right for your team

When choosing any recruiting tool, it's important to have a clear understanding of your recruitment goals. This will ultimately impact the features or solutions you might be looking for.

Sourcing the right candidates is of paramount importance, yet most recruiting teams struggle to effectively prioritize the resources needed to discover and engage top talent. In order to improve any organization's outcomes, TA teams and recruiters must set actionable recruitment goals, and implement new strategies that will give them a competitive advantage with job seekers.

Whether it's reducing cost per hire, improve efficiency increasing quality, decreasing time to fill — or all of the above — make sure everyone on the team is aligned. Ultimately, HR tech should work for you and your team, enabling you to realize your goals faster. In the end, they're here to help recruiters become more agile, productive, and efficient by getting them back to doing what they do best — putting the ‘human’ back in ‘human resources’.

So if your team isn’t making the most of today’s AI recruiting technology, they’re lagging behind in the race for top talent (doubly so if your competitors’ teams are). It's time to stay ahead of the curve.

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Inspired by how HR tools can manifest great milestones for the growth of your company? Get a demo of the Phenom Talent Experience Management platform, which includes Phenom's CRM, talent marketplace, SMS messaging, and more!

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