Recruiting can be a real grind.
Whether you’re working the phones to find new clients or finding candidates to fill your open roles, it often seems like there is not an extra second in the day.
However, it doesn’t have to be this way. The use of recruiting tools to reduce the number of repetitive tasks you’re performing can allow you to free up some time to focus on other work you need to get done.
Here’s a list of five applications that every recruiter should use in their daily life. (And if you want some more, check out this list of software for recruiters).
Applicant Tracking Systems
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a tool that allows you to track the progress of an applicant as they move through your pipeline from application to hire. Even though this software can be incredibly helpful, many recruiters still do this work in a spreadsheet, leading to data validation errors that are often never caught.
While there are a few reasons that a recruiter may forego a formal ATS, the most commonly cited is often price. If you’re in that boat, check out OpenCATS, a free and open source applicant tracking system that is constantly updated with new features. And if you have a budget of approximately $50/month/user, try one of the leading paid tools such as Greenhouse or Recruitee.
Scheduling
Scheduling calls can take a surprisingly large amount of time. The back-and-forth between you and the other party trying to find a mutually convenient hour to talk is frustrating and unnecessary. Instead, use a scheduling tool that is integrated with your calendar to send someone a link that allows him or her to book a time immediately.
There are many options available so look for one that has a solid integration with your calendar of choice (such as G Suite or Office 365) and an easy to use interface so that the person to whom you send the link has no problem booking an appointment.
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Email Finders
When you’re trying to track down the email address of a person you need to contact, it can be frustrating to constantly stumble into a dead end. That’s where the many email finders available can help. These tools, most of which are Chrome extensions, display all known email addresses for a person when you visit that person’s social profile.
For example, suppose you want to find an email address for a prospective candidate. Find the person’s LinkedIn profile and fire up your email finder (ContactOut and Prophet are two that work well) and boom! You have their email address and you’re ready to go.
Video Interviewing
Interviewing candidates is a key part of most recruiters’ job descriptions and yet getting a video interview to work can still be a huge exercise in frustration. Think back to the time when you had your candidate ready to go but he or she could just not get the software launched.
This is where a good video interviewing tool stands out. SparkHire, Interview Stream and Odro are all options for the recruiter who wants to know that their candidate will be able to connect without any issues.
Data Scrapers
Sourcing candidates is often a difficult task. Passive candidates may not even be on LinkedIn, which basically makes them invisible to your average sourcer. But fear not, since a data scraping tool can help.
A data scraper allows you to visit a site and collect a huge amount of data in no time. For example, let’s say you want to hire a food service manager but you’ve had no luck tracking one down. You can find a list of attendees for a food service conference, scrape the data and upload it to your CRM or ATS. Just like that, you have a robust list of potential candidates.
Check out Data Miner or Import.io as two options to get started.
MORE: The Benefits of Recruiters Using Semantic Search Engines
