Sourcing's goal is to find the best-fit, most qualified candidates in the shortest amount of time possible. But this can be challenging. How much time should you spend sourcing? And, once you've sourced a list of prospects, who should you prioritize first? Easier said than done, right?
According to Deloitte's 2019 Global Human Capital Trends survey, more than 60% of respondents say that finding qualified talent is one of the biggest challenges in recruitment. And, nearly 90% of organizations expect the role of technology in sourcing to increase in the next three years. Organizations must consider how to continuously access talent in varying ways, including strategically leveraging technology to augment work done by recruiters.
Current techniques for sourcing can be impactful (e.g., browser extensions, plug-ins, advanced Boolean search methods, social sourcing and more), but they are also time-consuming and repetitive. With access to so many people and so much information online, cutting through the clutter to source the best-fit prospective candidates is increasingly challenging.
Identifying tech solutions to help streamline sourcing is imperative to stay ahead of the curve in recruitment. As you consider investing in technology to optimize your sourcing process, be sure you are clear on the problems you want the solutions to solve, and how you'll be able to measure against those. And, remember, it's important to consider how different technologies work together and how each solution typically requires a new process design and communication and deployment plan. Once you're ready to begin, be sure the solutions you implement include these four capabilities:
1.Resume and CV Parsing
More than 80 percent of professionals are actively seeking or are open to learning about new job opportunities. While sourcing from such a vast pool of candidates has promise, navigating through large amounts of data presents a challenge. Resume and CV parsing, which automates the process of gathering, analyzing, and sorting resume data is one of the easiest ways to save time and create efficiencies in sourcing.
Parsing allows data such as contact information, education, work experience, skills, awards, and certifications to be organized, sorted, and prioritized automatically. It eliminates manual data entry and the process of skimming hundreds or thousands of resumes and instead, helps you identify the most qualified candidates based on variables that match role requirements. This capability is invaluable when sourcing for a large number of contingent workers or after collecting resume data for prospective candidates from targeted job boards or networks.
When looking for a parsing tool, ensure that it can parse large volumes of resumes in bulk, from various formats (e.g., Word, PDF, HTML) and that it can integrate into your current applicant tracking system (ATS) where you will likely funnel the candidates you source.
2. Communication Automation
Communicating with potential candidates is another time-consuming task for sourcing teams. Recruiters often spend 20 hours a week on initial candidate outreach. Look for specialized applications that can be integrated into your ATS and are designed to automatically engage a list of sourced candidates via text, email, and other channels. Email and text messages can be sent on an automated schedule using customized, branded templates that add a personal touch to the communication, enhancing the candidate experience from the first touchpoint.
In addition, recruiting automation tools can autodial prospects through a VoIP system, tracking unanswered calls and connecting answered calls with top recruiters. Automation allows for improved candidate engagement by connecting with candidates quickly if they respond to a text or email showing interest in a role.
With automated communication tools, sourcers and recruiters can increase productivity and better prioritize which candidates they should focus on to forge meaningful connections.
3. Bots for Automation
One study found that more than 50% of recruitment managers spend eight hours a week one full workday on manual, repetitive tasks. Another report shows that recruiters spend approximately 15 hours a week sourcing for just one role. Automating these laborious processes can reduce time and budget spent on routine tasks and help improve recruiting costs, time to hire and quality of hire. In fact, more than 80% of talent acquisition teams believe they would be more productive if they could automate sourcing altogether.
Bots are programs that automate standard tasks such as screening, scheduling or simple text-based conversations with a candidate. They can help streamline sourcing functions into an automated workflow that you manage. Identify partners that can help you automate at least 50% of your manual tasks via bots. Some organizations have automated up to 85% of their sourcing and recruiting process.
4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning
AI-based sourcing tools are more popular than ever. The recruiting function including AI-based sourcing, assessment, screening, interviewing, and candidate experience management is the biggest market for AI in HR. Additionally, the venture capital and private equity markets have invested nearly $4 billion into HR tech using AI.
AI and machine learning tools deploy algorithms that help prioritize requisitions, candidate sources and interaction strategies by leveraging historical data. AI-powered platforms streamline large amounts of complex data, revealing insights about prospective candidates, market trends, and recruiting strategies. AI can improve success with passive candidates using predictive analytics. By evaluating and monitoring candidate-related data points across various online platforms, the technology pinpoints subtle triggers, such as work anniversaries or increased activity on LinkedIn, that indicate a professional is considering changing jobs and is open to new opportunities.
Machine learning, which analyzes and learns from the data to perform tasks, leverages candidate attributes and engagement scores to automatically build a prioritized contact list of the highest potential prospects for a recruiter.
When exploring possible sourcing solutions with AI and machine learning, consider the importance of data privacy as well as how it may initiate the redesign of your organization. Additionally, while AI can help make sourcing more equitable, if AI tools are built on historical hiring and recruiting data that measure biased decisions, they could repeat this pattern. To avoid bias, be prepared to monitor and make updates as needed.
Are you ready to build the sourcing team of tomorrow? Finding the right solutions can transform your talent acquisition efforts and produce incredible results. Each of these four functions resume parsing, communication automation, bots, and AI is vital for sourcing for the future. Identify what desired outcome your organization wants to achieve in each area and then seek out solutions and partners that can help you reach those goals.
Even better, seek out a partner that combines these high-powered solutions into one cohesive system that integrates with your existing system.PSG's Automated Candidate Engagement (ACE) solution does just that. We've implemented ACE across over 60% of our recruiting accounts with outstanding results. Not only has our connect rate increased by over 80%, but we are also delivering 80% more hires a month per recruiter with the new solution. Reach out to learn more.