Are You Wasting Recruitment Marketing Dollars? Possibly.....
Those of you that know me know that I am a big proponent of networking, being I am a people person in general; it’s something that comes easy to me. I meet people at volunteer events, on the bus, at my kid’s high school events etc.
Lately due to the bad economy and many people out of work, I don’t get much passed my name and what I do for a living before the conversation turns to their job search experience. I can’t tell you how many times in the past few months I’ve heard something similar to the following “I must have applied to 30 positions online and have not heard anything, it’s frustrating”
Ever Wonder Why Employee Referral is Your Biggest Source of Hire?
I’m going out on a limb here but I’m going to say, it’s much easier! Having a direct contact to the company or hiring manager pretty much ensures your resume will at least be looked at vs. applying through a company’s ATS system and risking that your resume not “pop” for the various search parameters recruiters are typing in. Companies could really be missing out on a lot of “A” players this way. “A” players they’ve spent money on to get to their career sites in the first place.
A lot of Money is spent on Acquiring New Candidates
Companies are starting to invest heavily in digital media mediums like SEO, SEM and Social Media, which is great, don’t get me wrong, I like having a job. It’s just that with all the recent talk about companies needing to move their recruiting spend around to make it work more effectively, I personally believe that should involve looking at more than just new tactics. What about looking into candidate experience or figuring out how to leverage your 10,000 names already in your ATS system as your passive candidate pipeline?
Meet the “Candidate Relationship Manager”
The candidate relationship manager is different from a recruiter. They are there to be a liaison for your candidates, help to ensure their applicant experience was positive, and ensure that they feel communicated with vs. left in the black hole of death. After all, these candidates own part of your employment brand.
• The candidate relationship manager could follow-up with new hires regarding their applicant experience – Improvement starts by listening.
• Before spending 10k posting your new marketing manager role to the job boards, the candidate relationship manager could review the candidates that applied for a similar position a month ago.
• The software engineer that had 3 years of experience when applying 2 years ago for a job requiring 5 years, now fits the requirements. Why pay money to re-attract him/her – you already have their information and the candidate relationship manager could bring this to your attention.
Lately due to the bad economy and many people out of work, I don’t get much passed my name and what I do for a living before the conversation turns to their job search experience. I can’t tell you how many times in the past few months I’ve heard something similar to the following “I must have applied to 30 positions online and have not heard anything, it’s frustrating”
Ever Wonder Why Employee Referral is Your Biggest Source of Hire?
I’m going out on a limb here but I’m going to say, it’s much easier! Having a direct contact to the company or hiring manager pretty much ensures your resume will at least be looked at vs. applying through a company’s ATS system and risking that your resume not “pop” for the various search parameters recruiters are typing in. Companies could really be missing out on a lot of “A” players this way. “A” players they’ve spent money on to get to their career sites in the first place.
A lot of Money is spent on Acquiring New Candidates
Companies are starting to invest heavily in digital media mediums like SEO, SEM and Social Media, which is great, don’t get me wrong, I like having a job. It’s just that with all the recent talk about companies needing to move their recruiting spend around to make it work more effectively, I personally believe that should involve looking at more than just new tactics. What about looking into candidate experience or figuring out how to leverage your 10,000 names already in your ATS system as your passive candidate pipeline?
Meet the “Candidate Relationship Manager”
The candidate relationship manager is different from a recruiter. They are there to be a liaison for your candidates, help to ensure their applicant experience was positive, and ensure that they feel communicated with vs. left in the black hole of death. After all, these candidates own part of your employment brand.
• The candidate relationship manager could follow-up with new hires regarding their applicant experience – Improvement starts by listening.
• Before spending 10k posting your new marketing manager role to the job boards, the candidate relationship manager could review the candidates that applied for a similar position a month ago.
• The software engineer that had 3 years of experience when applying 2 years ago for a job requiring 5 years, now fits the requirements. Why pay money to re-attract him/her – you already have their information and the candidate relationship manager could bring this to your attention.
Having been in the industry for the past 3 years working on media plans and helping to evaluate where recruitment money should be allocated it just seems like there is a HUGE opportunity being missed and that opportunity could save organizations a lot of money.
Am I completely missing the boat here? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
______________________
2-18-2010 Additional comments
Many people have emailed me asking for specifics around what people have told me regarding their applicant/candidate experience so I thought I would share the top bullet points here.
1. People say the process takes to long. Many have said that one single online application can take 45 minutes if they take their time and fill everything out.
2. People are confused as to why when they upload their resume do they have to manually enter in their past 10 years of work experience anyway.
3. I never know if my information was received because I don't receive a confirmation email.
4. If there is more then one job posted for a company that I am interested in and qualified for, why do I have to submit two separate online applications.
5. I interviewed once but never heard back, it would have been nice to receive an email saying "thanks" but "no thanks"
