The Benefits of Automation in Recruitment

In the Golden Age of technology, automation is seen as the inevitable future and no one can deny that smart tech has made our lives a lot easier. But what does automation mean for recruitment? From targeted ads, CV scanners, application trackers, and psychometric testing, there is a lot technology can do to make the hiring process less painful for both recruiters and applicants.

It’s now estimated that 75% of recruiters surveyed now use some sort of recruitment software and 94% of them say it has improved their hiring process. Here’s just some of the ways that automation can benefit recruitment and make finding the perfect job a bit easier.

Reducing Costs

With costs estimated at 7k to 30k for making a hire, automation is being frequently used to save money. Technology is quicker, more accurate, and doesn’t take a break, so once it is programmed to do what is needed, it is much more efficient than people. This isn’t to say that the goal is to remove human recruiters because there will always be a need for person-to-person contact when hiring someone, especially when working within a team. However, automation makes recruiters’ lives a lot easier: they can work faster, have more data to work with, and can spend more time focusing on the right candidates instead of sorting through unsuitable CVs.

Automation also cuts costs in ways that can have long-term effects, making it even more valuable to use in the first place. If the hiring process is quicker and the candidates are better suited, then job satisfaction for recruiters and their new hires will increase. This means that employee retention can become higher and creates a better culture within the company, as well as reducing the costs that come with high staff turnover.

Smarter, Faster

 One of the biggest benefits of automation in recruitment is the time saved. By getting technology to do the mundane and time-consuming tasks such as pre-screening, hiring staff can work through more candidates faster and without the information overload that is so common nowadays. While the internet means that job postings can be seen by thousands of people everyday, it also means that application numbers have sky-rocketed but in reality, only 2% of job applicants get interviews. By using automation to identify the best candidates, an enormous amount of time can be saved – both for employers and potential employees.

Pre-screening software can also reach out to successful and unsuccessful candidates as soon as the decision has been made, building relationships quicker than with a manual process, which can lead to a more satisfying job search. It is also more effective at storing information, meaning that when strong candidates aren’t chosen this time, they can be easily reconsidered for another position when it comes along. This builds a connection with candidates and a better brand for the company, which in turn encourages passive applicants to become active and answer the job adverts put out.

Better Reach

There’s a lot of information out there, so job adverts can get easily lost in the traditional spaces, and with low unemployment rates there is a good chance that a great candidate for the position is only passively looking for another job. This means they’re not scrolling through job listings for hours, but they’re open to a new opportunity should it make itself available. Around 98% of recruiters use LinkedIn and other social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are becoming the go-to places to find jobs. Since these sites collect a huge amount of data from their users, their targeted advertising algorithms are pretty accurate and can help put adverts where they are more effective.

This is where programmatic job advertising comes in. All recruiters need to do is input their parameters and needs into the software, e.g. the budget for advertisements, number of applicants wanted, and what the target demographic is, then the computer does the hard work. Adverts pop up across the web, tracking down sites that may be niche, but the people that visit them may better match the demographic for those likely to be qualified for the job. This is like a web-wide targeted ad and companies have reported that using these softwares has reduced costs by 30-70% per qualified candidate.

Embracing Automation

Automation is changing every aspect of our lives, including the hiring process, so embracing technology and the benefits it can bring will help companies perform at their best in the modern age. Technology has made us more connected meaning that hiring has become more competitive for both candidates and employers. Companies like Picked  are using AI to improve the matching process. As AI software like Picked continues to improve, hiring can become faster, cheaper, more accurate, and even more human, removing the traditional grievances that job seeking brings. The more intuitive and efficient the recruitment process can be, the easier it is for both recruiters and candidates to show their strengths, so using automation can help everyone reach their full potential.