How to become a modern recruiter between marketing and ATS
Recruiting tips |

How to become a modern recruiter between marketing and ATS

In a world that is constantly changing, where there are constant stimuli, new trends, new ways of interpreting and integrating our knowledge, the recruiter cannot and must not be outdone.

It must be able to keep pace with a world of work that is constantly evolving and in which the way of approaching job postings is also changing, in which the candidate journey is far from a linear journey but more a path in which there are detours, reversals or sudden accelerations.

Candidates who once had little opportunity to get to know companies closely are now continually informed about the initiatives they put in place, any mistakes they make (think of epic failures on social networks), how they work and what positions are actually sought after or not. This is why recruiters also need to have a more modern, or rather contemporary, approach, and move away from old-style recruitment.

He has to go beyond what he breathes in his company, beyond the “it has always been done this way” and understand how a talent can get to a specific job offer, know what inbound recruiting is and how to adapt it to his talent acquisition strategies.

How to become a modern recruiter, in light of this and other considerations, we will discuss in this article trying to understand “the rules of the game”, what is the best way to approach the people we are interested in, how to include in all this an ATS software, social media and last but not least – artificial intelligence.

What distinguishes a modern recruiter from an old-fashioned one

You may know or have heard that nowadays it is increasingly the talent that chooses the company and not the other way around. In fact, the contract is only the last step in an eventful journey in which the job seeker or recruiter has had the opportunity to gather as much information as possible.

In addition to this, if it is true that unemployment, especially in Italy, is still at high levels, it is equally true that there is – either because of increasingly advanced technology, or because of this being in a state of lifelong learning – a great demand for qualified professionals.

Here is the first thing in which a modern recruiter differs from an old-style one: the change of point of view. No longer and not only the candidates towards the company, but the company towards its candidates: the modern recruiter is well aware that he/she has to attract talent and to do so in all possible “locations” and ways. The modern recruiter is well aware of the need to attract talent, and must do so in every possible way.

Knowledge of the candidate journey is fundamental for the modern recruiter

modern recruitment

In fact, the candidate’s journey consists of 4 phases: discovery, attraction, application, involvement.

In the first phase it is very likely that the would-be candidate is already familiar with the company, but is not thinking that it could be their next job. That is why the modern recruiter must aim to create an initial relationship by starting to develop a sense of trust and then initiating a possible dialogue. Nothing more or less than when you see for the first time a person who is a friend of your friend: you have heard about them, but you have to understand how and if they are worth getting in touch with. The modern recruiter, unlike the old-style one, ‘goes’ in this direction.

How? By developing their personal brand and that of the company. The difference with the old-fashioned recruiter lies in this: in how they manage their LinkedIn profile.

How to manage the discovery phase

An “old style” recruiter doesn’t have a profile on LinkedIn or, if he does, he has limited himself to inserting his name and surname, maybe a photo, nothing more: in short, he has a presence on LinkedIn only for scouting purposes, he doesn’t think at all that the candidate might be interested in him or that his personal profile might be a means to create a relationship with the company.

Those who are aware of this, or those who want to start doing so, need to take care of their profile starting from the photo, then include detailed and comprehensive information about their career and finally share content.

LinkedIn is anything but an online CV. Think you have nothing to say? In addition to being able to talk about your company, you can share content about your work, your industry or even research and updates you’ve read. In fact, start with what you read to inform yourself: select a few things you think are important and share them with your network.

At the same time, take care of your company’s career page: if there are people following you or you want them to be followed, make sure it is an impactful page, which is interesting not only for those who follow you but also for employees who are the main brand ambassadors.

How to manage the attraction phase

A modern recruiter does not neglect the attraction phase, which includes both the recruiter’s profile and the updates to the page: publishing frequent content (from a minimum of 1 per day to 2-3) with photos of moments in the company, slides that convey the company’s values, promptly answering questions that are asked, and describing the roles that the company is looking for are all important and profitable actions.

If the page is managed by a social media team, these are some of the actions you can coordinate together. Add to this the fact of engaging potential candidates with sponsored ads.

How to manage the application phase

The third phase, the application phase, sees the modern recruiter even more active. If you have managed to “get discovered” and attract candidates and have seen that your profile has been seen by a potential talent, don’t miss out.

Therefore, initiate inMail conversations on LinkedIn that can guarantee a response, by proposing job postings that invite talent to apply. This is possible if you study the candidate’s profile, if you try to treat them as a person and not as a number, if you pay attention and speak their language.

And this also applies to a job offer: if you are clear about your candidate personas, you can also write the most suitable ad. Other actions that a modern recruiter can take are to emphasise the company culture – yes, even at this stage – and the people who work within the company.

Another tip: if you have a lot of positions to fill, publish job slots, i.e. recurrent announcements: you can reach even more people and at the right time when they are looking around.

How to manage the engagement phase

The last phase is the delicate one of involvement: you have been discovered, you have attracted, candidates have proposed themselves, now it is time to make them understand that it is the right choice.

A recruiter absolutely does not neglect this phase, thinking that it is subsequent to hiring, but makes it clear that choosing that company means having a plus in terms of training, professional development and leadership. In this phase, then, you must also involve employees, who will be fundamental “referrals” for new candidates.

The rules of recruiting have changed

You may have already guessed this from what we have said above, but here we try to expand on the concept. Involvement is the key word in recruitment and it has to be continuous.

The old model that sees the recruiter more as an administrator, a person who “just” manages processes, no longer works. In order to attract and retain talent, whoever they are, it is necessary to put them at the centre, a bit like Vitruvius’ man.

No less and perhaps much more than what you do with customers and employees, it matters so much what the candidate – even if he is not yet on board – thinks of your company, the impressions he has, the image you build. This is why the rules of recruiting have changed: it is important to focus on high quality interactions throughout the recruitment process.

A similar approach shifts the focus from ‘simple’ management of requests to designing the journey, the candidate’s journey, paying attention to every single step.

Remember: experience and engagement are not the same thing. In order to improve the whole recruitment process, you have to keep in mind that engagement consists of a series of interactions that you can activate with the candidate and that you can determine to a certain extent. Experience, on the other hand, consists of the feelings you have about the candidate, about which a recruiter can do little, but can take steps to make them as positive as possible.

The new approach to work

As we have mentioned, the recruiter has to have a different approach to the world of work: from administrative-centric to candidate-centric, aware that the hunt for qualified talent will become more and more competitive year by year, if not month by month. And how to do that? The answer is by relying simultaneously on both technological and strategic solutions to make sure you engage the candidate at the right time and in the right way, right from the ‘first glance’.

engagement candidati

First of all, you have to consider 8 trends that are gradually emerging and are – or perhaps have already – changing the rules of recruitment.

  1. There is less and less talent
  2. Candidates are more informed and have more choices: they choose you, not vice versa
  3. The emerging workforce has different expectations of how they want to communicate and interact with you and your brand
  4. You are “hoarding” ads and many candidates are likely to let you go before you even know they’ve been looking for you. That’s why a professional brand and website are more important than ever
  5. Social media, which is constantly on the rise, makes it much easier to reach candidates. And this applies not only to you but also to your competitors
  6. In the gig economy, fluid work organisation requires more flexible recruitment strategies (whoever chooses you doesn’t necessarily want you forever)
  7. Speed is of the essence: better to move quickly to retain the best candidates
  8. A signed contract is no longer the goal

All these dynamics require a modern approach to recruitment and, as a result, the recruiter must constantly strive to engage the candidate.

Compared to the models of the past, based on administrative efficiency, recruiter-centric processes and recruitment itself, engaging candidates means attracting and retaining them. Whoever they are, wherever they are. Inbound recruiting strategies, ongoing relationships and employer branding must be the order of the day.

Artificial intelligence also plays a key role in all this: automation and machine learning are moving in this direction.

Automating routine recruiting activities such as screening CVs, narrowing down the search for candidates and scheduling job interviews are all activities that can be delegated to ATS software, for example. This does not mean “stealing” the recruiter’s job, but giving him more space for the purely human characteristics of this profession: interactions, responses, attention, empathy.

Social recruiting and recruiting marketing: Why they matter for the modern recruiter

As we have partly said, social media also play a fundamental role. A modern recruiter cannot do without it. Both to find passive candidates and to maintain a relationship with active candidates. And yet most recruiters use social media as a megaphone, an amplifier of their own activities without paying adequate attention.

social media recruiting

How? By posting repeated ads, not responding to any comments under the ad or not considering job posting as part of a content marketing and inbound marketing strategy in which you communicate with candidates but at the same time give answers to questions they are asking on search engines.

In the same way, it is important for the modern recruiter to know the world of marketing and the skills connected to it.

In fact, recruitment is inevitably linked to the branding efforts made by the company and to all the actions it takes to bring more and more visits to the career page of the company website, to generate traffic, to convey interest, to attract people. A recruiter who does not know what new products the company has or what new services it offers and how these are promoted, is a recruiter who will always be missing something, which will inevitably have an impact on the entire selection process.

We have also dedicated an in-depth study to recruiting marketing, which we recommend you read.

Artificial intelligence and recruiting

If what we have said so far seems interesting to you, but out of touch with your reality, know that many personnel managers are going in this direction. The large hotel chain Hilton, for example, as reported by Il Sole 24Ore, has reduced selection times thanks to a system that analyses videos of candidates answering certain questions, analysing ex post their voice, gestures and intonation.

Unilever, on the other hand, uses a 12-test game that allows the aspiring candidate to solve it via mobile in 20 minutes. In this way, it greatly reduces the screening phase.

Italy is also starting to move in this direction: as revealed by an AIDP (Italian Association for Personnel Management) survey, 58% of the people sampled (a total of 3,000 who took part) have used similar systems for pre-screening activities, as well as starting an automated analysis of CVs. This and many other activities to save time, but also money and to focus more and more on the involvement of candidates as we said above.

How artificial intelligence helps recruiters choose the best talent

Artificial intelligence is no longer just a prerogative of larger or more structured companies. Artificial intelligence is now a fully-fledged part of recruitment, and we at In-recruiting have been working for a year to offer solutions that automate your work and make you a more modern recruiter.

Some of these solutions are still in the beta – or test – phase, so your help in using and improving them is essential. You can find them within In-recruiting or implement them via API. To find out what they are, we refer you to our article on artificial intelligence in recruiting.

If you found this article interesting, ask for a demo. We will be happy to show you how to manage the entire recruiting process with the help of an ATS and artificial intelligence or use our recruitment marketing services to find the right candidates in the shortest possible time.