The CV Database: This is where the Purple Squirrel Hides! (And how to find it)
Where is the Purple Squirrel hiding? The answer is probably not what you expect.
In this article we will explore the most effective ways to search for CVs and find candidates within the real “gold mine” of each recruiter: the company’s database of CVs.
Classic recruiting methods will never let you find a purple squirrel
The process used by most recruiters is to create a new ad, publish it to the main job boards (best of all using a Multiposting service to save time) and then screen the CVs. Some experts call this the “post and pray” recruiting mode, because it essentially consists in posting a job ad and hoping (praying) that CVs arrive.
But are we sure this is the best process? And if our Squirrel pursues, the “perfect candidate”, is it already in our database of candidates?
CV Database: Purple squirrels are hiding right there!
Usually purple squirrels are hidden among passive candidates, and these types of candidates do not respond to ads and do not attend job boards. For this reason, you need to get in touch with them before they are actively searching for a job (e.g. with social recruitment tactics), or find them if your company business listings are already included. Searching within your database of CVs should be a standard operation and could save you a lot of time, whether you are looking for active candidates or whether you are looking for passive candidates (or squirrels).
TIP: Create and organise your CV and candidate database with a next-generation Applicant Tracking System, you can save up to 50% of the time compared to using ineffective tools such as Excel and e-mail (where CVs “die” after a very short time, no longer easily searchable).
Become a master in looking for profiles within your database of candidates!
Unfortunately, a recent search on a sample of 8,000 companies (Source: Talendrive) has shown that 98% of recruiters have difficulty finding candidates inside their candidate database. In summary: the candidates were present in the database, but the recruiter could not find them.
There is always talk of Big Data but upstream you have to consider that data has no value if you cannot recover it when you need it. How can you hire someone if you cannot FIND them?
One of the key aspects of any recruiting activity is to improve the speed with which valid candidates are identified, because this also means improving the number and quality of the candidates as a result.
Consider that a job ad receives an average of 250 CVs to be handled in subsequent screening phases (companies like Google receive on average 75,000 CVs per week) (Source: Visibility) and according to another 2017 search over 60% of applicants send their candidacy even though they do not have the minimum requirements (Source: Recruitment Grapevine).
Consequently, effective searching within your candidate database equates immediately to improving KPIs for recruiting, and is a key competence for a successful recruiter.
TIP: Measure and try to decrease the time it takes to get in touch with a valid candidate before your competitors.
How to use candidate search capabilities of recruitment software?
Knowing how to perform an effective search can save you a lot of time and for this reason In-recruiting has a dual system to find candidates:
1. Fast Search
2. Advanced Search.
Quick Search and Boolean Search of CVs
Using Quick Search, you can do a full text search to find candidates by entering keywords that are automatically searched both within the profiles and the CVs collected at application stage, plus the cover letter (because you can search in multiple formats such as Word, PDF, Txt, Rtf, Odt, and many more), and the rating notes shared by the different users.
How to use Candidate Quick Search? The In-recruiting system is really simple: just enter the keyword in the field (just like Google) to instantly get a list of candidates that meet the requirements.
For greater accuracy, you can also use Boolean operators in the text search to further filter the profiles returned by the Applicant Tracking System.
AND (space): the search takes place simultaneously on all the terms indicated (Ex: Mario Rossi).
OR (|): The search takes place on at least one of the terms indicated (Ex: Mario | Rossi).
NOT (-): Used when you want to limit the search to certain terms, eliminating the non-relevant words (Ex: Mario – Rossi, only the results with the term Mario will be displayed).
Boolean search example: write “SAP AND 5 years of experience” to find candidates who have at least 5 years of experience with SAP management.
Using a Boolean operator you can find a valid candidate even when there are a lot of CVs. It’s been shown that the use of an ATS can filter up to 75% of the number of applications. (Source: Careerrealism).
TIP: Learn how to use Boolean operators effectively, this will allow you to significantly reduce the time it takes to find a candidate by eliminating non-relevant candidates. Recruiting software without the functionality of a full text search and searching only within a very limited number of file formats will lead you to lose valid candidates.
There is another possibility, searching through fixed fields, by using preset fields on the system for the candidate profile, such as home address, professional experience, level of education, study title, etc.
In-recruiting (unlike many other ATSs) allows you to customise these fields, so any company using the system can ask candidates for information during the advertising phase, setting up an effective pre-screening system.
How to use Advanced Search
Advanced Search is the most precise way to search for candidates in the database. It has a basic graphical look similar to Fast Search, but it allows you to customise your search query, by compiling filters on any field in the system, even using Boolean operators.
TIP: Use advanced search when the database is extensive and the candidate requirements are multiple and cross-referenced. In these cases it is more useful to take time to think about the criteria to be set up and then to go to advanced search. The time you save will pay for the effort.
How to save up to 200% of your time: Saved Searches
It might be that a recruiter needs to repeat a specific search many times. For example, a customer using In-recruiting has been forced to cyclically repeat the search for promoters for Shopping Centers.
In this case, it may be useful to have a feature to quickly repeat the searches already made so that you do not do the same query countless times.
How can you do this? To help you speed up the search for the ideal candidate for your vacancy, In-recruiting gives you the ability to save your searches so you do not lose your favorite search parameters, and automatically re-search the system sending you an email to notify you of any new candidates in line with your parameters. Many of our customers told us they were able to save up to 200% of the time thanks to this useful feature.
Often the candidate you are looking for is just a click away in your database.
If you have not started building your CV database yet, you can start doing it today thanks to a new generation Application Tracking System like In-recruiting. Try In-recruiting for free for 14 days and start attracting candidates!