Chris Bogh |

It has been a year of economic uncertainty for many organisations. It has forced recruiters to examine their recruitment processes and question how they can reduce costs but still recruit a high calibre of candidate. Technology has played a major part in facilitating this, and for those who have acted decisively, they have not only survived these turbulent times, but have in fact flourished and are now in a much stronger position moving forward. One opinion is that the recession has served to re-shape the way the recruitment industry operates. So what can we expect for the future? Here is our five-part guide to success:

1. Streamline your recruitment processes

In a highly competitive marketplace, recruiters need to exceed candidate expectations and differentiate their business by delivering a better candidate experience. Technology is instrumental in making this possible, and allows companies to offer enhanced recruitment services, which also serve to strengthen communications and promote transparency. These include candidate portals which allow candidates an element of self service, giving them visibility and input into the recruitment process. By automating the communication system, candidates can benefit, by being kept informed throughout the application process, be alerted to new opportunities and even share these opportunities among their peers. They can also log into your career portal to keep their contact information and skills / CV up to date and confirm or rearrange interviews. By utilising these tools recruiters can continue to improve the candidate's experience and lower administration costs.

2. Make sure your technology is up to speed

Unsurprisingly these times have also created an influx of candidates, which has turned the marketplace from being candidate-led to vacancy-led. With more CV's to sift through, the only cost efficient option to ensure that the most suitable candidates are found, is to automate the associated admin tasks, for example, use CV data extraction and importing tools that link with email and SMS communications. Also, your recruitment system should automatically identify skills in CV's enabling your recruiters to work with the most suitable candidates first. However, with a reliance on technology, recruiters need to evaluate that their system is future proof. Question your software provider and assess if they are continually innovating and keeping you in touch with the latest technologies.

3. Social networking- Widen your Net

The increasing popularity of social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin necessitates recruiters to revaluate and adjust their web recruiting strategies. Whilst they still should be viewed as additions and not replacements for traditional recruitment channels, they do provide a further outlet for recruiters to promote their corporate brand, post jobs and tap into a wider talent pool. Integrating with these technologies is not enough, technology providers must be able to help track and monitor the success of these new channels. In line with these web advancements, recruitment technologies have also evolved to help recruiters manage & monitor the value of a range of online tactics via automated job posting and response tracking.

4. Technology isn't the full solution

Whilst technology can significantly streamline and improve recruitment processes, it is NOT a substitute for the experience and knowledge of a professional recruiter. Recruitment skills are essential in order to identify, assess and nurture suitable candidates; the software will provide the support mechanism, but it cannot replace the experience, skill and judgement of a recruiter.

5. Monitor and analyse your success

Above all, recruiters must make their technology solutions work hard. They are a fantastic business management information tool that can be used to constantly monitor the success of your campaigns, consultants and placements. By automating all reporting systems through the software to analyse KPI's, training needs, bottlenecks, cost per hire, time to hire, managers can make informed decisions that will help to shape the future effectiveness of your recruitment.

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