Picture this. You’re getting overwhelmed with open vacancies for jobs that need filling fast. You log into your ATS, but instead of the usual stack of CVs, each candidate is ranked from top to bottom in order of their job suitability. As you start to scan down the candidate shortlist you realise that your top 10 candidates have automatically been invited to the next stage – an interview with you. Personalised interview reports are just a click away; it’s time to get these jobs filled. 

How mature is your hiring process?

There are lots of things that determine a successful recruitment strategy. Is it time to figure out where your weak spots are?

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Sounds futuristic? Not really. It’s what we do at ThriveMap. We help companies hire remotely more effectively. But to do it well, we rely on other great recruiting software to make the day-to-day recruitment as stress-free as possible. This is especially important as we move into a world without face-to-face interviews.

We’ve found the best recruiting software tools on the market today for remote hiring. From job board aggregators to video interview platforms and remote onboarding, there’s a tech solution to help every step of the recruitment process.

Why is recruiting software important?

Recruitment software is a catch-all term for various technologies businesses use to improve or streamline their hiring processes. It can be as simple as candidate databases and interview scheduling or as complex as predictive analytics. You can use recruitment software at any stage of the hiring funnel, from building talent pools to helping onboard new hires and all the stages in between.

If you regularly hire large numbers of staff, your recruitment process needs to be efficient and effective. Software typically reduces the time and cost of manual recruitment by automating large parts of the process. It’s also really good for remote hiring.

Many recruiters believe that recruitment automation dehumanises the hiring process. Of course, it can, but the right tools should enhance the candidate experience. For example, 96% of people would prefer a job realistic pre-hire assessment, which communicates the realities of the role and the organisation as part of the hiring process.

Here are the top three reasons why you should be using recruitment software:

1. Increase hiring efficiency

Saving time by automating repetitive tasks frees up time to spend on the more critical aspects of recruitment, such as decision-making, sourcing, and building relationships with candidates.

2. Improve candidate experience

The scope for error in manually organizing job applications and scheduling interviews means that inevitably, some people will fall through the cracks. Recruitment software greatly reduces the chance of error. Furthermore, automation can help communicate with candidates at key moments in the recruitment life cycle, making it more likely that candidates will make it to the end of the application process.

3. Increase candidate diversity

Candidate pre-selection tools and online tests will assess candidates based on ability rather than on job-irrelevant characteristics found on a resume, such as name, age, or education. Algorithms can help you select candidates most likely to succeed in the job based on cold, hard data.

Different types of recruiting software

We’ve broken the list down into different types of recruitment software that help with different stages of the process so you know which will best fit together in your tech stack.

1. Applicant tracking systems

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are the most commonly used recruitment software, and 98% of Fortune 500 companies use one. They aim to gather, sort and upload your candidate profiles onto a central database for all your candidate information. Here are a few to consider.

• Recruit CRM: One of the highest-rated Applicant Tracking Systems in the market, Recruit CRM builds cloud-based software for the global recruitment and staffing industry. It helps recruiters do everything from sourcing candidates on LinkedIn to sending emails, resume parsing, setting up interviews and reminders, collecting updated CVs, and getting client feedback.
• Greenhouse: A popular ATS for growing companies with a great integrations marketplace.
• Workable: This is one of the fastest-growing ATS companies. It’s effortless to integrate with other recruitment software, including ThriveMap.
• Taleo: Taleo is still the most used ATS on the market. It’s been around for a long time and is coming under increasing competition from newer solutions.
• Lever: Lever is a newer ATS provider with great functionality and scalability for fast-growth enterprises. You can read more about the integration between Lever and ThriveMap here.

2. Recruitment CRMs

Candidate relationship management (CRM) recruiting software helps you attract the best candidates by marketing your employer brand throughout the recruitment process.  This software is part of a bigger trend towards recruitment marketing in HR.

• SmashFly: SmashFly are one of the most effective employer brand builders available right now and can tailor a brand identity throughout the entire recruitment process.
• Beamery: London-based CRM provider offers great flexibility to turbocharge your recruitment marketing efforts. 
• Jibe: What’s different about Jibe is that their Recruiting Cloud is bursting with recruitment marketing tools, such as SEO management, two-sided matching and a range of automated tools.
• TalentLyft: TalentLyft is an ATS and CRM combined. This is simpler than many tools and is a good start for smaller companies that want to use one recruitment tool.

3. Job boards & aggregators

Job advertising software automates the process of posting on different job boards. They can target the platforms to attract the right candidates. For example, if you’re looking to hire graduates, a good job board aggregator will simultaneously put your ad on multiple university career pages.

• Recruitics: On the recruiter side, Recruitics is one of the most established job advertisers, known for their marketing analytics and programmatic solutions. 
• Appcast: Appcast focuses on targeting job ads via brand partners so that you can find applicants through less established channels. 
• Indeed: On the applicant side, Indeed is the largest job ad aggregator out there and is the first place many new applicants begin their search.
• Google Jobs: Google Jobs is a venture by the tech giant to move into the territory of established aggregators such as Indeed.

4. Chatbots

Chatbots help candidates in the application process. Recent advances have made them better able to understand and react to applicants’ questions. They also add a much-needed human feel to remote hiring.

• Olivia: Olivia is an “AI recruiting assistant” styled to mimic natural human interaction, that helps candidates with their questions and screens applicants. 
• Jobpal: Jobpal is a chatbot excels at answering questions while communicating the employer brand.

5. Assessments & candidate testing providers

Assessment and testing recruiting automation software is a way for employers to gauge the knowledge, skills, abilities and other qualifications of applicants beyond what’s just on the CV. These can range from job-specific tests, to “day-in-the-life” job simulations.

• ThriveMap: ThriveMap provides realistic “day-in-the-life” assessments to judge the capability, commitment and culture-fit of job applicants. These are always personalised to each role and communicate your employer brand in the process.
• Codility: Codility is a specialised assessment tool that lets tech companies see how skilled their applicants are in software engineering and web development.
• Arctic Shores: This assessment tool uses gamification and neuroscience to match candidates to roles while making the candidate experience enjoyable, particularly for graduate recruitment.

6. Video interview software

Video interviewing has grown in popularity since the Coronavirus pandemic. Many companies use it as part of their virtual interview process. 

• Wepow: WePow offers a range of interviewing capabilities and tailored pre-recorded videos, multiple languages and 24/7 customer support.
• HireVue: What’s special about HireVue is its incorporation of Industrial-Organisational Psychology to analyse applicants. 
• ConveyIQ: ConveyIQ uses several platforms for its “candidate journey” incorporating video interviews, texts and emails.

7. Reference checking software

Looking to automate candidate references and background checks? You can save time with these handy tools.

• SkillSurvey: SkillSurvey is all about saving time, getting reference checks back within two days, as well as offering skills assessments.
• XRef: With Xref you can submit your request and automation will drive a 24-hour turnaround with background checks and references on all your applicants.

8. On-boarding software

Onboarding can be tedious. These tools can make the process smoother and improve the experience for your new hire.

• Enboarder: Enboarder turns onboarding into an “experience-driven” process, looking to “wow” new employees with human interaction and aesthetic design. 
• Personio: Personio also focuses on creating a great employee experience by removing the paperwork from the process.
• Eloomi: Eloomi combines onboarding with new hire training to deliver relevant content and reduce the ramp-up time of new hires.

In closing

The average length of the hiring process has almost doubled since 2010, despite many organisations implementing new technology to make the process easier.

Improving the efficiency of your hiring funnel is critical for making better, fairer hiring decisions. The time you give back to your recruiters can be invested in higher-value activities such as building great candidate relationships.

For more information on recruiting automation software these posts may be helpful:

• Candidate Selection Tools: The 9 Best To Use When Hiring
• Recruitment strategy: 7 essential things to include
• High volume hiring: 9 ways to improve your process
• Full cycle recruiting: what is it and how to get it right
• Hire remote employees: The 10 best remote job boards
• Recruitment Operations: What is RecOps?
• Hiring Remotely: 9 Mistakes to Avoid

How mature is your hiring process?

There are lots of things that determine a successful recruitment strategy. Is it time to figure out where your weak spots are?

Let me take the quiz