5 Ways to Shop your ATS
“Honey! There’s nothing good on TV!” shouts the dad trying to enjoy his Sunday afternoon.
“I’m boooooored, there’s nothing to do,” says the 5-year-old in a room filled with toys.
It’s in our nature to ignore what’s in plain sight. In each of these cases, when they say “nothing” they mean “nothing new.” I contend that hiring managers suffer the same old disease, confusing the “same old” with the “still here”. Otherwise, why would every sourcer from here to Montana advocate “shopping your own database ” before exorbitant board fees and have it fall on largely deaf ears?
Here are five ways to combat “ATS boredom” and guide your hiring managers to the talent that exists right under their noses.
1. Identify trends. Do you have a constant need for call center reps but use an outside firm to fill the management positions? If it’s working, great, but consider that the reason turnover is high “down there” is because no one ever gets to move up to middle management. Once you identify staffing and pipeline issues in your workforce, you can work to address them through other means besides just finding new blood.
2. Build camaraderie. Other departments have a lot to offer too. Someone could be floundering in marketing that might make a great addition to HR, or vice versa. The bonus of moving someone across departments, is that you know they are a cultural fit and have completed the 80 percent of the onboarding process that is company-centric. So what are you waiting for? Look for ways to challenge people intra-departmentally! (- yes I spelled that right the very first time)
3. Don’t ask, don’t tell. There might be some hiring managers who can identify a resume you showed them six months ago, but not many. There is no need to identify candidates who have already been through your interview process, especially if it hurts their chances. Let me put it to you this way, hiring managers want to do the least work to find the best hire possible. Even if they rejected that candidate for one simple reason, their judgement will be colored over all. Just don’t mention that you “shopped” your database.
4. Use visuals. Virtually every analyst and blogger is hailing the rise of video interviewing and with good reason. It makes sense to use visual cues to screen folks out quickly and to spend less time and money getting farther in the process with your top candidates. What doesn’t make sense is cutting HMs out of this process. Many video interviewing platforms offer mobile solutions and the ability to collaborate on the back end via rating systems and note taking. It’s faster than ever to collaborate on great candidates, whether they’re new or not.
5. Compare and contrast. No matter what system you are using, it should have some form of collaboration on the back end. These systems work best when there is lots of accountability. For example, if a HM is vetoing every recycled candidate you send her way, you can point to this as a trend (see point #1). However, beware that these systems can also rat you out. If you’re doing nothing but sending old news her way, then you might want to expand your strategy to include a few more tactics. Once you’ve found a system that allows you to easily rate candidates (look for systems that allow multiple users on one license) then find out how your slightly used candidates stand up to the new bumper crop. If they’re good, you now have a great reason to allocate spending elsewhere next year.