Social Recruiting and Applicant Tracking Systems Limitations

 Social media has quickly become the “it” tool in recruiting. Social media has drastically changed the way we recruit, and it is here to stay, but have our applicant tracking systems kept up with demands for social in recruiting? We’ve traded in newspaper ads and the big job boards for social media, but a lot of ATS s are falling short.

The importance of social media in recruiting is undeniable, but just how important it is will surprise you. Staff.com took a look at social media recruitment and brought us some great numbers on the matter:

• 92 percent of companies are using social media for recruiting purposes.
• Almost half (45 percent) of Fortune 500 firms include links to social media on their career pages.
• In 2012, LinkedIn was used for recruiting purposes by 93 percent of companies, while 66 percent used Facebook and 54 percent used Twitter.

Everyone is on this bandwagon for one simple reason—it works. These numbers from the same Staff.com resource indicate just how effective social media in recruiting is.

• 73 percent of companies polled have successfully hired using social media
• 42 percent of the companies reported an improvement of candidate quality since using social media in their recruiting strategy
• 20 percent are experiencing a reduced hiring time

We know that it’s popular; we know that it’s effective, but do we have the right tools to optimize the use of social media in recruiting? Your ATS needs to be a big part of this equation.

For smaller, or B2B companies, social is vital in gaining greater candidate visibility. Establishing a brand and presence is done through social today; if your ATS doesn’t facilitate that, perhaps it’s time to move on. Whether you’re considering replacing your ATS or making improvements, here are a few things to take into consideration:

How easy (or difficult) is it to post with your ATS?

The whole point of having an ATS is to make your life as a recruiter easier and your processes more efficient. If your current ATS puts restraints on your social capabilities, it might be time for an upgrade. Job listings should be automatically posted on your social media outlets for more coverage.

Which social networks does the system support?

Social media is growing and changing on the daily. Niche sites are gaining a lot of credibility in recruiting, and new social networks are popping up everywhere. Have an understanding on how your system can adapt and integrate.

The “Apply with LinkedIn Button”

LinkedIn is quickly killing the resume. They have a new feature that enables candidates to apply for jobs using their LinkedIn profile rather than uploading a resume. All of the latest and greatest recruiting software platforms are using this efficient new tool. By making this feature available to users and job applicants, this feature is setting the bar for what we can expect from our applicant tracking systems.

The Social Report

We’ve heard it a hundred times as it relates to metrics in recruiting, “You can’t improve upon what cannot be measured.” The standard ATS will measure things like time-to-fill, retention, turnover and performance. As social takes front stage in recruiting, it is vital to gather metrics on these recruiting efforts as well. Your ATS should report on applicant source to make it easier to find out what outlets are most effective in generating quality candidates. It should also report on the applicant source by position. This allows for better applicant targeting.