The way companies recruit is constantly changing depending on the technology available and the state of the economy. Furthermore finding good talent can be very time consuming and expensive. Understandably improving your recruiting process is often an overlooked area of concern as business owners often have “bigger fish to fry” so to speak.

But recruiting may be eating up more time and money than you realize. By leveraging new platforms, websites and tools you can find better leads on better recruits faster and cheaper. Since generally this is what all recruiters want, most trends in 2015 are focused on just that.

Also most recent trends address the need of companies to have a more human connection with candidates that could potentially live all over the world. The ironic thing is that they are doing this through social media and other forms of technology.

Whether you believe these trends are leading recruiters in the right direction or not, it is a good idea to keep an eye on the competition

Improved Applicant Tracking Software

Those fill-in-the blank forms can get annoying, but large companies need a computerized system to keep the application process organized. However, companies are seeking to improve the software they use to make it more convenient for applicants, and are expanding these tools to manage the entire recruiting process from start to finish and help improve the candidate experience.

There are many Saas companies that focus specifically on platforms that improve the recruiting process. Investing in research about these companies may result in a platform that is a perfect for your business. However, you don’t have to look only at recruitment specific software to find a solution. Many companies are utilizing one of the top CRM’s they may already have in use or are looking at using and using it to double as an internal relationship manager as well. Surprisingly many companies are finding that the functionality to manage sales leads naturally works just as well for recruiting. If you have a sales department, you can kill two birds with one stone with a CRM solution.

A Positive Candidate Experience

Making it incredibly difficult to apply for a job, failing to respond to queries, not sticking to promised deadlines and treating candidates with disrespect during the interview process damages a company’s brand. Not only that, but it prevents the top candidates that they are trying to attract from seeking a job with the company, and could even offend potential customers or allies further down the road. Companies need to constantly reevaluate the hiring process to see how the candidate’s experience can be improved.

Sourcing through Social

Social media is no longer new, especially when it comes to using LinkedIn. And lets be real, LinkedIn is heavily spammed and not near as effective as it once was.

However, new tools have started to come out to help companies refine their social media searches. These tools include Entelo, TalentBin and Gild, among others. Entelo helps recruiters to discover top talent that may be considering a move but hasn’t popped up on the regular radar yet. It also contains a huge database of profiles and contact information along with a filtering tool.

Most have free offerings with the option of premium pricing plans if you are a heavy recruiter.

Social Talent Networks

Of course, social media is useful for much more than just finding email addresses. Many companies have started creating talent networks that include everything from potential job candidates and clients, to fans of the company. These networks are great way to promote a company’s employment brand, so more talent comes to the company, rather than forcing the company to go out and find it. Businesses have even sprung up to help companies create these networks.

You can buy lists from existing networks, or simply begin creating your own internal database of people in networks you recruit from.

New Assessment Science

Personality and other assessment tests have been around for ages, but there has been a recent surge in assessment software. Many newer companies use cloud computing and big data to offer something new to this space.

Evolv offers tools that utilize big data to scour through huge databases of potential hires, and analyze the employee life-cycle to help reduce employee turnover rates.

Logi-Serve is another company entering this arena that offers analytics to predict a candidate’s performance in key business areas. There are literally hundreds of these services popping up, so businesses would do well to take a good look at this growing market.

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