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How to Hire Long Term Employees March 14, 2014

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With the rapidly evolving business landscape, human resource management departments face many challenges. The first challenge is attracting qualified candidates. Integrated technology systems like the applicant tracking system (ATS) allow a company’s recruitment staff to collect and store a candidate’s data and monitor and track all stages of the hiring process. This software can also be used to post job openings, screen resumes and generate interview questions via email. It streamlines the whole employee-seeking process and helps companies select the best candidates for potential hire. Today, human resource staff needs to leverage technology to enhance their function in an organization.

Once the right applicant has been hired, it’s essential that employers keep them long term. What’s the price tag of the loss of a good employee? Experts put the cost between 70 to 200 percent of the employee’s compensation. Of course, the compensation system must be designed to motivate employees and the benefit packages should be structured to meet employee needs, but it takes more than that to keep today’s employees. The old notion of just happy that you have a job is a fast ticket to employee turnover.

Employee retention studies have revealed that what really influences employees to stay is meaningful work, an opportunity to learn, recognition and a positive work environment. Human resource managers should ensure that these strategic organizational factors are in place. Training programs should be available for employees to grow and advance. Take the time to discover employee learning needs and wants. Opportunities for learning can include in-house training programs, outside workshops and reimbursement for college courses.

Leveraging the manager-employee relationship helps build trust and creates an attractive work environment. While mentors and trainers have their value, the employee’s manager has the greatest influence. It’s best to have one in place who is approachable, fair and helpful. When an employee’s direct manager is less than pleasant, employees run for the exit door. Managers and supervisors should have relationship training programs. The more knowledge these key players have on how to work effectively with people on a one-to-one level, the more likely strong bonds will develop to help retain employees.

Getting the employee’s families involved in the company culture also creates a positive work atmosphere. Take employees and their families out to dinner when major milestones have been met and hold special social activities, such as holiday parties, birthday celebrations and family picnics. It’s both fun and creates good will.

Keeping valuable employees is a challenge that companies can meet with the right strategies.

Software Will Help Your Hiring Process Become Efficient December 2, 2013

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The methods used for recruiting and hiring individuals are changing rapidly. Whereas a face to face interview and a short list of recommendations were the hiring requirements of yesteryear, the technological world of today is much different. Internet technology allows individuals to search for jobs online, while employers can hire employees using videos, email notifications and online applications. Human resources now recruit individuals using more advanced web based methods including applicant tracking systems.

While typical online job boards allow employers and potential employees to connect via the web, a top notch ATS takes the process to the next level. This web based human resource service sorts through standard resumes to determine which applicants fit the needs of employers who have paid to use the system.

Once applicants are streamlined for the top choice candidates, an ATS typically will email these individuals to request that they fill out an application for a particular employer and job position. Along with the application an applicant often will also be prompted to submit written statements answering questions that add value in terms of what they can offer to that company or position. The candidate also may even video tape their responses to a selection of questions that allow them to expand on their qualifications, as well as to showcase their personality and character.

Many modern day applicant tracking systems will even take hiring into real world application. For example an applicant is given a scenario that involves completing a task that is on target with what would be expected of them if they were to be hired. While the process is not completely realistic in terms of time and scope, task simulation such as this can create a more well rounded image of the job candidates as they perform in real time.

Human resource personnel who are looking for ways to become more in tune with today’s technology should take clues from modern applicant tracking systems. These sophisticaed programs allow HR managers to collect data regarding potential candidates looking for employment in a specific area, in addition to finding job candidates who have more precise value. By utilizing online application processes potentially even including video interviews and task simulations, you can streamline the process for efficiency and accuracy.

In the end, HR personnel like hiring managers and recruiters will provide a required ‘human touch’ to truly decide if a job applicant is a good fit with company culture, however havin a wealth of ATS tools at their disposal will help them drastically ‘whittle’ down the potential candidate field.

How Hard Should You Make Your Company’s Job Interviews? November 16, 2013

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A résumé is like a specification sheet or brochure. It lists all the important facts and figures, but doesn’t tell you how the candidate will actually perform in the role. That’s why you hold interviews. These are your opportunity to weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate and determine the best person for the position.

Unfortunately though, interviewing is at best, imperfect. Interviewed in the New York Times in June 2013, Laszlo Bock, senior vice president for people operations at Google, said they found little correlation between interview results and job performance. That’s one reason why forward-thinking companies are placing greater emphasis on technology solutions like advanced Applicant Tracking Systems. These can sift large numbers of applicant résumés, help produce better shortlists while eliminating unintentional biases. It’s also why some interviewers resort to posing complex or highly abstract questions in interviews.

In recent years technology companies, like Google, have gained a reputation for posing difficult “brainteaser” types of questions. But, interviewed by the Washington Post, writer William Poundstone commented that such questioning is “frowned upon by the human resources staff.” And Google’s Bock also noted, “we found that brainteasers are a complete waste of time.”

HR professionals, like Lynley Williams, recruiting director for Progressive Insurance, tend to favor behavioral interviews. As Williams told Glassdoor.com, “Companies that use this approach believe that past behavior is a good indicator of future performance,” so questions take the “Tell me about a time when… ” format.

These questions tend to be challenging for interviewees, forcing them to go beyond the rehearsed answers and dig deeper for real examples. Such interviews are often perceived as being more difficult, simply because the candidate has to work harder.

Interviewing of course depends on individual’s perceptions. Some companies try to average this out by having candidates meet with multiple interviewers. Business Insider recently reported a case where someone interviewing at Amazon met with nine different people over the course of eight hours. That may be going to extremes, but a look at Glassdoor’s list of the most difficult companies to interview at suggests thoroughness has some correlation with business success.

Interviewing will always be a difficult and subjective part of the recruitment process. Modern technology can improve consistency and reduce bias, but it’s hard to see the face-to-face conversation ever going away. Instead, successful companies seem to be making interviews harder in an effort to do a better job of finding the best person for the role. Perhaps you should be too.

To track all of your job interviews, whether they performed well or not, be sure to utilize the latest in Applicant Tracking System technology.

An Applicant Tracking System that Improves the Hiring Process March 28, 2013

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An Applicant Tracking System that Improves the Hiring Process

When recruiting technology does well what 80% of users do all the time, it truly lives up to it’s potential. More users means more data. More data yields better analytics. Better analytics help employers find bottlenecks and issues before they become bigger problems. Sounds pretty sexy to me.

Mobile Hiring Applications Are Integral for Today’s Employers March 8, 2013

Posted by Darwin in Applicant Tracking Database, applicant tracking software, Applicant Tracking System.
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Human resources departments in computer and technology companies need to keep up to date with mobile applications. Actually mobile applications applies to all type of work, because most industries use the computer. With so many job hunters using mobile phones and tablets, the traditional online job search has changed.

Mobile user don’t appreciate job websites that take more than 5 to 10 seconds to download. Your company will lose some good job candidates when you don’t use applications that optimize your website for mobile users. Many people use mobile phones at work, home, or when driving. The are trying to search for a job when not at work or commuting by bus or train. Job search sites like CareerBuilder and Indeed have found the amount of mobile searches by applicants has doubled.

Employees want to search at lunch time and apply quickly. If the applications process is too time consuming, they will not return or followup. Sometimes these are the best candidates, especially for high tech jobs that require certain skills. When your job websites is not optimized for mobile devices someone calling from a smartphone often sees small print that they cannot read. Surprisingly only two percent of Fortune 500 companies have applications for mobile job searches. This means that they lose out on these candidates.

Some job sites offer employers mobile applications geared to mobile users so they can get more candidates to apply. It let’s them send a resume and answer questions that are hard on traditional job search sites with mobile phones and tablets. Yet, few companies use these simple applications losing dozens of good candidates this way. If your human resources use an applicant tracking system you can upgrade to a new system of software that includes mobile features.

An applicant tracking system with social media features would help a company recruit applicants on Facebook and other social media sites. This is not unheard of because many businesses have a Facebook page that customers and employees visit. The tracking system should make your website optimized for smart phone and other mobile devices. Now many tracking applications have a feature that allows mobile users better access and interaction.

Many US workers telecommute or work from a satellite office, client, home or cafe so a cloud enabled applicant tracking system helps you attract the mobile and tablet users. When it comes to recruiting new applicants, human resources departments need to upgrade their applicant tracking system to attract more mobile job search.

Employers Have Many Options in Hiring Strategies February 22, 2013

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Human Resources departments in companies have to be flexible and willing to change. The practice of placing offerings on “Help Wanted” websites can be a less than productive way to find the right applicant. Posting a job with specific requirements can have people who are qualified apply, people are close to qualifying but not quite, and people you wouldn’t trust to wash your dog. It takes time to sort through all of those applications to find the group of people to interview.

Often, an internal recruiter, or someone who is actually part of the HR department of the company with a position to fill, will use search firms to create a larger pool of qualified candidates to sort through. It is more difficult, both practically and ethically for an internal recruiter to get the attention and create interest from someone who already has a job and even more so for someone who already has a job at a competitor’s company. The outside company can search for candidates, while the internal recruiter can make certain the candidates actually meet the requirements for the position; this can be especially important for specialized employment chances such as engineering.

One of the things that both outside searchers and internal recruiters must both do is get those qualified candidates to fill out applications. Many companies are turning to job application software to help make that process more efficient. In many ways, job application software is just what it sounds like, a job candidate fills out a job application online, and the application is then returned to the HR department. What the software allows simplifies the rest of the job hiring process too.

The application can be a general or as specific as required for each position to be filled. The candidate will have an opportunity to upload a resume and other information that the hiring company may require. There is a section of the application in which references are listed; however, the people listed as references will sent an email with specific information that is important for that job. Sometimes the person making the reference will simply be required to fill bubbles for a candidate, sometimes a written reference can be part of the process.

By having the references, history of employment, education, and other pertinent information all included in the electronic application, it is easier and less cumbersome for the HR person to determine who should be interviewed and who to pass on. Another benefit is the electronic file will stay there so there will no longer be file cabinets full of applicants who had applied in case other openings occur.

Companies are finding it necessary to be more creative and flexible in how they recruit and hire prospective employees. Applicant tracking systems are just a part of how that flexibility can make the job easier.

Finding the Best Talent in Industries That Aren’t Really Hiring February 8, 2013

Posted by Darwin in applicant tracking software, Applicant Tracking System, recruiting software, recruitment tracking software, small business, top applicant tracking systems.
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how to find talentCompanies and recruiters, who are attempting to find the best talent in industries that aren’t really hiring, know a secret. It is discovering how to use the right Applicant Tracking System to take the overwhelming task of filtering through stacks of resume’s and highlight the cream of the crop.

When the job market tightens, it becomes a hiring company’s dream with skilled applicants flooding human resources hoping for a career. However, a recent survey by Towers Watson revealed that almost 72 percent of employers say they are having difficulty attracting skilled and qualified employees. Recruiters and corporations are successful when they use the latest cutting-edge technology of tools available.

Here’s five industries projected to be among those who aren’t really hiring in 2013:

 

  • Non-Profit and Religion Work
  • Journalism and Publishing Jobs
  • Legal Work
  • Electricians
  • Data Processing and Entry Level Computer Work

As a recruiter looking to fill these positions or a hiring manager within one of these industries, it’s time to streamline the process. Learn how to implement and use an Applicant Tracking System to stay on top of the competition. 

Non-profit and religion work thrives when the economy supports the ability for members to make donations. When the economy turns sour, these organizations don’t have any money to throw away on charity paychecks to employees with hearts bigger than their abilities. The right Applicant Tracking System filters criteria making your job or hiring less burdensome and more productive.

Trading in the printed word for an electronic version online is a convenient trend that has caused a steady downturn of journalism and publishing jobs. This means skilled writers are looking for placement and turning to sites online where Applicant Tracking Systems are noticed and successfully draw in the best applicants.

Hiring has slowed gradually in the once prosperous field of law with 2013 projected, in some states, to be the worst law job market in decades. Tap into this pool of talented and well-trained specialists before these licensed graduates give up their hunt to land a fulfilling job. Use strategically placed ads linked to an Applicant Tracking System on professional law journal sites.
The housing market is expected to one day pick up the pace, but is currently leaving skilled electricians behind. Create a conduit through which job placement can flow with the right Applicant Tracking System. Properly advertise it to spark the necessary connections between potential electricians who notice and take the time to apply.

As entry-level technology jobs narrow, don’t be left stagnate with an analog hiring process in a digital world. Use an Applicant Tracking System in computer-related recruitment where it is already readily understood among those applying.

 

Make Your Hiring Decisions the Smart Way January 25, 2013

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When you hear about recruiting software, the first thing that comes to your mind is how it streamlines the process of recruitment and integrates the different sources into a single system for better management. However, it does a lot more than finding the best candidate for the given job. It makes it easy for the HR personnel to track applicants based on their qualifications and experience. Moreover, this software makes it a breeze to handle external as well as internal recruitment and helps the hiring manager to make the best choices when it comes to finding the right candidate for a position.

How does this applicant tracking work? When a potential applicant applies for a job in the company, his or her personal details, contact information, qualifications and experience are stored in the software’s database. When a new position opens up within the company, all that the hiring manager has to do is search the database for the right candidates. The hiring manager can specify the criteria for search and the software will pull up the details of candidates who meet the criteria. With this limited pool of candidates, the hiring manager can schedule interviews and hire the one that is perfect for the job.

There are many advantages in using this software for applicant tracking. Firstly, it is a big time, effort and money saver for the company. The company does not have to spend additional resources to advertise the position through different sources. Also, the recruitment process is fairly quick because the hiring manager works with a smaller group of people who have shown interest in working for the company earlier. The hiring manager does not have to sift through hundreds of applicants again and all this means more productivity for the company. Due to these reasons, most recruiting software doubles up as applicant trackers too.

Besides tracking applicants, these online systems also play a role in personnel decision-making. It enhances the quality of decisions because of the extensive information available about each of the potential candidates. Through this software, it’s possible to know everything about an employee or potential candidate – from his or her residency status to the current job. This makes it more convenient for the HR personnel to evaluate the skills of a person and to determine if he or she is the right fit for a position. Also, a lot of these software programs are intuitive and this means, it can keep track of the HR manager’s current decisions and provide inputs for future decisions.

This applicant tracking system’s role in decision-making and hiring enhances its value to an organization. The returns from investing in such software are huge and this is something that no organization can afford to overlook. Whether it’s a small business or a large multinational organization, the benefits that the organization gets from the software is immense and this is why more and more companies are looking for web-based software that will simplify their process and boost their productivity.

ATS Software with Background Check Functionality December 15, 2012

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Recruiters and hiring managers in a company’s human resources department sometimes set up and begin using applicant tracking software (ATS) as quickly as they can to help them organize and streamline their employee hiring process. Later, however, they may come to realize that they are not operating as efficiently as possible, as they have to turn to another third-party solution to handle background checks.

Keeping applicant tracking data in one system and background checking data in another system is not an ideal practice for HR departments, especially when a company has a large number of candidates to evaluate. When timing is critical, having access to all the relevant applicant information in one place is enormously helpful.

Otherwise, companies run into situations where they have to dedicate one or more employees to manually transferring the background check information into the system that holds the rest of the recruitment data for each applicant. Besides taking more time, having to copy data from one system to another can lead to the introduction of errors that can stymie the hiring process.

Having inaccurate information may result in an organization missing out on an otherwise qualified and vetted candidate. In a worst-case scenario, a hiring manager might even inadvertently hire someone who hadn’t actually passed a proper background check.

Whether a recruiter uses standalone software that resides on the company’s server or takes advantage of software that is available online as a service via subscription, it’s always important to do thorough background checks on each new hire. Protecting the safety of existing employees and the company’s facilities is of paramount importance, and there is no justifiable excuse for failing to conduct background checks.

Background check software used separately from ATS software may wind up costing an organization more in the long run. The company has to purchase separate software packages, and then take the time to train human resources managers on how to use both applications. Troubleshooting and questions for technical support may take twice as long because two different solutions are being used.

However, hiring managers and recruiters are beginning to see the benefits of applicant tracking solutions that have integrated features that can perform background checks on applicants.

The HR department’s employees save time because as soon as they begin processing a potential applicant through the ATS module of the software, they can send the data to the background-screening module.

It’s crucial for human resources departments to screen job candidates as quickly and efficiently as possible, and using an integrated approach that combines ATS with background screenings is a step in the right direction.

Newton Software Announce 9th Major Enhancement of the Year for Leading Applicant Tracking System. December 13, 2012

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Newton Software Announce 9th Major Enhancement of the Year for Leading Applicant Tracking System.

Newton Software has released its 9th new improvement for its #ATS this year – offer approval functionality.