I've said it before and I'll say it again - a good 'tech stack' is essential for any recruiter. By having the right tools, recruiters can quickly and easily identify top candidates and connect them with hiring managers in order to fill open positions. They can identify new business opportunities and grow their network. In this blog post, I will discuss the importance of a good tech stack and highlight some of the most important components that every recruiter should have in theirs. Technology is an area of business I am particularly passionate about. Let me explain why.

Firstly, what is a 'tech stack?'

A technology stack is the combination of technologies, tools, and software that a company uses to develop and/or sell its product or service. It's the set of programming languages, platforms, databases, and other tools that drive an application. A strong technology stack will include both front-end and back-end technologies.

The first and most important component of a good tech stack in recruitment is a strong applicant tracking system (ATS). An ATS allows recruiters to keep track of all their applicants in one place, making it easy to identify top candidates and connect with them. Additionally, an ATS can automate many of the tedious tasks that come with recruiting, such as sending out emails and scheduling interviews.

Another important component of a good tech stack is a powerful and up-to-date Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. A CRM system helps recruiters keep track of their relationships with candidates, clients, and other stakeholders. Additionally, a CRM can help recruiters nurture their relationships with candidates and clients that will evolve over time. If your data isn't updated regularly with controls in place, then your consultants are wasting time sifting through old records and impacting their productivity.

Finally, a good tech stack should also include a variety of social media tools. Social media is an essential part of recruiting today, and by using the right tools, recruiters can identify and connect with candidates quickly and efficiently. Additionally, social media can be used to share job openings and the power of shared networks and shared reach can lead to successful referrals and placements.

If you have, or are considering a career in recruitment, you should definitely be checking out what your employer offers in the way of tech. In today's market, the competition for top talent is fierce. To be successful, you need to have a recruitment strategy that is built on a strong foundation of technology - you just can't be bogged down in administrative or repetitive tasks or you will fall behind.

As recruiters, we are always privy to other industries and other businesses - we learn about their advancements and technology journey overall, but so often it's not a focus for ourselves. Recruitment is not a complex business model, it's a straight-up professional service business and often we're only paid on successful completion. It does, however, have multiple moving parts and those parts need continuous enhancement in order to provide the best service possible to all parties. Back in the day, if you had a phone and a database you were good to go but that just won't cut it today.

If I look at our mission statement here at West Recruitment - 'to fill jobs with the highest calibre candidate available in the fastest possible time' - this is ultimately what underpins all our tech decisions. When considering anything new, we always ask ourselves 'will it help us achieve our mission, and does it add value to our customers?' In my experience, in any industry, there will always be the trailblazers and innovators, the early adopters, and then the laggards - but regardless of what pace a business moves at, it's the moving at all that is the necessity. Speed is simply the difference in who is likely to make more wins.

The necessity of digital evolution is important to every business but particularly as we are a 'human' business, we need to consider the overall candidate experience, the client experience, and the consultant experience - which, much like the 'happy wife, happy life' phrase, feeds into how productive consultants are, and in turn how happy the business owners are!

When it comes to the candidate's experience the sky is the limit. It can be something simple like shrugging old-school language. For example, when I look at the way job ads previously dictated what a candidate 'must have' in its copy, to the language of now speaking to the reader about 'why they will love a role' to entice an application. The 'what's in it for them' is critical. Moreso though, it really is the entire end-to-end interaction that a candidate has with a recruiter - from the first phone call to offer and beyond that creates the overall 'experience'.

I would say the number one negative a candidate could face in a recruitment process would be a lack of communication. Ensuring the provision of accurate and timely information over multiple formats - phone calls, SMS, emails, video connections, and so on and enabling the provision of this information to be at the fingertips of consultants is where efficiencies are had. There are so many touchpoints and mixing them up between verbal and digital is a good thing.

In the current candidate short market, identifying and attracting candidates is certainly a challenge. Personalising and tailoring outreach via direct messaging and utilising video has made a big difference in increased response. Messages that are heavily templated have no place in the recruitment sector as people just don't respond to them. Bringing an opportunity to life with personal emotion and genuine storytelling is compelling and unique. Over the past couple of years, a number of forced changes took place which in my opinion have led to incredibly positive outcomes, and dare I say it, were sped up by Covid and should have been on the cards anyway.

Video technology for example has skyrocketed. Gone are the days when scheduling candidate registrations in person, dragging someone out to our office or a cafe to sit down and get to know them and their career aspirations. I can safely say, this area has not suffered as a result. Candidates and consultants can still interact with the human element without the commute or interruption of health risks. They can take a phone call to a facetime in the flick of a switch and engagement rises.

The client experience is also critical. So often time-poor, hiring managers are at the mercy of the efficiency of a recruiter. They need to see the right CV's in the first instance, schedule interviews swiftly, have open and honest communication about feedback, and careful offer management, especially in the current climate. They need their recruitment partners to be an extension of their own business so that again, the candidate experience is seamless from both recruiter and hiring business. We focus on automating what we can for clients but never on removing the human interaction where it matters the most.

The life of any good recruiter is undoubtedly a busy one! They are always juggling multiple deadlines and multiple stakeholders. Their day is continuous activity of searching, sourcing, connecting, interacting, briefing, coaching, guiding, mentoring, providing information, entertaining, proposals, researching, managing offers, negotiating, putting out fires, and so on. The last thing recruiters have time for is 'admin and manual tasks. Clunky systems, system outages, unnecessary admin, and outdated or lack of tech are a sure-fire way for the best recruiter to lose interest and look to work elsewhere.

Cloud technology enables our consultants to work from anywhere and has also been a game-changer for us. Previously consultants would have to cut into precious time in their day to document notes ior type up references that are now done so easily on the move between meetings with some opting to use our voice to text service for example meaning they don't even need to sit down and type out their notes.

Our integrated softphone system means calls are directed swiftly and correctly to the right person, has sophisticated on-the-job training capabilities, and our SMS service can send reminders about interviews or schedule changes.

Another incredibly undervalued cog in the recruitment wheel is of course marketing (my other favourite topic but that's for another day) and technology that can support a well-defined marketing strategy is essential. Not only is an overall agency brand important, but it is the individual consultants' personal brand that matters. The human element of experience and trust that can be demonstrated and relied on is key. We utilise a third-party independent review system for this purpose which means new customers can do a quick search and see what experience others have had with us.

The number of technology service providers we have reviewed and partnered with over the past few years truly is impressive. The number of ideas and services out there now is huge and always evolving. It's an exciting space to operate in and one that will continue to go from strength to strength. My advice is that if you haven't looked at your tech in a while - it's definitely time to do so!

Streamlining manual and administrative tasks, ultimately means recruiters have more time to spend doing what they do best - speaking with and meeting with people. Ultimately, the success and enjoyment of recruiters could be argued, that it all boils down to the tools in their arsenal!

In summary, whilst automation is terrific, it can't be said enough that it's still the human touch that people crave and respond best to. We need to be mindful of not automating everything so much that our industry becomes robotic, mechanical, and disengaged. A well thought out and executed tech stack should serve to enhance your offering and by no means replace it - getting the balance right is key.

What does your tech stack look like? What new additions do you love and can't live without? What helps? What hinders?

#workingwithwest #techstack #futureofrecruitment