As the economy recovers and more Americans get vaccinated, there has been an increase in available job opportunities. However, what employers are discovering is that few candidates are applying for jobs. Fewer candidates are responding to job postings, which is a full 360 from a year ago, when unemployment rates were at their highest and job opportunities were far and few in the middle. So what is the cause of the “candidate shortage”?
A recent USA Today Money¹ article reports that many Americans are concerned about changing jobs during the pandemic due to financial and health risks. It is a “safe” option to stay in the company where they are currently. Others are happy with the unemployment benefits they are receiving. In some cases, workers are earning more money “unemployed” than if they were working. They do not have an incentive and are not motivated to go to work when they can earn more money by staying home. This has caused staffing and recruitment companies to focus their strategies on reaching out to candidates who are already working. Recruiters have even started approaching competing companies to recruit skilled workers and lower-middle managers, often a tactic for recruiting high-level executives.
As recruiting and recruiting companies introduce new strategies for finding candidates during “candidate shortages,” your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is an important resource that cannot be overlooked. Not only are there multiple tools you can use in an ATS, but it hosts hundreds and in some cases even thousands of candidates right in front of you! In this article, we’ll dive into a handful of useful tools to take advantage of in your ATS.
Reference reports
The first important piece of information you can extract from your ATS is a report on your candidates’ references. In the last 3 months, through which source are the majority of candidates entering your database? Is it through a job board, social media, cold calling? Looking at this information can help you determine what is “currently” the best source for you to recruit candidates. You can then focus more of your efforts on fonts that currently perform a little better than others.
Using lookups and pipes
Both the search capabilities and pipelines in your ATS are powerful resources for you when searching for candidates. As noted in the introduction, your ATS may have hundreds or even thousands of candidates at your fingertips. Using your searches and pipelines in your ATS is a great place to start your search for candidates.
Pipelines are a useful tool when creating a list of “top” candidates. If you already have a pipeline built, this would be a good place to start. If a pipeline hasn’t been created yet, you can start creating a pipeline that includes the top candidates you want to communicate with. Pipelines can be broken down by industry and/or position. Breaking down each pipeline by industry or position will help you recruit for current positions and will also be helpful in the future when you’re recruiting for similar positions. These will be pipelines of talent that you will continue to add and update, not just one-time use. That way, you’ll always have easy access to the best candidates based on the industry and/or positions you’re recruiting for. Once you add the initial candidates you want to include in your pipeline, you can use the search capabilities in your ATS to add other qualified candidates.
Some popular searches you can perform include searches by skills, job title, employment history titles, location (if there is a specific location you need to hire for), and last contact (if you want to narrow your search based on when you last contacted a candidate). ). Another useful search option is to perform a full text search for keywords. A full-text search scans your database for certain keywords in a candidate’s profile, including their resume. This is useful if you want to search by position to see which candidates have held a similar position. As you search and find candidates, add them to your pipeline.
Automated workflow surveys
You have your pipes built; you can then send an automated workflow survey to these candidates. Sending out a survey will help narrow down your list to determine which candidates are interested in a job. The survey results will help save time from contacting candidates who aren’t looking. Some ATS solutions will have an integration that allows you to send an email or text message that includes survey questions. Based on their survey response, they will automatically receive a follow-up email that matches their response. If this option isn’t available to you, you can easily send a survey to your pipeline through a platform like Survey Monkey® or Google Forms®. These responses will not be automated or recorded in your ATS and will require a bit more manual work, but you will still be able to get the same end result.
Examples of simple yes/no survey questions you could include to gauge who is interested in speaking:
- Are you open to changing jobs? (if they are working)
- Are you open to work? (if they don’t work)
During “candidate shortages,” it might also be imperative to offer an incentive to candidates, depending on the industry. You can offer incentives based on performance, attendance, referrals, and more. Incentives can not only entice someone to work with you, they can also help increase employee commitment to work with you longer.
Incentives may include:
- Subscription to streaming service for one year
- $X worth of groceries delivered to your home with your choice of what you would like!
- Monthly or yearly meal subscription service
- Free tickets to a sporting event or local attraction
- During the holidays, you can offer a free Thanksgiving turkey dinner or a special holiday treat.
If you decide to create an incentive program or use an existing one, you can include a question in your survey that relates to the incentive program:
- Would you be willing to work if you could get a year’s Netflix subscription to attend?
Including a survey question that links to the incentive program allows you to see if they would be willing to work if there was an additional incentive versus if no incentive was offered.
Follow-up communication
Once your survey results are available, you’ll want to send a follow-up communication to candidates who said they’re interested in a job. If your ATS has a built-in integration, similar to the above, the following email can be sent automatically at a scheduled time based on the candidates who said “yes”. If you don’t have an automation tool, you can create an email or SMS template in your ATS to send a follow-up message to these candidates. In the message, you can include information about the job, the incentive program (if you’re offering one), and a way for them to respond “I’m interested.”
In some cases, you may even be able to include a “job acceptance” link within the communication. Some ATS mobile apps also allow a similar “job acceptance” feature where you submit a job directly to a candidate through the ATS mobile app and they can accept a job that way.. Including a link to accept the job offer will conveniently place candidates with no extra effort on your part. It’s also convenient from a candidate’s perspective because all they have to do is click the link to accept the job offer.
*Your survey follow-up message can come in many shapes and forms depending on the tools you have available.
social media post
Finally, to complement the above outreach, you can also use the social media tools in your ATS to post the job description within your network and encourage others to share. During the current “candidate shortage,” referrals can be especially helpful for those hesitant to change jobs during the pandemic. Seeing someone in your network share their job opportunity can give them a boost of encouragement and confidence to work with your recruiting and staffing company.
Reduced candidate shortage
The “candidate shortage” can bring a variety of obstacles to staffing and recruitment. Using your ATS candidate pool, in addition to taking advantage of the robust tools available, will help alleviate any candidate shortages you may be facing. Finding the right candidates in your ATS who are open for work is key, and tracking a convenient way to accept a job offer will place candidates faster and easier. Lastly, remember to use your Referral Report to tap into the sources from which the most candidates come to keep a constant flow of new candidates. Soon your candidate shortage may turn into a candidate surplus!
Sources:
USA Today Money¹