Employees are an essential part of any business. They make it possible for an organisation to achieve or even surpass its objectives. With this in mind, if you want to attract the best people to your company, you will need to implement an effective hiring strategy. Your recruitment process should also involve selecting and using appropriate tools.
Why do you need recruitment tools?
Recruitment tools are the software programs or procedures you use to streamline or automate your hiring process. In fact, these tools are beneficial in a number of ways:
- They can generate interest in your job offers
- They can be used to screen CVs
- They can help you conduct interviews
- They support the hiring of prospective candidates
In addition, these software programs and recruitment tools can expand your candidate reach and conduct the screening process. They can also help you obtain valuable feedback.
SEO for recruitment
Search engine optimisation is a digital marketing strategy that will help your company achieve online visibility. This is made possible by attracting high-quality traffic via the search engines.
Why is SEO essential for recruiters?
Typically, candidates searching for a job will type something like “Jobs near me” into Google. Accordingly, your goal should be to make your job offers relevant to your target candidates. With the help of SEO, your site can achieve a higher ranking on the search engine results pages.
SEO for recruiters is vital because most candidates will find out about your job offers through Google and other search engines. Here are some of the benefits.
1. Find candidates for free
Although SEO can indeed provide you with online traffic as well as candidates, you must ensure that your site appears on the search engine’s first page. Appearing at the top of the second page is of little use as 95% of potential candidates never go beyond the first page.
2. Attract candidates with niche talents and skills
Recruiting people with specialised skills can be quite a challenge, especially if there is a high demand for their services. This also means you cannot afford to miss any opportunity in reaching out to qualified job seekers.
Fortunately, as there is less competition, it is usually easier to rank highly on Google for jobs that involve a niche talent. In this regard, SEO recruitment is an excellent strategy for finding and hiring people with specialised skills.
3. Enhance your employer brand value
One of the benefits of your company website appearing on Google’s first page is the trust and credibility that this generates. It will also enable you to attract more candidates as your brand will evoke a positive image online.
However, SEO for recruitment should not just concern your careers page; it should cover your entire website. This is a long-term recruitment strategy that can provide substantial returns in terms of candidate applications.
If you want to ensure your site is SEO-friendly, you must consider the following steps:
- Identify and utilise SEO experts
- Create and share high-quality content
- Keep your content fresh
There are also several recruitment tools available to you:
1. Automation or AI
Automating your hiring process and using artificial intelligence will make it easier for you to:
- Screen candidates
- Select and analyse the relevant data
- Conduct virtual chats
One of the best automated recruitment tools to have in your arsenal is the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). This is a database designed to help recruiters in their talent search and acquisition.
2. CRM
Customer relationship management software can be useful as it will enable your HR department to establish and maintain a positive relationship with your candidates. In addition, it is also an excellent social recruiting aid.
3. Job aggregators
Job aggregators can be used as job boards so you will be able to hire people based on your company policy.
4. Test and assessment
It is imperative that you test a candidate’s attributes, such as their aptitude, behaviour, characteristics, personality and skills.
5. Video interviews
As the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated, face-to-face interviews are not always possible. Fortunately, there are now video interview tools available that can help you evaluate a candidate based on their:
- Choice of words
- Tone of voice
- Facial expressions
What qualities should you look out for in a recruitment tool?
1. Accuracy
Every recruitment tool you use must be able to guarantee accuracy in your hiring process. In other words, the software or method of choice must reduce, if not eliminate, human error.
2. Cost-saving
Nowadays, it is possible to acquire reasonably priced recruitment software. You can even use free programs but you must make sure they are effective.
3. Time-saving
As machines and software can accomplish more work than human beings, they can help save you time and shorten your recruitment process. Remember, the tools you use should always be consistent, efficient and, if possible, automated.
What difficulties can arise in SEO recruitment?
Your website needs to be SEO-friendly and your careers page should be:
- Optimised for mobile devices
- Fast-loading
- Crawlable by search engines
However, outdated recruitment software such as ATS may not be as SEO-friendly as the more up-to-date programs. You may have to conduct some research or contact the software vendor to ensure the tool follows the appropriate SEO rules.
Conclusion
SEO recruitment presents many challenges, and they all require patience and lots of hard work. Moreover, the search engine giants are constantly evolving. Fortunately, there are various tools and software programs available to aid your recruitment campaigns. You can make use of job aggregators, ATS, AI or CRM to reach out to, engage with and screen candidates. Despite the challenges, your perseverance will enable you to attract candidates free of charge, especially those with specialised skills and talents.