How Candidate Response Rates Increase With The Right Staffing Software
For some staffing firms, good candidate response rates resemble MLB batting averages. If a recruiter gets a 25% response rate from passive candidates, that person is presumed to outperform most of the competition. However, with 6% of recruiters consistently getting response rates of 50% or higher, there are clearly ways to use strategy and intelligence to increase the chances of getting more frequent responses.
Beyond adopting industry best practices, top recruiters benefit from staffing software that anticipates the challenges associated with getting responses from candidates and provides solutions that overcome them.
Reach candidates at the best time:
Reaching out to passive candidates is highly dependent on targeted candidates seeing your message when they are most receptive. Each industry will have its little differences as to when that sweet spot of messaging occurs, but certain trends tend to prevail.
Most people have a habit of checking emails when they wake up, so scheduling an email for 6 a.m. is surprisingly effective. Also, most people want some productivity on their commute home or when they finish the day, so texting between 7pm and 10pm also tends to increase candidate response rates.
However, if you expected recruiters to always work those hours, they would hardly ever disconnect from work. Using staffing software that integrates with your email platform not only simplifies your ability to schedule messages when candidate response rates will be higher, it also increases ongoing productivity. That way, recruiters can create seamless messages when candidates are least likely to be available for calls (around 10 AM and 3 PM).
Better personalize your messaging:
Even messages that are perfectly in sync must captivate the audience. Candidate response rates plummet every time recipients are hit over the head with obvious letters. Although writing a 100% personalized letter for each candidate is unnecessarily time-consuming, skilled recruiters find a way to balance specific personalization, a bit of personality, and preset details about the position in each message.
All the preliminary research from a recruiter pays off during this stage. Knowing definite information about a candidate’s skill set, job history, education, and even exciting projects helps to write introductory sentences that show you paid attention to their resume and / or LinkedIn profile. Plus, making your sales pitch as fast as possible (no one wants to waste their time with a novel length InMail) significantly increases candidate response rates.
Your staffing software comes into play to gather the details you need to attract candidates. Recruitment software automation helps analyze resumes online, submitting applicable candidates to your database as soon as you post a job. That way, recruiters get rid of tedious data entry and have more time to craft the perfect message.
Make mass messaging a science:
After having a successful first contact with candidates, recruiters get a little more freedom with bulk messaging. Although most recipients will still be put off by a shameless form letter, a message that at least takes into account their core skills and experience will increase candidate response rates.
In these cases, staffing software that quickly scans through your internal database for the best-fit candidates is essential. Being able to confidently send a more pervasive message that appears personalized requires the ability to retrieve resumes that perfectly fit the core requirements of a position. And if your loaded staffing software automatically resumes in an intuitive interface, your recruiters will be able to adjust even the most massive emails they send.
Empower Recruiters to Achieve Higher Candidate Response Rates:
With the potential for recruiters to increase candidate response rates at their fingertips, choosing which staffing software to use is important to any decision maker. The seamless functionality and ability to automate more tedious aspects of a recruiter’s role frees their schedule for more productive tasks, helping them land more placements as the competition struggles to even get a foot in the door. Staffing software can be just the hitting coach you need to increase your chances of making a connection every time you swing.