4 Exciting Benefits of Using Candidate Discovery

Adrian Dixon

April 5, 2018

post featured image

It’s been called the #1 mistake in recruiting: the failure to mine your existing resume database to find candidates for open roles.

candidate discovery

This is why candidate discovery, the ability to automatically screen previous candidates in your ATS and match them to a current open req, is one of the most intriguing new functions in recruiting.

Companies collect thousands – or even millions – of resumes over the years. But once these resumes go into your ATS, the majority of them are never looked at again. This is because ATSs weren’t originally designed to have this type of function. Although most ATSs allow you to use keywords and Boolean searches, they have two major limitations:

  • False positives: finding candidates who are not actually the most qualified ones due to resume keyword stuffing
  • False negatives: ignoring candidates who are qualified due to overly specific (or inaccurate) keywords and searches

Candidate discovery is different because it uses AI to find previous candidates in your ATS using in 4 steps:

  • Step 1: Integrates into your existing ATS to add a layer of intelligent sourcing functionality.
  • Step 2: Scans the job descriptions of open roles to understand the qualifications needed.
  • Step 3: Sources your existing resume database to find candidates that match the qualifications needed for an open role based on their experience and skill set.
  • Step 4: Shortlists and grades matched candidates to your open roles A to D.

Here are the 4 most exciting benefits of using candidate discovery for your sourcing.

1. Increased recruiting efficiency

According to a recent survey, 2/3rds of HR buyers evaluate new HR software based on its ability to improve efficiency and automate processes.

iCIMS data shows the average resume spends 38% of its time in the screening phase alone. By automating screening and shortlisting, candidate discovery has the potential to dramatically increase your recruiting efficiency. Speeding up screening translates to faster time-to-hire, which may indirectly increase your quality of hire because you’ll be less likely to lose talent to faster moving competitors.

Another big metric for improving efficiency with candidate discovery is the finding that a candidate who’s applied to a previous role at your company is 14x more likely to respond to your outreach.

2. Improving candidate experience

Rejected candidates are often told, “We’ll keep your resume on file. If another role comes up that you’re qualified for, we’ll contact you.

Candidate discovery enables you to actually follow up. A large part of today’s candidate experience involves how well you nurture and re-engage potential candidates and previous applicants. Contacting a candidate again with a job opportunity they’re qualified for can really differentiate your recruiting process away from the dreaded applicant black hole.

3. Increasing recruiting competitiveness

In today’s competitive candidate-driven market, finding talent will depend on a recruiter’s ability to leverage new sources of candidates.

According to LinkedIn, although 90% of working professionals would be open to hearing about new job opportunities, only 36% of candidates actively search for a new job.

That means a typical job posting will only attract about a third of the potential talent pool who might be interested in your open role. LinkedIn found the top obstacles for recruiters finding talent are:

  • Lack of skilled/qualified candidates: 56%
  • Competition: 50%
  • Lack of budget: 33%

The ability to leverage your existing resumes as a fresh source of candidates will better equip you to face these obstacles head-on.

4. Reducing recruiting spend

Jobvite’s data finds the average high volume role receives more than 250 applicants. Sourcing and screening high volumes of candidates by default is going to be more expensive and require more of a recruiter’s time.

Because recruiters historically haven’t had a way to easily and accurately access previous applicants who would be good matches, every new req essentially re-invents the wheel. Money gets spent sourcing, attracting, and screening a brand new set of candidates even though you might be sitting on thousands of qualified resumes already in your ATS.

Candidate discovery is a tool for recruiters to match existing candidates in their ATS a current role, which can save hundreds to thousands of dollars in recruiting spend per req.