The ability to automate candidate screening, a crucial step in the recruiting process, promises to solve one of the biggest problems in recruiting: the resume “ignore” problem.
LinkedIn reports 69% of talent acquisition leaders state their hiring volume has increased this year, but only 26% of their recruiting teams have increased.
Finding tools to intelligently automate some part of the recruiting workflow will be a top priority in 2017.
Automated candidate screening has the potential to solve the resume “ignore” problem that continues to plague recruiters.
The resume “ignore” problem
Over the years, large companies will amass thousands – even millions – of resumes sitting in their ATS.
Jobvite reports the average job posting receives 50 or fewer applicants. Job postings for high-volume roles such as retail, however, receive more than 250 applicants.
On average, 65% of resumes received for high-volume roles are completely ignored. These are candidates you’ve paid to attract and source for your open role.
The problem is that once these resumes get collected into your ATS, the majority of them are never looked at.
The automated candidate screening solution
A recent survey of HR buyers found that 66% of them evaluate new HR software based on its ability to improve efficiency and automate processes.
Despite this, 71% of recruiters use an ATS that doesn’t have the option to rank resumes of the candidates they receive for an open req.
The typical ATS just wasn’t designed to have this ranking functionality. An ATS tends to use “dumb” technology that can’t learn and improve its screening and ranking function.
This means most recruiting departments are sitting on a goldmine of potential candidates in their ATS but without a way to quickly, easily, and accurately conduct resume screening and candidate ranking for open reqs.
Unlike “dumb” ATS technology, software that uses artificial intelligence can screen, grade, and rank every single resume you receive for an open req – instantly.
How automated candidate screening works
Automated candidate screening works in four basic steps:
- Step 1: Integrates into your existing ATS and adds a layer of intelligent screening functionality.
- Step 2: Scans your job description to understand the qualifications needed.
- Step 3: Screens every resume you receive for education, work experience, and skill set to find the best matches for the job qualifications.
- Step 4: Grades and ranks every candidate for your open role (e.g., A to D).
The benefits of automated candidate screening
Automated candidate screening hold several potential benefits.
Reduced time to hire
Speeding up this part of the recruiting cycle can significantly reduce your time to hire, which also means you’ll be less likely to lose out on talent to faster moving competitors.
Higher quality of candidates
Because this new recruiting technology automatically screens, grades, and ranks every single resume you receive, you’ll no longer overlook qualified candidates due to time constraints.
Improved candidate experience
The resume “ignore” problem means at least 65% of your candidates never hear back about their job application. Automated candidate screening enables you to instantly identify the most qualified candidates from your pool and start engaging with them sooner.
Rejected candidates can also be instantly contacted to close the loop and keep them warm for future open reqs.