Jim Stroud
ChatGPT
How to use ChatGPT to Interview Candidates
Hey recruiter, when interviewing candidates, one thing you may want to consider is how a candidate approaches work. Are they a daring risk taker or a worker B set on maintaining the status quo? The hiring manager wants to know. Fortunately, ChatGPT can help check out this conversation I had with ChatGPT. My initial prompt was this, give me three provocative quotes on innovation from tech leaders. I want to use them in an interview with a software developer so I can see their reaction gauge their approach to software development. Tell me the quote, guest three reactions and what each reaction may mean. ChatGPT gave me something close to what I wanted. It gave me examples of what a positive, neutral, and negative reaction would be to a quote from a tech leader, as it did here with the Steve Jobs quote. For example, it thought a negative response to the quote would be, I think this quote is a little simplistic. Uh, innovation is important, but it's not the only thing that matters. Execution and delivery are just as important, if not more so. Now this is good, but not quite what I'm looking for. So I gave it a follow up question. Detail for me what each reaction suggests about how the candidate may approach their work. For example, a positive reaction may mean they will take more risk, and a neutral answer may mean that they will maintain the status quo. And this is the insight they gave me on someone who responded negatively to the Steve Jobs quo. The candidate may be someone who is more focused on execution and delivery than on innovation. They may be more comfortable with established processes and technologies and may be less willing to take risks on try or try new things. Now, should ChatGPT speculation be considered a solid psychological evaluation? Of course not, but it may be something the hiring manager chooses to explore when and if they meet with candidate. Just saying.
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ChatGPT
How to use ChatGPT to persuade Candidates
Subscribe to the Emissary Youtube Channel Hey recruiter. There will be times when you will have to convince a candidate to take your offer instead of a competitor's offer. When that happens and you know who you are competing with, ChatGPT can be a great help. For example, imagine you are recruiting for Microsoft and your candidate just received a counter offer from Google. Before you respond to the candidate, do a bit of research. Try this prompt on ChatGPT, compare careers.microsoft.com with careers.google.com. Think like a job seeker. Give me five reasons why I should choose Microsoft over Google, and then give me five reasons why I should choose Google over Microsoft. These are the results that ChatGPT gave me five reasons for choosing Microsoft over Google. And these are five reasons why one might choose Google over Microsoft. In a follow up question, I ask, what does Google offer that Microsoft does not? And these were the results, uh, it gave me very interesting, and I did another follow up question, which was, what does Microsoft offer that Google does not? And it gave me these reasons which also interesting. Now, armed with this information, you as the recruiter are able to make a better argument as to why your candidate should accept your offer and not the competitor's offer. Make sense?
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ChatGPT
How to use ChatGPT to test your Company Knowledge
In his latest video as part of our "ChatGPT for Recruiter" series, Jim Stroud teach us how to leverage ChatGPT to test your company knowledge. Hey, recruiter, how well do you know the company you recruit for? Why not give yourself a quiz? Here's how you can use chat g p t to do that very thing. Type quiz me on, then add the URL of your company. Now, just for giggles, I pointed it to my blog and it asks me questions like this. What is the primary focus of Jim Strauss blog? Is it A technology news? B, recruitment strategies and trends. C, personal finance advice, or D, travel tips, answer of course. B, recruitment strategies and trends. I like that he gave me questions based on the information on my blog, but it also gave me the answers at the same time, which defeated the purpose. So in a follow up question, I said, give me more questions, but give me time to answer before posing more questions. It replied, sure. Here are five more multiple choice questions based on Jim Trout's blog. Take your time to answer before requesting more questions. And this time I got what I was hoping to see. Some of the questions I answered incorrectly just because I wanted to see what it would say. For example, one question it asked me was, what is the name of the YouTube channel hosted by Jim Strout? Is it A the Jim Strout show, B, recruitment Insight C, the Future of Work, or D H R Insider? I chose D H R, insider and Chat, G B T replied, sorry, that's incorrect. The correct answer is a the Jim Strout show, which is the name of the YouTube channel hosted by Jim Stroud. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. Now you try the quiz Me on prompt, pointed to your company page and see how well you know your company.
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Sourcing
How to Source Candidates with ChatGPT
It has been a while since a new technology has fascinated me as much as ChatGPT has. I don't know about you, but I can't seem to break away from it. Some people think I might have a problem, but I disagree. I can quit anytime I want to, I just don't want to. ChatGPT is good for a lot of things, and one of those things is developing a sourcing strategy. I discovered this in a recent conversation with the AI. I began by asking where I could find software engineers, and it gave me several suggestions. Those suggestions were suggestions that I figured it would suggest, things like a job board, social media, referrals, recruitment agencies, meetups and conferences, online communities, university career centers, all good examples and something I came to expect. I thought it all was a good start, but I wanted to know what else it would offer up so I asked it a followup question: Where else can I go online to find them? Them, of course, referring to these software engineers that I'm looking to recruit. ChatGPT, as always, answers questions in the context of the conversation that is ongoing at the time. Where was I? Yeah, where else can I go online to find them? Is what I asked ChatGPT. And it gave me eight more suggestions that I thought were just as conventional as the first set of ideas it offered up. It mentioned GitHub, Stack Overflow, it mentioned LinkedIn, TOPTUL, which is also a network of software engineers and developers. It mentioned other job boards like Hired and Dice, and it also mentioned Upwork, which is a freelance platform. All good ideas for a novice, but the competition for talent is fierce. Can I have an amen? I said to ChatGPT, "Give me 10 unlikely places I can find them that other recruiters may overlook." And the answers became more interesting. ChatGPT mentioned things like hackathons, online forums, gaming communities, open source projects, which I thought was pretty nice, free launch platforms, GitHub, meetup groups, LinkedIn groups, non-tech events, and so on. Now, most of these are strategies that I've tried in the past, so I was not wowed, but I did like the direction that things were heading in so I kept pushing. I asked ChatGPT, "Give me 10 more ideas, but without mentioning anything you've already suggested," and it gave me 10 more suggestions. It talked about niche job boards, online coding boot camps, which is a good one, industry associations, coding challenges, Slack groups, webinars, GitHub, job listings, sneaky there, ChatGPT. I see you. You mentioned GitHub before, but not GitHub job listings, but I see you there. It also mentioned university career centers, employee referrals from other departments and social media advertising. I said, "Okay, you're really starting to parse the words here. Are you running out of information to give me?" I thought to myself, let me test this theory out I want. I said to it, "Give me 20 more ideas, but without mentioning anything you've already suggested." And so ChatGPT says, "Sure." Now we're doing industry specific events, LinkedIn Recruiter, not to be confused with LinkedIn or LinkedIn jobs. I still see you, ChatGPT. It is technically different. GitHub contributions, again, technically different. It also mentioned things like university hackathons, job fairs, technical blogs, community college, podcasts, Twitter hashtags, meetups, web development competitions, programming forums, and so on. I started to get the idea that this would go on for a while, that it would give me ideas to really parse those ideas out like LinkedIn, LinkedIn groups, LinkedIn jobs. Okay, I got it. I got the idea that this could go on for a while. And as I realized that, that gave me another idea, so I prompted this. Think like a recruiter who is short on time and has limited budget and resources. Bullet point, all your suggestions, rank them according to likelihood of success to least likely to be successful in recruiting candidates. There I thought I had it. But it responded, "Sure. Here are my 20 suggestions ranked in order of likelihood of success based on my experience as a recruiter." My experience as a recruiter? Going to followup on that. But what it suggested to me were job boards being number one. Of course that makes sense. There are a lot of resumes stated. If I want to hire somebody, chances are I'll be able to find somebody to hire quickly on job boards. But also, they listed referral programs and LinkedIn, university career centers, social media, technical blogs, and so on, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, cool. I thought that was really good, but I wanted to followup on what I said before. I said, "Hey, you said these are ranked based on your recruiter experience. What have you recruited for in the past?" And so ChatGPT said, "Well, as an AI language model, I do not have personal experiences, but I have been trained on a large corpus of text data, including information about recruiting, hiring, and talent acquisition, therefore, my ranking of the 20 suggestions is based on the collective experience of recruiters who have shared their best practices and tips for finding software engineers," blah, blah, blah. Okay, okay, okay. I asked it, "When it comes to recruitment methods, what are you asked about the most?" And it replied, "As an AI language model, I don't have to break interactions with recruiters." Yeah, I get that. "But based on the questions that users ask me, I can tell that some of the most common topics related to recruitment methods include, number one, sourcing strategies." Ah, shout out to all the sourcers listening. Sourcing strategies, how to find and attract qualified candidates, followed by candidate screening questions and interview techniques. Those are the top three. Other things it mentioned were candidate experience, employer branding, diversity, equity, inclusion, passive candidate outreach, and so on. I thought to myself, this is interesting. Okay. Give me a list... Or rather, I asked ChatGPT, "Can you give me a list of prompts used by presumably recruiters that resulted in you receiving positive feedback?" Positive feedback meaning the thumbs up or thumbs down. Well, the thumbs up because that would be positive feedback there. That's basically essentially what I was asking. "Give me a list of prompts that, after you've answered the question, recruiters presumably gave it a thumbs up." It responded, "As an AI language model, I don't receive feedback directly," which I get, "but based on the prompts that you just have used to interact with me, I can suggest some prompts that have been effective for initiating positive interactions." And so here's a list. I made a mental note to myself to come back and experiment with these prompts, but let me go ahead and share certain them with you now. Can you help me with specific question or task related to recruitment? What are the best practices... For fill in the blank. What are the most effective ways to source candidates, screen resumes, conduct interviews? Interesting. How can I improve some aspect of the recruitment process? And so on. And then it said, "Remember, the more specific and clear the prompt, the more likely you are to receive a helpful and relevant response," which is very, very true, which is why I said in an earlier video... well, in another video, that the more detail you can give your prompt, the better the results you'll get from ChatGPT. With that in mind, I asked it, "What are some prompts for sourcing candidates that have been accepted by your users?" And it gave me a list of things like what are the most effective job boards for finding candidates in a particular industry? What are some niche sites or forums where I can find qualified candidates for whatever? How can I use platforms like LinkedIn or Twitter to find and engage with potential candidates? And so on. And it said a lot of things here. Number 10 caught my eye: How can I incorporate diversity and inclusion initiatives into my source strategy to attract a wider pool of candidates? Because diversity and inclusion is a hot topic in recruiting these days. In a followup question, I just said, "Go deeper on number 10," which, of course, was the number 10 of the last response it gave me. And it replied, "Incorporating diversity and inclusion, D and I, initiatives into your sourcing strategy can help you attract a wider pool of candidates, including those who may come from underrepresented or diverse backgrounds." Yeah, I know. "Here are some prompts that can help you develop a D and I sourcing strategy. And so it gave me a list of suggestions that I thought were pretty interesting. How can I use language in my job posting that is inclusive and appealing to a diverse audience? What are some professional organizations or groups that support diversity and inclusion in whatever industry or location? What are some effective ways to showcase your organization's commitment to diversity and inclusion, such as through your website or social media? Now, as I read through these different prompt suggestions, a couple of them stood out to me, number two in particular. I said, "Give me more detail on number two, I'm looking for software developer skilled in Python." And it responded, "Well, if you're looking for software developer skilled in Python, there are several strategies you can use." And it gave me a list of ways that I could potentially find diverse candidates who are skilled in Python. And it gave me things like look for specialized job boards, and it name job boards like Women Who Code, Black Tech Jobs, Natural Society of Black Engineers, job board. It mentioned things like attending industry events that focus on diversity and inclusion in tech such as Afro Tech or Lesbians Who Tech, which is an organization I wasn't familiar with, so that was useful. It also mentioned partner with organizations that support diversity and inclusion in tech, such as Code 2040, another organization I did not know about, or Black Girls Code; I did know about that one, but still very interesting to know. And then mentioned this: "Use social media to promote your job opportunities and showcase your company's commitment to diversity and inclusion." And I thought that was interesting. Give me more detail on number six, which is what I asked it as you see here. It gave me more detail on number six, which was, again, use social media to promote job opportunities to diversity and inclusion. And it gave me this response: "When it comes to assessing and improving D and I of your recruitment process, there are several ways to use data to identify areas for improvement. Here are just some ways to use data." And it gave me a nice little list here. Among them, one that stood out to me, maybe... Well, a couple of them stand out to me, but one of them is track diversity metrics in your recruitment process. That's certainly interesting. Survey your candidates employees. Also good. Use technology to remove bias from your sourcing process. Consider using AI powered tools that can help remove biases from your sourcing process, and so on. Very, very interesting. I really like this because the things I like the most about using ChatGPT for that, for developing a sourcing strategy is that it is good for brainstorming ideas. I kept asking it for ideas, give me 10, now give me 20 more ideas, now give me 30 more ideas. I like that. It really helped spark the creative juices in my mind mind. I really love ChatGPT for brainstorming. I also like that I was able to ask it to give me a suggestion of lists based on which technique or which strategy actually would be more successful so I'm not wasting my time doing everything. It gave me a list of what would most likely be the most successful, and it ranked it from most successful to least successful, which I really liked. And then it gave me a lot of insight on D and I from the standpoint of incorporating it into my sourcing strategy, which is, as I said earlier, a hot topic. Very cool. I like ChatGPT for this. I really like ChatGPT for the brainstorm. Can't stress that enough. I really, really like it for brainstorming, helping me get started and getting me on my way. Thanks, ChatGPT. If you were real, I would hug you. Maybe I would kiss you. Let's try that.
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ChatGPT
How to Create Job Titles with ChatGPT
Job titling psychology. Yes. The way a job is titled can have a significant impact on the perceived authority, level of responsibility, and status associated with a job. This is why, when recruiting, you do not simply hire a garbage collector, but instead you hire a sanitation engineer. Instead of hiring a receptionist, you are looking to place a director of first impressions. And rather than look for a customer service representative, you want to place a head of customer delight, and so on. One way to attract really great talent is to have a job title that appeals to the likely personality type match to that job category. Here's how you can do that with ChatGPT. Check out this prompt. I am hiring a bartender. Think like a recruiter and a marketer. Give me 10 alternative job titles that would be appealing to someone with an ESFP personality type. Why ESFP, you may be wondering. Well, that's because, traditionally, someone with that personality has a compatibility with that particular job. So there you go. ChatGPT responds that it is happy to help, so nice, and he gives me some creative alternatives as well as reasons why they would resonate with that personality. Interesting. It's as if ChatGPT remembered my asking for validation of his answers in the past, anticipated that I may ask it for validation again, so it went ahead and gave me the information up front. Hmm. Very clever, ChatGPT. Anyways, I like some of the alternative titles, some more than others. Let's see here, mixologist extraordinaire. I like. Beverage artist. Booze blender. Booze blender. Sound like they pour drinks at a frat, a fraternity house. And drink whisperer. In fact, you know what? I was so amused by these job titles when I first saw them that I went over to Indeed... Let me go over there now and show you. I went over to Indeed to see if there were actually companies out there using these type of job titles, and to my surprise, I found out that some were. For example, here Marriott International was looking for a mixologist. Olive Hotels was looking for a memory maker. That could have several meanings, but yeah. Okay, Pilot Company here was seeking a Subway sandwich artist. And Boompy's... Boompy's. Huh. Okay. And Boompy's Donut and Ice Cream Shop was seeking a donut artist. Why am I so hungry all of a sudden? But I digress. I digress. I want to now show you a longer prompt I use for hiring a bartender in New York City. Longer prompts, I've found, are best because the more detail your request, the better results you tend to get. So that's a pro tip there for you. All right, let's take a look at my very long prompt. Here it is. "I am hiring a bartender for my club in NYC. I want you to write a job description that appeals to the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator personality of ESFP. I also want you to list 15 interview questions that will help me verify that the candidate I interview has such traits. Include questions that would dissuade them from accepting the role because it goes against the ESFP personality type. Identify which questions are discouraging. By including discouraging questions, I want to ensure that the person I hire truly wants the job. Do not mention ESFP in the job description. The person I want to hire should have at least five years of experience." Now, the job description here, the responsibilities here, and the qualifications are pretty much all what I expected. Good job, ChatGPT, as per usual. Now, the interview questions were pretty standard as well. "Can you tell me about a time when you went above and beyond to provide exceptional customer service? How do you keep yourself updated with the latest trends in mixology? How do you handle a difficult customer," et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I especially liked its discouraging questions, because ESFP personality types tend to be fun-loving with short attention spans, and asking someone with this personality type if they can handle working in a high-pressure environment and if they are comfortable working alone for long periods of time will help me weed out someone who has enough of a personality to excel in one aspect of the job, but maybe not so much in other parts of the work. So there's that. All right, next prompt. Here is another long prompt, says here, "We are pausing hiring for the bartender role, but I want to keep the candidate excited about the possibility of joining the company because we might want to hire them next month. Write an email informing them that we are pausing hiring, but we'll start again in the near future. Make it engaging to an ESFP personality." And this is what it gave me in return: "Dear candidate name, I hope this email finds you doing well. I wanted to reach out and provide you with an update regarding the bartender position at our high-end club in New York City. At this time, we are pausing our hiring efforts, but I wanted to let you know that we are still very interested in your candidacy and your exceptional skills as a bartender. We were truly impressed with your outgoing and friendly personality, passion for mixology, and exceptional customer service skills. We believe that you would be an excellent addition to our team, and we are excited about the possibility of working with you in the future. "While we are pausing our hiring efforts for now, we anticipate reopening a position very soon, and we would like to keep your application on file. We will reach out to you as soon as we are ready to proceed with our hiring efforts. In the meantime, please feel free to keep in touch with us and let us know how you are doing. We believe that building strong relationships with our candidates is essential and we look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your interest in our company and your exceptional candidacy. We will be in touch very soon. Warm regards, [foreign language 00:07:05]" Well, your name. In this case [foreign language 00:07:10] me. "P.S. We love your innovative cocktail recipes and can't wait to try them out with our customers." Love it, love it, love it, which is why I read the whole thing. Just sort of got into it. Forgive me. But, so, no complaints about the email. So after this, I asked ChatGPT to write a rejection email that would be appreciated by someone with the ESFP personality. And it did, as you can see here. No, I'm not going to read it all. But as before, I was pretty pleased with it. But I wanted a bit of validation, just a little bit to quell the paranoia inside of me. So I asked it, "Why does this email appeal to that personality type? Break down the email and explain it to me." And ChatGPT, once again, impressed me by pointing out that the email worked because it was empathetic, personalized, and positive. It then elaborated on each point. For example, regarding empathy, it said, "The email starts by expressing gratitude for the candidate's application and interview. This shows that the company values the time and effort that the candidate put into the application process. This acknowledgement is particularly important for ESFPs who tend to seek recognition and validation for their hard work." Wow. I mean, just... Wow. That's it for now. Until next time, I'm Jim Stroud, your corporate trainer. I don't like that. Can we do that again? Let's put some psychology behind it. That's it for now. Until next time, I'm Jim Stroud, your human capital development master. Your corporate learning architect. Your education and development maestro.
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AI
How to boost employee retention with ChatGPT
Do you know the cost of replacing an employee? Well, let me tell you, it's expensive. According to Gallup, the cost of replacing an employee can run you anywhere from one half to twice the amount of their annual salary. And if you were to ask the financial wellness platform Enrich how much it costs to replace an employee, they will tell you, on average, about six to nine months worth of a person's annual salary. Yeah, six to nine months. Wow, that's a lot. Without a doubt, employee retention is important. One way to hold onto your staff a little while longer is to factor in personality types when you are recruiting. Why? Well, a good personality fit between an employee and their job can lead to higher job satisfaction, better performance, and lower turnover rates. One popular personality assessment tool is the Meyers Briggs type indicator which categorizes personalities into 16 different types based on four dichotomies. Those four dichotomies are... Let's see here, yes, extraversion and introversion, sensing and intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging and perceiving. By understanding these dichotomies, recruiters can better identify candidates who are the best fit for a job. And ChatGPT is a great tool for this. Allow me to demonstrate. So to begin, I asked ChatGPT to describe an INTP personality and how to create a job description that would appeal to someone with that personality, and it did, rather quickly I may add detail. The INTP personality type is one of 16 personality types defined by the Myers-Briggs type indicator. Individuals with this personality type are often described as logical, analytical, and innovative. They are typically independent thinkers who enjoy solving complex problems and exploring new ideas and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, so on and so on. Now, it went on to say that to create a job description that would appeal to someone with an INTP personality, it would be important to highlight aspects like intellectual challenge, because INTPs are highly analytical and enjoy solving complex problems. It also cited the aspect of autonomy because INTPs are independent thinkers who value autonomy in their work. It went on the list a few more traits that concluded by saying that overall a job description that emphasized intellectual challenge, autonomy, innovation, intellectual freedom, intellectual stimulation, and systematic approach to tasks would be appealing to someone with an INTP personality. Now, taking all of that to heart, I then asked ChatGPT to write a job description for a computer programmer skilled in Python, which is a programming language. Then I said, make it appeal to someone with an INTP personality. Do not mention INTP in the description. Now, I added that part about not mentioning INTP in the description because when I used this prompt in the past, it added the term INTP in the description and didn't look right, didn't sound right, didn't want it. So I added that part here because of past experience. Yeah, there you go. All right. So the results were pretty basic, but in line with what I was looking for in terms of a job summary, a job list of responsibilities, and even basic benefits, which I was proud to see the benefits there, but I was glad to receive them for sure. One thing I like, one thing I'm impressed by with ChatGPT is its ability to give me something to work with, which is why I love it, love it, love it, love it as a tool for brainstorming, but I digress. Okay, next up, I asked ChatGPT to think like a recruiter and write an email for candidate outreach. Make it appealing to the INTP personality type. Don't mention INTP in the email, again because of earlier experiments. I know ChatGPT needs that little extra bit of instruction, and this is what it gave me. It says, "Dear candidate, I hope this message finds you well. I'm reaching out to you because we have an exciting opportunity for a skilled Python developer to join our team. As someone with a strong analytical mind and passion for programming, I believe you'll be an excellent fit for this role at our company. You would have the opportunity to work on exciting projects and collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver innovative solutions." I'm not going to read this whole thing. I think you get the idea there. Maybe I will skim a little bit. We're looking for someone with three plus years of experience, blah, blah, blah. If this opportunity sounds exciting to you, we encourage you to apply. Thank you for your time and consideration and hope to hear from you soon. Best regards, your name, which would be my name in this case. All right, so still feeling impressed and rather pleased with ChatGPT. I told it to think like a marketer, and I said, "Give me 10 email subject lines that would appeal to this personality type." Oh, yeah, yeah. FYI on this, in case you didn't notice this already, I did not have to remind ChatGPT about the personality type I was referring to. It understood my query in the context of the overall conversation I was having with it. Pretty cool, huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Okay, moving on. So these are the subject lines it gave me, unlock your programming potential with our Python developer role. Here's another one, get ready to build exciting applications as our Python developer. Python developer wanted opportunity for systematic approach and intellectual freedom. Become a Python developer with competitive salary and benefits package. And I like them overall. Well, I'm not really crazy about that number 10, become a Python developer with competitive salary and benefits. Yeah. Okay. All right. So I like most of them, but not all of them. But as I say, I thought some of them, a couple of them missed the mark in what I was looking for. So out of paranoia, I asked ChatGPT to validate it's work with this prompt. I said, explain to me why these headlines would be appealing to this candidate, and it gave me reasons for each one, and this is what it said about the first three. For the subject line, unlock your programming potential with our Python developer role, it explained it by saying INTPs are known for their potential to innovate and create new solutions, and this headline speaks directly to that potential. Okay, cool enough. The second one, join our innovative team of Python developers today, it explained it by saying INTPs are creative and love to explore new ideas and approaches, and the idea of joining an innovative team would likely be very appealing to them. Makes sense. This third one, get ready to build exciting applications as our Python developer, INTPs enjoy intellectual challenge and problem solving, and the prospect of building exciting applications will likely be exciting to them. Again, I like these overall, but I really like ChatGPT for its brainstorming capabilities, and in that regard, I have to say, well done ChatGPT. Well done. Now you may be thinking to yourself, "Jim, personalizing my emails down to the personality type level seems like a hassle. Is it really worth it?" Well, I think it is, and here are some stats to prove my point. Personalized emails are more effective than generic ones as they are more likely to be opened and resonate with customers. Studies have shown that emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened than those without.
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Why Texting Should Be a Part of Your Recruiting Process!
There has been a lot of controversy about the increase in automation as it relates to recruiting. Some see it as a demise of the industry and I quite disagree. I don’t imagine robots and automation eliminating jobs but rather, I see them decreasing the necessity of certain tasks and thus allowing recruiters to perform other duties. As I say this, I realize how often that mantra is repeated by proponents of technology. So, allow me to speculate 15 minutes into the future on how text recruiting, recruiters and automation operate in concert to hire great talent. RECRUITERS ARE MASTERFUL NETWORKERS After attending a company-wide town hall meeting, the recruiter understands the vision of the CEO and the overall direction that the company is heading towards. This knowledge is ideal because it helps the recruiter know where he/she should be focusing their networking efforts. If the future is widgets, then one sure step is to build relationships with all related widget user groups and their community leaders. Not only that, they would reconnect with past applicants inside the company ATS by sending a group text to all who opted in to receive such notifications. Perhaps a text saying, “Hi (Candidate’s name here), I was in a meeting with the CEO and he has widgets on his mind. At a glance, you seem to have an expertise in widgets. Are you still open to new opportunities related to widgets? If so, text “I’m in” to 123-4567 and I will keep you up to date on those specific job opportunities. Thanks! – (Insert Recruiter’s name here) While networking at a user group – Widgets Rock USA, the recruiter speaks with several passive candidates. They seemed interested at the event but, who truly knows. Would they pick up the phone if called tomorrow? Who can say for sure? To mitigate the chance of losing a connection with a potential hire, the recruiter creates a card with multiple short codes on them to help connect with you via text. As the recruiter mingles, short codes on cards are passed around and passive candidates interested in widget jobs can get notified of widget jobs as they become available and subsequently answer a few basic questions about their related experience. With this process, the recruiter can focus on the more qualified candidates yet, still retain a connection with those that cannot be placed at the moment. A short code is an effective text recruiting tool in use by many employers already. RECRUITERS ARE MARKETERS The Recruiter does not end his efforts with networking as there were certainly other rivals present at the event and no doubt, attempting to hire the same people. This is why a significant amount of time is spent analyzing data concerning the talent market. Where is the talent likely to work? Where does the talent likely live? What is the average market rate for the skillset of creating widgets? Armed with this information and other data, the recruiter know the best places to advertise his jobs. At the same time however, the recruiter is aware that life can sometimes get in the way of the job search. So, in addition to making the application painless, there is also an option given to apply later. In this way, candidates who choose this option will get reminded later to begin or complete the application process on the role they had an interest in. RECRUITERS ARE BRAND AGENTS Recruiters understand that for many candidates, company culture trumps salary expectations. So, they are sure to involve themselves in company programs that reflect a sensitivity to a societal cause that the company supports; breast cancer awareness or supporting our veterans, for example. This will help them when speaking to candidates as they will be able to relate a first hand account of how the company gives back to the community. CANDIDATES APPRECIATE THE AUTOMATION For as long as companies have been posting jobs online, the most persistent point of exasperation has been the blackhole of resumes; commonly referred to as an applicant tracking system. In times past, it was an accepted evil by jobseekers to apply for jobs and mostly hear nothing back beyond a canned response that the role was filled. Now with automation, such days are gone. Candidates often now have the option to opt-in to text recruiting messages that notify them of jobs and update them on the status of their application, in addition to other campaigns such as company news updates. Imagine a candidate journey to hire that proceeds along this wise: · Candidate sees recruitment advertising and opts in to be notified of new openings. · Candidates gets a message about a job that interests them. Subsequently, the candidate answers a few questions via text to further qualify them for the role. · Candidate receives a text from the recruiter that allows them to book time on a recruiter’s calendar to further discuss the opportunity. · The day before the interview, the candidate receives a text with directions to the office an itinerary of scheduled interviews and a link to a YouTube video where the company culture is shared. · The day of the interview, a reminder text is sent mentioning who the next interviewer is and a short list of their hobbies, for small talk purposes. · A day after the interview, the candidate is sent a text to complete a survey about their candidate experience. · A few days later the candidate is called by the recruiter to discuss an offer that they accept. · On the first day of work, the candidate is given an onboarding itinerary and a choice to opt out of future job notifications with the company and/or to opt-in to other text campaigns like company updates or requests for community service volunteers. TEXTING IS GOOD BECAUSE TEXTING CONVERTS PROSPECTS (CANDIDATES) INTO BUYERS (OFFER ACCEPTS) To some reviewers of this process, it might look like an inordinate amount of texting in your recruiting process. I disagree. Several data points I have discovered point to the success in customer conversions as a result of a well implemented texting campaign. For your consideration, I will share the more compelling data. · Texting a prospect after initial contact can increase conversion rates by 112.6%. (Leads360, Crazy Egg) · Sending 3 or more follow-up text messages to prospects increases conversions by as much as 328%. (Leads360, Crazy Egg) · The average SMS campaign conversion rate is 45%. (Salesforce) · SMS verification conversion rates are 250% higher than email verification. (Salesforce) Creating efficiency for recruiters and an improved candidate experience is a compelling reason for implementing text recruiting software. While texting may not be the magic bullet for every recruitment campaign, I certainly see it as a solution for some. Allow me to encourage you to try something that would likely work verses residing in the safety of the status quo, as your competitors past you in the fast lane. Beep, beep! About the Author Over the past decade, Jim Stroud has built an expertise in sourcing and recruiting strategy, public speaking, lead generation, video production, podcasting, online research, competitive intelligence, online community management, and training. He has consulted for such companies as Microsoft, Google, MCI, Siemens, Bernard Hodes Group and a host of start-up companies. During his tenure with Randstad Sourceright, he alleviated the recruitment headaches of their clients worldwide as their Global Head of Sourcing and Recruiting Strategy. His latest project – “The Jim Stroud Podcast” explores the future of work, life and everything in between. More details highlighting his career and industry influence can be found on his blog – JimStroud.com.
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Emissary is a candidate engagement platform built to empower recruiters with efficient, modern communication tools that work in harmony with other recruiting solutions.
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