What is Text to Apply and How to Use It?

What is Text to Apply and How to Use It?

The Recruiting Intelligence Blog

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What is Text to Apply and How to Use It?

Kristine Le
Jan 27, 2021 8:12:39 PM

Text-to-Apply enables candidates to start a job application by texting in a keyword or shortcode or scanning a QR code—using any mobile device, 24/7. They can be used on storefronts, billboards, social media, radio ads, hiring events, and anywhere else to capture the attention of applicants.

When a candidate texts they can learn about what jobs are open nearby, submit their information and schedule an interview with a recruiter — all over text messaging.

Text to Apply is included as part of the XOR Talent Platform. Learn more about adding Text to Apply to your recruiting stack.

How do you use Text to Apply?

1. Choose your keyword or code

Recruiters choose a unique keyword or code that they want to use for their text-to-apply or QR campaigns. This will let candidates text-in and initiate their job application with a chatbot.

2. Advertise your keyword or code

Start advertising and promoting your keyword or code. This can be done digitally on social media or your career website, as well as physically on billboards or store banners. 

3. Candidates start the job application process

Once the candidate texts the unique number or scans the QR code, they will begin the pre-screening process.

4. Screen and schedule qualified candidates

Our chatbots work 24/7 to ensure candidates don’t have to wait for a response. Recruiters can pre-screen candidates and automate interview scheduling around the clock. Candidates can pick from a list of dates and times that work best for them.

5. Nurture everyone else for future job openings

If a candidate drops off or is not yet qualified, you can continue to nurture them until they
are ready to apply again. Schedule regular updates to let them know that new jobs they might be interested in have been posted.

What are the benefits of using Text to Apply?

81% of Americans use text messaging regularly, making SMS one of the most common avenues of communication. That’s why Text-to-Apply should be a staple tool in every recruiter’s belt. Most candidates are already on their phones, so job applicants are just a text away.

Text-to-Apply is not only a convenient way of reaching candidates who are on the go, they provide other benefits as well, including:

Reaching candidates who are on-the-go

Text-to-Apply is one of the best ways to reach candidates who are not always at their desks. You can capture the attention of those who are grabbing coffee via billboards or store banners, or those who are just simply browsing social media while on the bus.

It gives recruiters a bigger window of opportunity to find great talent and engage with applicants who may not be actively searching career websites or job boards.

Providing a positive candidate experience

Candidates appreciate employers who are communicative and responsive. When applicants initiate their job application via Text-to-Apply, they are greeted with an instant conversation with a chatbot, allowing them to jump-start their pre-screening process. There are no long wait times between emails or phone tag.

Reflects positively on the employer

As a recruiter, you are actively putting yourself out there using simple but modern technology. Candidates will feel valued and appreciated knowing they can initiate their job application with a simple text message—and get a response back almost immediately.

Even if you don’t end up hiring a particular candidate, you’ve established yourself as a reputable and hospitable employer for future re-engagement or hiring. 

FAQs about Text-to-Apply

Now that you know more about Text-to-Apply, you can start thinking about how it can fit into your current recruiting strategy. You might have a couple of questions in mind, so we’d love to help you with that! Here are some common Q&A’s regarding Text-to-Apply: 

How much does Text-to-Apply software cost?

Text-to-Apply software costs vary depending on the number of candidates who text into your keyword or QR code. The more candidates you have, the cheaper each SMS will be. To receive pricing for XOR Text-to-Apply, schedule a short overview with our team here.


Is it possible to integrate XOR Text-to-Apply software with my applicant tracking system (ATS)?

Yes! When candidates text in to apply for jobs, you will be able to track your candidate conversations directly in XOR. XOR includes integrations with the most popular ATS’s like SuccessFactors, Greenhouse, SmartRecruiters, and more.

How else can I use text recruiting software?

Recruiters can use XOR to communicate and follow-up with candidates, schedule interviews, initiate phone and video calls, and build reports to track text campaign performance. We recommend regularly nurturing past candidates with special offers and new job offerings.


Are there any laws and regulations for Text-to-Apply software I should be aware of?

When promoting your Text-to-Apply keywords, be sure to include your campaign purpose, message frequency, info about message and data rates, as well as a link to your terms and conditions and privacy policy.

Getting Started

Text-to-Apply is a convenient way for candidates to start a job application on the go. It also provides a positive candidate experience since the communication is instantaneous and can take place over any device, and from anywhere.

Here at XOR, we’re passionate about recruiting software and would love to share more about what we’ve been working on. Schedule a demo with us to learn more about our Text-to-Apply solutions.


The Big Guide to Text Message Recruiting

Download this eBook to learn why Text Message Recruiting is important in today’s recruiting landscape — and get 12 free recruiting templates!

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE

Tags: Recruitment, Text Recruiting, Text Message Recruiting

3 Things to Consider About Virtual Career Fairs

3 Things to Consider About Virtual Career Fairs

The Recruiting Intelligence Blog

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3 Things to Consider About Virtual Career Fairs

Kristine Le
May 3, 2021 11:56:08 PM

If you’re looking to adopt Virtual Career Fairs into your talent acquisition strategy, you may have a lot of questions — especially if you’re new to the recruiting software space. It’s important to break down your company’s needs and hiring goals to ensure that you’re getting the most out of Virtual Career Fairs.

Let’s take a look at some components to consider before adopting Virtual Career Fairs for your business.

1. What are the pros and cons of Virtual Career Fairs?

While the benefits definitely outweigh the negatives, your team should still consider both pros and cons of using Virtual Career Fairs in your recruiting strategy.

Pros of Virtual Career Fairs

A. It’s efficient — in every way

Virtual Career Fairs provide what a traditional career fair would, but from any location and any device. Recruiters and candidates can easily connect without the expense of travel, time, and other costs that add up over time. With the right recruiting software, your team can help candidates jumpstart the job application, screening, scheduling, and even interviewing process — saving you a lot of time. It’s that straightforward!


B. It gives your company a competitive advantage

Not all companies are leveraging Virtual Career Fairs to their advantage, despite how beneficial they may be. By choosing to implement these digital career fairs, your company will be ahead of the game in every way. Job seekers are always going to appreciate a more flexible and convenient way of finding and applying to job opportunities, so they’ll have a great first impression of your company’s modern take on career fairs.


C. It’s the only way during unprecedented times

COVID-19 posed many challenges for the recruiting industry. Recruiters and candidates weren’t able to meet face-to-face due to social distancing regulations, so they turned to Virtual Career Fairs to help keep their businesses afloat.

Virtual Career Fairs provided millions of teams with the resources they needed to hire during the pandemic. The technology behind these digital career fairs was able to help businesses of all sizes hire and fill roles efficiently while staying safe.

While Virtual Career Fairs still serve as a very crucial recruiting tool without the effects of a health crisis, it’s important to keep in mind that they are the only way during difficult times. Having Virtual Career Fairs as a part of your backup plan can be extremely helpful during unanticipated events in life.

Cons of Virtual Career Fairs

A. It’s not the same as meeting in-person

Face-to-face interactions are unreplicable. A big part of getting to know a candidate entails seeing them in person and observing their eye contact and body language. This is a perk that in-person events offer.

A tip to mitigate this is to leverage video calls during your Virtual Career Fairs. It may not recreate the real-life experience, but it definitely can help recruiters and candidates stay connected. All you need is a functioning webcam, a stable internet connection, and a smile!



B. Non-tech users could feel uncomfortable

While it’s safe to assume that most of society is well-adapted to technology, there is still a minority that is unfamiliar with how Virtual Career Fairs work. For this reason, these potential candidates may feel intimidated or discouraged from participating.

To help with this, you can be mindful of how you promote your virtual career event. It’s good to highlight the fact that your company has implemented a simple and easy sign-up, application, and hiring process.

You can also add in a walkthrough guide of how candidates can navigate your career fair or a brief FAQ or troubleshooting guide that they can refer to for help. Always remember to include your support team’s contact information, just in case there are any urgent issues that could possibly interfere with the event.



​C. Finding the right Virtual Career Fairs platform can be hard

Depending on your business’s needs, finding a Virtual Career Fairs platform can be daunting. There are a lot of different recruiting software companies on the market that may over-provide or under-provide, resulting in higher or lower costs respectively. It’s important to decide on the most important, non-negotiable aspects of a Virtual Career Fairs platform — then do your research to find the best fit.

2.What are the best Virtual Event platforms?

When selecting a recruiting software for your team, it’s important to do your research and decide on which platform best fits your hiring needs. Below are the top 3 Virtual Career Fairs platforms that you can consider: 

XOR

XOR currently offers the leading virtual career fair platform and software. They offer both an out-of-the-box solution and more complex events, which can be launched with the help of their customer support team.

Their platform gives employers and virtual career fair organizers the ability to create their own career fair map so it’s easy for job seekers to navigate and find the right booth. Employers can also build their own branded registration pages to showcase their branding and company culture.

Candidates can easily input their contact information and resume and sign-up within just a couple of minutes. Once they’re registered, they can start their job search and apply to any open positions with just a couple of clicks.

Employers can pre-screen attendees to ensure they’re speaking with qualified candidates, and then engage visiting job seekers over live chat and video chat. Furthermore, they can set up text message reminders to ensure job seekers are prepared for their upcoming virtual hiring event.

After the virtual event, hiring managers can easily follow up with candidates via text and inform them of their final hiring decisions — or ask for feedback or additional information.

You can request a demo of XOR’s Virtual Career Fair platforms here.


Brazen

Brazen’s virtual event platform offers a basic option where employers can host chat rooms with candidates. However, the mobile experience can be inconvenient; if you minimize your Brazen window during a chat to access other apps or functions on your phone, you will have to log back into your account. It can also be costly, as Brazen charges for the addition of new features.


Paradox

Paradox has built a virtual recruiting platform that allows companies to build hiring events and promote their job openings. Their chatbot, Olivia, will take registrations, remind attendees about the upcoming event, and help coordinate while the event is running. Olivia will also conduct pre-screens, and answer candidate questions while they wait to talk to a recruiter. They are still working on branching out to more ATS, so they may not be able to integrate with your current ATS.

3. How much do Virtual Career Fairs cost?

Virtual Career Fair Platforms can either be priced based on the number of virtual job fairs you want to host or on using an annual subscription. Factors typically involved in pricing include:

1) How many employers will be exhibiting?

2) How many users from each employer will be participating?

3) How many attendees are expected?

The best way to find out how much it would cost you to host a virtual career fair is to request pricing. You can request a quote for virtual career fairs here.


Tags: Virtual Recruiting, Virtual Career Fair

Virtual Career Fairs: A How-to Guide for Recruiters

Virtual Career Fairs: A How-to Guide for Recruiters

The Recruiting Intelligence Blog

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Virtual Career Fairs: A How-to Guide for Recruiters

Kristine Le
Mar 25, 2021 1:41:32 AM

Over the past few months virtual career fair participation has skyrocketed to 90% participation with more companies hiring remotely in response to the pandemic. Because of this shift in the recruiting space, experts predict that 80% of recruiting will remain virtual for the foreseeable future.

In addition to being an essential part of hiring today, Virtual Career Fairs also benefit the candidate experience by letting top talent connect directly with employers from any place, at any time, and using any device.

To help you better understand the benefits of hosting your own Virtual Career Fairs, we created a short how-to guide to get started.

 

Table of Contents

 

What are Virtual Career Fairs?

Virtual Career Fairs are online hiring events where employers can engage and recruit talent over live chat, audio, and video chat.

Recruiters can use virtual career fairs to hire for a single role, hire multiple roles within the same company, or represent different employers all together.

Upon entering the Virtual Career Fair, prospective employees can approach recruiters at different virtual booths to learn more about the job openings that interest them the most, as well as apply for roles. Webinars, chat rooms, and digital sessions can also be hosted in real-time.

Similar to an in-person job fair, a Virtual Career Fair can offer a plethora of different open positions or focus on a specific profession or industry. The jobs themselves can be either remote or in-office positions.

Virtual career fairs often have a predetermined start and end time to facilitate live conversations and are generally free for job seekers to enter. Here’s what a virtual career event looks like for an attendee:

Why should recruiters use Virtual Career Fairs?

1) Attract More Candidates

Virtual Career Fairs have many advantages over traditional in-person events. One of the most apparent benefits of the online platform is an increased hiring and talent pool. By hosting the event virtually, you are able to reach a more diverse and widespread group of potential candidates.

Not only are you able to start communicating with talent outside of your normal reach, but you can also interview people in different cities, states and countries.

This also gives you more opportunities to attract top-tier talent and find specialized candidates to fit your roles perfectly without excessive travel.

The technology behind virtual recruiting events makes the job search easy, creating a great first impression of your brand.

2) Get More Cost Savings

Another significant benefit is the cost savings from hosting a career fair virtually.

Traditional career fairs require you to rent out a venue. Then, you have to consider logistical costs as well as food and beverage offering costs.

Flights and hotel rooms to these events for both candidates and hosts also can add up. According to studies, in-person fairs cost $30,350 or more than a virtual career fair, which can start at just $6,000.

None of these costs need to be worried about with a Virtual Career Fair, saving you a significant amount of money.

3) Save Time With Pre-Screened Talent

In addition to interacting with more people, you also are able to hire them faster through Virtual Career Fairs. Prospective employees are already pre-screened, and if they make it through your recruiters then you can easily set them up for an interview immediately.

Your HR team’s calendars can be integrated directly with the career fair, making it easy to automate the interview scheduling of candidates.

This streamlined hiring process leads to faster hires and higher candidate retention.

4) Promote With Ease

Since virtual job fairs are online events, it’s quick and easy to promote them through job boards and social media platforms such as Linkedin, Facebook, Handshake, and more.

5) Track Your Performance With Quantifiable Results

Virtual Career Fairs can easily be analyzed using the resulting metrics from your virtual event. The number of sign-ups, attendees, and converted hires can be documented and used to create reports for future reference. Your team can leverage this information to improve your event marketing and talent acquisition strategies.

Read the full article: 5 Benefits of Virtual Career Fairs

Which employers are using Virtual Career Fairs?

Many employers realize the benefit and importance of Virtual Career Fairs, and host their own. Below are some examples:

What can I do to prepare for a Virtual Career Fair?

Implementing virtual recruitment events can be daunting if you’re new to the space, but there are several steps you can take to prepare and make the most out of the experience.

1) Create an easy application process for candidates

Online job fairs are convenient, but limited in time. 

Traditional job applications can be lengthy and time consuming, requiring candidates to create an account, input their work experience, and even more. 

To reduce time spent on filling out these applications, you can implement a system to request candidate information prior to the event. This can simply be a request for the candidate’s basic contact information and resume. 

Once this information has been filled out, candidates can wholly enjoy their Virtual Career Fair experience, explore job booths, chat with recruiters, and more — with out any interruptions.

2) Implement a chatbot to answer FAQs

Candidates have questions, and you have the answers — but you don’t have to spend all your time answering the same questions over and over again. Simple inquiries regarding your brand’s contact information, event time, website links, and other relevant information can easily be handled by a chatbot. 

3) Make sure your technology is up-to-date, and works!

Since you’re going with an all-digital career fair, it’s absolutely necessary to double check all your equipment such as your laptop, battery, charger, webcam, and internet connection. Without these functioning tools, you won’t be able to chat with candidates, let host a video call.

What are the best Virtual Event platforms?

what are virtual career fairs?

XOR currently offers the leading virtual career fair platform and software. They offer both an out-of-the-box solution and more complex events, which can be launched with the help of their customer support team.

Their platform gives employers and virtual career fair organizers the ability to create their own career fair map so it’s easy for job seekers to navigate and find the right booth. Candidates can easily input their contact information and sign-up within just a couple of minutes.

Employers can pre-screen attendees to ensure they’re speaking with qualified candidates, and then engage visiting job seekers over live chat and video. Furthermore, they can set up text message reminders to ensure job seekers are prepared for their upcoming virtual hiring event.

After the virtual event, hiring managers can easily follow-up with candidates via text and inform them of their final hiring decisions.

You can request a demo of XOR’s Virtual Career Fairs Platform here.

More on Text Recruiting software platforms: 3 Things to Consider Before Virtual Career Fairs

How much do Virtual Career Fairs cost?

Virtual Career Fair Platforms can either be priced based on the number of virtual career fairs you want to host or on using an annual subscription. Factors typically involved in pricing include:

1) How many employers will be exhibiting?

2) How many users from each employer will be participating?

3) How many attendees are expected?

The best way to find out how much it would cost you to host a virtual career fair is to request pricing. You can request a quote for virtual career fairs here.

Are Virtual Career Fairs worth it?

Depending on your organization’s needs and hiring goals, hosting a Virtual Career Fair may be some thing you’re considering — but haven’t committed to quite yet. You might be wondering if the return is worth it, or if it’ll effectively find you suitable candidates for your open positions.

The short answer is yes. Virtual Career Fairs are worth it, and here’s why:

1) It improves your employer branding

Virtual Career Fairs are the perfect way to get your brand name out there. Due to its 100% digital nature, you’ll be promoting the event exclusively online via social media, paid ads, and other digital means. If candidates are satisfied with the experience, there’s also a chance they’ll talk about it on their own social handles, or even in conversations with family and friends.


2) It lessens bias

Virtual Career Fairs allow recruiters and candidates to connect without having to meet face-to-face. This greatly reduces bias, and ensures that candidates are perceived and qualified only using their skills and work experience. If diversity and inclusion are a high priority in your company culture, Virtual Career Fairs can help you achieve these initiatives.


3) It’s flexible and scalable

Whether you’re looking to hire only a few dozen, or hundreds to thousands of professionals, Virtual Career Fair software can adapt to your needs and budget. As your business grows, you can adjust the features of your Virtual Career Fair platform to meet your hiring goals.

Additional Virtual Career Fairs resources

Check out our other Virtual Career resources to learn more: 

Tags: Recruitment, recruiting automation, AI trends, Virtual Recruiting, Virtual Career Fair, Screening

Text Recruiting: A How-to Guide for Recruiters

Text Recruiting: A How-to Guide for Recruiters

The Recruiting Intelligence Blog

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Text Recruiting: A How-to Guide for Recruiters

Kristine Le
Apr 8, 2021 8:57:13 PM

Technology plays a huge role in our day-to-day lives, enabling us to watch our favorites shows from anywhere and communicate with our loved ones with just a quick text.

96% of Americans own a smartphone — and the average person reads almost all of their texts, with a nearly 100% open rate — as opposed to email which was only 21.3% in 2020.

Job seekers are no different. 89% of those who are job-hunting believe that mobile devices are a crucial part of the job-seeking process, and 90% of them use their mobile devices to look for that dream job. SMS receives the best response rate with 65% of messages responded to within 10 minutes.

That means there are a lot of opportunities for your team to leverage Text Recruiting as a recruiting tool to attract and hire job candidates. As a recruiting team, you can position yourself to find these candidates by using their preferred platform of communication.

To help you better understand the benefits of Text Recruiting, we created a short how-to guide to get started.

Table of Contents

 

What is Text Recruiting?

Text Recruiting leverages text messages to communicate with candidates before, during, and after the hiring process.

Text message recruiting can be utilized in many different steps of the hiring pipeline. The time these different processes take can be reduced dramatically when you make the switch to text-based hiring, especially when implementing a chatbot.

 

Why should recruiters use Text Messaging?

1) Texting is fast

Texting is fast and simple — and candidates appreciate that. Not all of your candidates are at their desk all day long, scrolling through endless job listings and checking their email — they have other things to do too! As a recruiter, responding in a timely manner is your way of saying that you value and respect their time.

Make it easier and more convenient for your candidates by providing them with an on-the-go communication platform, where they can find their dream job at the tip of their fingers.

2) Texting is personal, customizable, and versatile

Whether you’re targeting millennials or other generations of candidates, recruiting text messages can easily be tailored to your audience.

Emojis can even be added to your text campaigns to showcase your employer brand and tone.

3) Pre-screen and schedule candidates with ease

Recruiters can pre-screen and schedule interviews with candidates using a text message chatbot — enabling candidates to jumpstart their job application process at any time, and from anywhere. You can also set interview reminders, and answer any questions in real-time.

Automation saves recruiters a massive amount of time, as they will have a fraction of the resumes to look through, and most of them will be viable candidates. Not only that, implementing a chatbot provides constant response times around the clock, enhancing the candidate experience.

4) Onboard new employees quickly

Recruiters can also use SMS to speed up the onboarding process by sending out texts to new hires, reminding and informing them of any important information they may need to know for their new job. This could include your company location, business hours, phone number, or required documents.


5) The results are measurable

Text recruiting is effective because of its quantifiable results. Using SMS software, you can track your text campaign performances and build reports based on the number of successful hires, candidate drop-offs, and other relevant components. The results can be analyzed and used to improve your recruiting strategy for the future.

6) Text Recruiting is scalable

Whether you’re a small or large business, SMS recruitment can help you meet your hiring goals. Recruiters can choose to send out multiple text message workflows promoting either different or the same job listings. They can also create text message campaigns, and reengage passive candidates.
As you continue to grow and develop your talent acquisition strategy, you have a flexible tool that can be adjusted to meet your current business needs.

Read the full article: 6 Benefits of Text Recruiting

Which employers are using Text Recruiting?

Many employers realize the benefit and importance of Text Recruiting and have implemented it into their recruiting strategy. Here are some of XOR’s valued clients:

What are some Text Message Templates I can use?

There are many different ways you can use texting in your recruiting strategy. Whether you’re looking to engage with passive candidates or ask for referrals, you can do it all with SMS. Check out these templates to see the versatility of text message recruiting:

Sourcing Talent Template

Following Up on Referrals Template

Interview Scheduling Template

Candidate Screening Template

Nurturing Template

Interview Reminder Template

Read the full article: 6 Essential Templates for Text Recruiting

 

What are some Text Recruiting Best Practices?


There are no hard rules when it comes to Text Recruiting as organizations have their own take on the tool according to their individual needs and culture, but there are a few key practices to follow to ensure your text messages are efficient, effective, and respectful.


Don’t use your personal phone

Even if you’re not looking to do high-volume recruiting, it can be hard to organize and distinguish your personal messages from work messages. You don’t want to overlook a candidate’s text and end up not responding. Having a separate business phone or an app specifically made to recruit candidates will help you manage your hires more efficiently.



Keep it short and simple

Text messages are read on a cellphone, which is smaller than a laptop, making the text smaller and hard to read. It’s important not to overdo your messages with paragraphs on paragraphs of text. A short and simple text with the most crucial information will do.



Introduce yourself

Make sure candidates know who they’re talking to by including your company name, background, and your purpose of texting the candidate. While texting is personal, you don’t want to overstep your boundary and assume that your audience already knows who you are. Set a good first impression like you would on any other communication channel.


What are the best Text Recruiting platforms?

what are virtual career fairs?

XOR’s Text Recruiting is an all-encompassing platform that allows recruiters to create text message campaigns, pre-screen and schedule candidates, follow-up, and track performance. Not only that, teams can also utilize these solutions for internal HR purposes, such as employee engagement, pulse surveys, and more.

Recruiters can choose from a large variety of different text messaging platforms including SMS, Facebook Messenger, Linkedin, WhatsApp, Viber, and Telegram.

With their leading AI chatbots, recruiting teams can choose to automate any stage of recruiting process, including screening, scheduling, and asking for feedback. Recruiters can jump in at any time to speak with candidates or answer questions, ensuring that human interaction is still at the forefront of the candidate experience.

If a candidate is qualified to proceed onto the next steps of the hiring process, recruiters can easily transition from SMS to a phone call within seconds. Once the candidate receives a job offer, follow-up and onboarding can take place immediately — ensuring that there are no gaps nor long wait time between responses.

XOR also integrates with plenty of applicant tracking systems (ATS), CRM, and job boards, including but not limited to Avature, Beamery, Bullhorn, CareerHarmony, Zoho, Taleo, and more. View the rest of their integrations list here.
XOR’s clients have achieved an average of 33% faster time-to-hire, 50% lower hiring costs, and a 90% net promotor score from candidates.

You can request a demo of XOR’s Text Recruiting platforms here.

More on Text Recruiting software platforms: 3 Things to Consider Before Text Recruiting


How much does Text Recruiting cost?

Text Recruiting software can be priced based on the number of text messages sent out or a fixed annual subscription. 

Factors typically involved in pricing include:

1) How many text messages are being sent out?

2) How many recruiters are using the platform?

The best way to find out how much Text Recruiting would cost is to request pricing. You can request a quote for text recruiting here.

Additional Text Recruiting resources

Check out our other Text Recruiting resources to learn more: 

Tags: AI, Automation, Recruitment, recruiting automation, AI trends, Virtual Recruiting, Screening

AI Recruiting in 2021: What To Watch Out For

AI Recruiting in 2021: What To Watch Out For

The Recruiting Intelligence Blog

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AI Recruiting in 2021: What To Watch Out For

Kristine Le
May 22, 2021 2:46:44 AM

2020 was a challenging year for the recruiting industry. The pandemic forced businesses to think outside of the box and challenge themselves to restructure their recruiting strategy. However, with such difficulties, organizations were able to discover new ideas and technology to support and cushion the abrupt transitions.

Now that we’re nearly halfway into 2021, new artificial intelligence trends have emerged as a result of the events that took place last year. Considering these trends is a great way to stay informed of the current state of the recruiting industry — and to be prepared for what’s to happen in the coming years.

Here are 5 AI recruiting trends to watch out for in 2021.

Companies embrace technology to support remote work

According to Pew Research, 71% of employees are currently working from home in response to the coronavirus outbreak. 54% of these employees reported that they would like to remain remote, even after the pandemic ends. With the right technology, a majority of employees find it quite easy to complete their work from home.

Automation can help these initiatives by enabling recruiters to work from any location. Screening, interview scheduling, onboarding, and follow-up can easily be automated. With the use of AI Recruiting Software, recruiters can reach candidates from anywhere, any time, and on any device.

Furthermore, video chats are a great tool to use during interviews. Recruiters and candidates can meet via video interviews at the comfort of their own home, saving both parties on time and travel costs.

Diversity and Inclusion are a priority

More than 60% of job seekers consider diversity important when assessing organizations and job offers. Not only that, businesses with more culturally and ethnically diverse teams are 43% more likely to generate higher profits. It’s no wonder why D&I is so important!

In 2021, there is less room for bias and more opportunities to hire diversely. With the help of AI, recruiting teams can craft attractive, inclusive job descriptions that captivate the attention of top talent. Furthermore, recruiting teams can anonymize candidate profiles by leaving screening up to a chatbot. This process will be completed with the influence of human bias, and purely focus on the candidates’ work experience and skillsets.


Virtual Career Fairs are here to stay

Under normal circumstances, virtual career fairs have an average participation rate of 50%, but this figure has increased to as high as 90% since COVID-19. Due to the pandemic, experts predict that 80% of recruiting will remain virtual for the foreseeable future.

Virtual Career Fairs are a great way for recruiters to meet with candidates over a designated all-digital platform. They can set up career booths to promote new job openings, create branded registration pages, and even jumpstart screening. Recruiters can chat with multiple candidates in real-time, and even start video interviewing at any point in time.

The best part about it is that both parties can connect without the costs and expenses of travel and time.


Mobile Sourcing is important

SMS recruiting is hot in the recruiting industry for its convenience and flexibility and will only continue growing along with technology use. Millennials and Gen Z’s are some of the most tech-savvy candidates in your talent pool, so you want to make sure they’re exposed to your employer brand through the same communication channels.

Text recruiting is a great way to break into untapped parts of the job market. Recruiting teams can use Text-to-Apply to create unique text codes to promote on storefronts, billboards, social media, and more. Since the code can be seen by anyone who passes by the physical or digital ads, passive candidates can easily express interest through text.

It’s a great way for businesses to put themselves out there and promote employer branding and improve their talent acquisition strategy.


Wellness checks are the norm

COVID-19 was no walk in the park; many professionals struggled mentally, physically, and emotionally. This placed an emphasis on the mental health and general well-being of employees. In 2021, employers should be proactive in checking in with their employees.

Recruiters have a very important job, and it’d be hard for them to provide a great candidate experience if they’re struggling themselves. As an employer, you can leverage AI to check in with your employees to see how you can help — and promote employee retention.

Chatbot automation can easily assist with pulse surveys and feedback requests, which can all be sent via a simple text.


Takeaway

As the year progresses, there will surely be more changes to the recruiting space. However, the recruitment trends discussed above will continue to stay true. Having the adaptability and openness to take on recruiting challenges will only prepare your business for the future.

If you’re ready to take your recruiting process to the next level, schedule a demo with XOR to see how we can help you meet your hiring goals, faster.

Tags: Recruitment, AI trends, recruiting help

6 Creative Ideas for Your Virtual Career Fairs

6 Creative Ideas for Your Virtual Career Fairs

The Recruiting Intelligence Blog

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Kristine Le
May 29, 2021 2:48:10 AM

6 Creative Ideas for Your Virtual Career Fairs

Virtual events are known for helping recruiters promote job openings and connect with the best job seekers from any location and on any device, in real-time. However, virtual career fair platforms offer more than that. As an employer, you can do more than just host an online career fair. 

There are several creative takes you can consider to make your virtual event more enticing and unique. Here are 5 creative ways you can take your virtual career fair to the next level.

Webinars and hands-on learning sessions

Aside from career fair booths, you can host webinars or hands-on learning sessions to bring value to your candidates. Passive job seekers who aren’t quite committed to applying to open positions can view and attend these virtual booths and learn more about your company or the topic at hand. This will build up their trust in your employer brand and be more open to checking out your job openings. Webinars are also a great way to switch things up and give candidates the opportunity to warm up first before starting their job search.

Accessible networking

Top talent doesn’t attend virtual career fairs only to find jobs — they also could be looking for opportunities to network with you or other fellow candidates. Making networking accessible and easy to navigate can be a unique perk of your virtual environment. This can be something as simple as creating a chat room specifically for attendees to chat in — or having a directory of all your recruiters linked with their professional social platforms and contact information.

Partner with thought leaders

Whether it’s your company’s talent acquisition director or Lou Adler, reach out to your favorite thought leaders and see if they’d be open to present at one of your online events as a guest speaker. Not only will this encourage potential candidates to attend, but these thought leaders will also provide attendees with valuable insight into the recruiting space.

You and your partner can agree to share the details of the virtual hiring event via social media platforms such as Facebook or Linkedin to increase awareness and exposure.

Q&A sessions

Virtual job fairs are meant to be interactive and engaging — and Q&A sessions are a great way to keep recruiters and candidates connected throughout the event. If a candidate has questions regarding a particular webinar or recruiting topic, they can refer to the Q&A lounge. You can also add a FAQ section to help attendees navigate the event easily and answer common questions.

Giveaways and raffle contests

Don’t forget about the fun! Hosting giveaways or raffle contests can boost attendee motivation to attend your webinars or even get them to apply to your job openings. Depending on your budget, the reward can vary — but can definitely be something as simple as company swag, movie tickets, or a pair of sunglasses.

Feedback hub

Feedback is the best way to improve on anything. Create a hub designated for constructive criticism from attendees and use those metrics to gauge the performance of your virtual event. This will help you improve and prepare for future events.

Takeaway

Virtual recruiting events don’t have to be cookie cutter. Recruiting technology offers a ton of features to help you find qualified candidates in new and exciting ways that closely resemble traditional career fairs. With the right virtual event platform, you can customize your recruiting event to create a unique candidate experience and hiring process.

Schedule a demo with XOR to see how we can help you craft the perfect online job fair.

Tags: Recruitment, AI trends, recruiting help