With ongoing shifts in the labor market and ever-evolving technology to make running a business easier, it’s no surprise that hiring practices have had to adapt. 

Employers in every industry are using hiring tools to find and hire the right people more effectively. So, if you’re struggling to make the right hires for your business, it might be time to reinvent the way you hire instead of sticking to the traditional, old-school methods that used to work in the past. 

To help, we compiled a list of the eight most essential hiring tools that can help you optimize your hiring process. 

Benefits of using hiring tools 

In the last year, we’ve heard a similar sentiment from several of our clients again and again. Many small business owners feel like in addition to competing with others in their industry for employees, they are also now competing with industry giants like Walmart, Uber, and Amazon. 

These big companies are always hiring and typically have attractive offers with guaranteed hours and benefits. They seem to be a “sure thing” for job seekers, and can convert applicants to working team members relatively quickly. 

So in order to compete with these giants and everyone else, employers have had to make adjustments to their hiring processes, like engaging with candidates sooner than the competition and moving them through the process more quickly. Savvy employers also know not to sacrifice candidate experience for speed and use the hiring process to showcase their employer brand and make prospects excited about the idea of working for them – instead of someone else. 

This is the main benefit of hiring tools: they can help employers find and contact applicants before the competition and evaluate candidates quickly and effectively, all while providing a great candidate experience. 

Top 8 hiring tools to add to your hiring process 

1. Virtual interview software 

Whether your business operates remotely or not, conducting some parts of your hiring process virtually can help you save time and increase efficiency. Video interviewing can be particularly beneficial if you’re trying to hire a lot of people at once. 

Video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Google Hangouts have had a huge increase in their user base in recent years and can be great hiring tools to include in your toolkit. In fact, 86% of companies now perform candidate interviews over video conferencing.

In addition to these behemoths that dominate the video calling space, there are several smaller companies you can consider, such as GoToMeeting, RingCentral Video, and Webex.

There are several advantages to virtual interviews, like:

• Cuts down on transport time and costs for candidates
• Shortens the time it takes to make a new hire
• Scheduling the interview is much more flexible and hassle-free
• Makes the candidate more comfortable
• Allows your business to stay up-to-date on all the latest technology trends

2. A.I.  

It’s hard to get online these days without seeing someone talking about A.I. and what it means for the future of work. If you didn’t know, artificial intelligence software (A.I.) is simply a kind of computer program that can be taught to mimic human capabilities like reasoning and problem solving. 

Since the introduction of the popular A.I. tool ChatGPT, which is an advanced chatbot that can respond to user’s questions in a conversational way, A.I. has become a bit of a buzzword in many industries, but it can be hard to know which A.I. recruitment tools are actually useful, and which may be providing a poor experience to your candidates. 

A.I.’s strength right now is its ability to help us communicate more effectively. Many people struggle with writing things like job descriptions and emails to candidates, and A.I. can be a great solution for them. Employers can look for hiring software that comes with A.I. content writing abilities built into it to make the best use out of A.I. functionality.

For example, CareerPlug is currently developing an A.I. job posting tool in our applicant tracking system in which users can simply hit a button to generate a job description. The tool is powered by OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT. Look for that feature to be available in CareerPlug soon. 

However, some A.I. hiring tools, like recruitment chatbots, still have a long way to go. We put one of these chatbots to the test, only to have a frustrating and odd experience. This particular chatbot kept changing our response of “yes” to the word, “forks”. 

Though we can laugh at this weird experience, it’s worth pointing out that this could be the first impression an applicant has with your company! Requiring the candidate to interact with a chatbot could frustrate them, and ultimately, turn them off of your open role.

3. Automated interview schedulers  

Not to be confused with A.I. tools, hiring automations can streamline your hiring process by automating some of the more tedious and time-consuming tasks, like scheduling interviews. 

In fact, an automated interview scheduling tool can be one of the biggest game changers for business owners that want to speed up their time to hire and create a candidate experience that’s convenient and easy. 

Automated interview schedulers link with your calendar and allow candidates to schedule interviews based on your availability. This type of tool will typically allow you to set parameters around when candidates can schedule and send you a notification when a new interview shows up on your calendar. 

This eliminates the lengthy back-and-forth with candidates trying to find a time that works for both of you, freeing up time in your day to focus on other parts of your hiring process. 

CareerPlug’s new automated interview scheduler, Autopilot has already made a huge impact on both clients – and the CareerPlug team! Watch the video below to see what CareerPlug President, Jenny Leman, has to say about using this tool for hiring:  

4. Text recruiting software 

As we mentioned, many businesses are struggling to hire the right people before their competition. Contacting a candidate first and staying in communication with them throughout can make a big difference when it comes to hiring them before someone else does. 

Instead of your messages or interview invitations getting lost in someone’s inbox, you can use text recruiting software to reach more candidates right on their phones – you know, that thing most of us have in our hands all day long. 

Research shows that email has only a 20% open rate – compared to text messages, which have a 98% open rate. The average email gets a response about 6% of the time compared with the average text message, which has a 45% response rate.  

A text recruiting platform can help you send candidates text messages throughout the hiring process while staying compliant and safe. Many platforms will even let you automate messages based on where candidates are in the hiring process. These tools give you the ability to reach more candidates, faster, and keep them engaged throughout the screening and interview process.

Want to see this in action? Watch the video below to see how text recruiting can help employers and hiring managers modernize their recruitment: 

5. Social media

Social media recruiting can also be a powerful tool. 70% of hiring managers have made successful hires with social media and half of all working professionals follow companies on social media to keep up with their job openings, making it an excellent way to invest in your search for talented candidates. 

Establishing your employer brand is the first step – develop a well-designed page for your company with personalized graphics and photos. Include a careers section for the convenience of job seekers.

Share content; this could be a blog post, a news article, product page, or simply an update about a successful quarter for your team. Tell a story that shows what you’re all about and demonstrates your accomplishments!

If possible, have your hiring managers use individual profiles with their names, job titles, and bios to communicate with candidates on social media platforms. A corporate account is great, but having professional individual accounts adds authenticity and a personal touch when recruiting on social media. 

In addition to direct messaging, get involved on a broader scale. Join LinkedIn groups to connect and network with like-minded professionals and candidates.

Be sure to promote your company’s culture, too. Instagram stories and TikTok posts are a wonderful way to do so. Put your vision and values on display. Get the message out there: it’s enjoyable to work for you!

While it’s important to showcase your company in a professional light, don’t forget to have fun and be creative. Give candidates a window into what it’s like to be a part of the team. In modern recruiting, social media is a great tool for finding the right candidates to achieve your company’s goals.

Learn more about recruiting on social media by watching the video below: 

6. Candidate screening tools

At last! It seems you’ve finally found the best candidate for the job. There’s just one final step in the hiring process before they can officially join your team. And it’s a critical one at that. 

Integrating a software into your business that’s used exclusively for reference and background checking is essential. It ensures the candidates that have made it to later stages of the hiring process are the real deal. 

With options ranging from XREF to SkillSurvey and RefLynk as well as CareerPlug’s own partners, Verified First and Universal Background Screening, there is no shortage of brands to choose from for your company’s individual screening needs. 

Our philosophy when it comes to references is “trust, but verify.” Validate your candidate’s skills, expertise, and capability, as well as how they work alongside others and what unique contributions they can make to your team – all of which can be discovered by a deep dive into their previous roles.

As tempted as you might be to make an offer and get your new hire on your payroll quickly, just remember: The hiring process doesn’t end at the interview. Never underestimate the importance of screening tools.

7. Candidate experience surveys

Ok, we’ll say it again: Whether or not an applicant ultimately goes on to join your team, guaranteeing an excellent candidate experience is key! But how do you know what kind of candidate experience you’ve created?

You ask your candidates, of course!

Consider sending a candidate experience survey to all the people you’ve interviewed, regardless of whether or not you made them an offer. We’ve created a free candidate experience survey template you can download to get you started.

Presenting a survey at the end of the hiring process allows candidates to give their feedback directly to your hiring managers and business, which, in return, impacts your brand and reputation as an employer. 

Look at this as an opportunity to learn firsthand about your company’s strong points and drawbacks as well as how your hiring process is truly perceived by candidates. 

The data doesn’t lie: 48% of candidates who were given a job offer declined due to a negative experience amid the hiring process. So, learning about your business from the “outside in” can only help, not harm, and even suggest worthwhile recommendations to improve the overall workflow and efforts of your team.

Be open to both positive and negative feedback. The goal is to surface any weak points in your hiring process. Don’t take negative feedback personally! You’re working to improve your chances of attracting high-quality applicants in the future.

8. Job boards

As a business owner on the lookout for top talent, chances are you’ve heard of the major job board sites: Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Glassdoor, Monster, CareerBuilder – the list goes on! 

Since 58% of job seekers use job sites in their search for new opportunities, these platforms are an outstanding way to maximize your recruiting efforts and get your roles in front of candidates. But just going through the motions might not be enough. You want your job postings to be successful in attracting the right people.

To start, be transparent in your job descriptions. Include any and all details of the position: qualifications, responsibilities, compensation, and benefits as well as your company’s mission.

Candidates want to feel valued and that they’re contributing to something in a meaningful way. Ask yourself what the position’s purpose is and how it impacts your team and clients. Be sure to address your answers to these questions in your description.

Also, have your current employees write reviews on the major job board sites. Let them tell applicants directly about their work experience. Build up your online presence and sell candidates on why it’s great to work for you!

Expand your reach into niche sources as well. These could be industry-specific boards, a local job board (for example, HIREDTexas for jobs in Texas), or even a newspaper or message board. Want to hire new graduates or student interns? Use a university job board, such as Handshake. 

Post anywhere and everywhere. Spread the word and attract the right people for your team.

Conclusion 

The number one challenge facing business owners is the same as it’s always been: attracting and hiring the right people. Having the right hiring tools for your business can help you overcome this challenge. 

An ATS software, like CareerPlug combines the most essential hiring tools into one platform, helping you streamline your hiring process. Here are some key benefits that an ATS can offer:

• Allows candidates to easily apply to your jobs on any device
• Seamlessly organize and manage candidates
• Upload and promote your job postings to major job boards and other sites
• Create an attractive careers page
• Communicate with candidates faster with text recruiting
• Schedule interviews automatically 
• Screen and evaluate candidates through personalized assessments 
• Make faster hiring decisions 
• Complete new hire forms digitally
• Create a great overall candidate experience