Although the “war for talents” is an ongoing topic in the human resource department, the topic of e-recruiting is still neglected. The authors of the current study “Recruiting Trends 2011” note that online application forms and applicant management systems can reduce processing time and cost per application. Employers that pay more attention to this aspect can proactively manage the upcoming shortage of skilled workers. This includes a holistic understanding of the needs of all groups involved in the recruiting process. Anyone who takes a close look at the recruiting experience can improve it: providing shorter, more efficient, and more acceptable recruiting processes. To achieve that, recruiters need to leave their own perspective and take the “external view” at the processes which they are responsible for; for example, the view of the candidates or the hiring managers’ view in the different departments.

The aim of such a shift in perspectives is to optimize the application process for all parties and thus improve the recruiting experience. The problem: In the recruiting process, many different groups are involved and all of them have different expectations. Recruiters need to unite all of these expectations under one roof. If even one party is dissatisfied, the entire recruiting process can be delayed. In the worst case, the candidate gets lost during the recruiting process and can not be gained as a future employee. One example could be that the recruiter expects way too complicated processes from the department and the next action can not be triggered at the right time.

Let me give another example: In the very first stage of the application process, the candidate may be deterred right at the moment when he is asked to fill out the application form. It is still common practice that a prospective apprentice and a professional need to fill out the same fields. But it should be clear that a prospective apprentice does not normally have any work experience. So why is he asked for that? And vice versa. Why is the school education important for an 35 year old professional? A simple adaptation of the online application form improves the recruiting experience for both target groups.
In the upcoming weeks, we would like to invite you on a journey through the fascinating topic of the recruiting experience. We will take a look at the different perspectives of the involved personalities. Of course, we will start our trip with the candidates’ perspective. Then we will put ourselves in the position of the recruiter and the involved department. We continue with the work council and after that we will take a look at the challenges for the IT. We will discuss common problems and present possible solutions. Based on examples, we want to show how you can improve the recruiting experience for everyone involved–in order to find your qualified candidates faster. To sum up, you need to remember that the recruiting experience is the optimization of the application process for the involved parties.

Let us know below if you have any question about the recruiting experience. Write us, if you want to discuss with us about the recruiting experience or if you want to share your experiences.