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Erin Osterhaus is Managing Editor at Software Advice.
I recently had the opportunity to connect with Erin Osterhaus of Software Advice. Her company does an outstanding job of identifying trends in HR Technology. When you’re making critical buying decisions regarding recruiting tools, Software Advice is a great resource for expertise.
Whenever I’m able to get a few minutes with experts like Erin, I want to learn as much as I can. I asked Erin 5 questions that we hear consistently from Talent Leaders across the globe. We’re excited to share what we’ve learned from Erin and Software Advice.
Enjoy the read!
1. What are the biggest challenges talent leaders face today?
I recently attended TalentNet at SXSW here in Austin, and the primary struggle the talent leaders there spoke of was one that’s plagued the HR and recruiting space forever: attracting great talent. There are an increasing number of tools available to recruiters, and the Internet has made sourcing much more efficient than it’s ever been. But because everyone now has these same tools, the best candidates are overwhelmed by recruiters banging down their door. Recruiters and HR professionals therefore need to start thinking not just about how to find candidates, but how to attract them.
2. Where are talent leaders seeing the highest ROI in HCM technology?
We speak to thousands of potential HR software buyers each year, and I would hazard a guess and say that applicant tracking systems are probably one of the most sought after HR software applications for small to medium sized businesses. We recently published some research on the topic, and found that the majority of buyers we speak with are currently using manual methods to keep track of applicants, which is a time-consuming way of organizing applications and communicating with candidates. But many ATSs are highly affordable, especially for small businesses (check out this pricing guide we just published) and can have a dramatic return on investment for their users.
3. What companies have a social media strategy for careers that stands out?
Hubspot actually came out with an eBook recently that provides examples of companies “rocking it” on social media.
I like how Chipotle uses FB to share recent company events and engages its customers, asking them to guess which Chipotle restaurant a photo was taken at based on a view from its patio. They also regularly update their photos and put games on their page to keep people coming back.
Pinterest is an up-and-coming social media site to use. I haven’t really seen any companies using it for recruiting. Taco Bell makes good use of their Pinterest account—pinning photos of employees at company gatherings, as well as posting advice on the job search for followers. Recruiters have their own boards as well to help candidates feel as if they’re talking to real people instead of a corporate wall.
4. What creative methods are companies employing to reduce their cost per hire?
Many recruiters are actually starting to use pay-per-click campaigns to better target potential candidates. I know Facebook now offers the ability to promote job ads to a targeted audience, and some have even used Google Adwords to find what keywords a particular subset of job candidates are searching in order to show up in the search results. These are relatively inexpensive investments when compared to job boards, and can get you on the radar of quality applicants.
5. What’s one mobile recruiting strategy or technology that talent leaders must consider?
Mobile recruiting is a relatively recent phenomenon in the recruitment world. Smartphones and tablets haven’t really been around all that long—the release of the first iPhone was only six years ago. But mobile has become an increasingly important tool for recruiters who want to remain competitive when sourcing and engaging talent. In fact, many companies now report that 20 percent or more of their career site traffic comes from mobile devices, and the mobile job search is doubling each year.
With all those stats in mind, the first step any company should take is to ensure that their career site is mobile optimized—meaning its easily viewable on a cell phone or tablet. Any step after that will be a bonus.
