The impact of today’s global lockdown is forcing everyone to quickly adopt cloud-based HR tech to help recruiters and HR professionals work effectively at home. LinkedIn has been flooded with articles and posts advocating video interviewing; but what other technologies do talent acquisition professionals need in their tech stack to keep sourcing talent and progressing through the recruitment process? Global Practice Director, at Resource Solutions shares his top tech picks.

Scheduling candidate calls: OnceHub, Microsoft Bookings

The one thing recruiters can agree on right now is that it has never been easier to talk to candidates.  No more phone tag, no more whispering to avoid the candidate’s boss hearing them discuss salary expectations and why they’re unhappy in their current role.  However, as many candidates are juggling remote working with family commitments, candidate self-scheduling of both introductory conversations and interviews is proving incredibly efficient for our recruiters. Automated interview scheduling tech is affordable and enables candidates to self-schedule their interview whenever it suits them.  The Innovation team at Resource Solutions has trialled many of the leading interview scheduling tech vendors, and if you don’t have one pre-built into your applicant tracking system then we’d recommend OnceHub or Microsoft Bookings. 

Tech tip: Don’t be tempted to use a free scheduling tool. Remember, if something is free, you are the product. In this case, it’s your candidate that is the product, because free tools’ terms of business usually allow the tech provider to send marketing emails to your candidates!

Presenting CVs to hiring managers: Odro, Hinterview

Sending an email with a CV and then following up personally to explain why they think the candidate is a perfect fit is standard practice is most recruitment processes.  However, with remote working, we can’t simply swing by the 8th floor to chase feedback from a hiring manager and sell the virtues of our candidate.  Presenting a candidate using a video-based platform allows hiring managers to see you interviewing the candidate. It also allows recruiters to send video shortlists with one-click access and no log-in required.  Odro and Hinterview are ones to look into.

One-way video interviewing: Sonru, Spark Hire

Video interviews on-demand (where candidates are emailed a link to record themselves answering some pre-set questions) tipped over into the mainstream recruiting stack in around 2016.  We manage tens of thousands of these 1-way interviews for clients each year, but they have largely remained used in volume and more junior roles.  Interest has spiked in the past month and clients and candidates are seeing the benefit of being able to showcase their experience and human side rather than just being a CV.  The 1-way video interview market is crowded, resulting the cost coming down over the years.  We like Sonru – their customer service sets them apart and we average 93% response rate.  Our colleagues in Australia also like US-based, Spark Hire.

Tech tip: Avoid selecting a vendor based on ‘advanced AI or facial expression’ features as these often disappoint and, in our view, can be based on flawed science.

Live interviews: Microsoft Teams

If we weren’t all comfortable with video conferencing before compulsory remote working, we certainly will be by now.  Microsoft Teams is increasingly popular as it expands the capabilities of Skype (and Skype for Business Online will be retired in 2021).  MS Teams provides a great out-of-the box video conferencing solution, and is a strong option for two-way, live video interviews.  It has some nice features such as blurring out the background behind you - perfect if you forgot to make your bed or if your partner has dubious taste in interior design.

Technical interviews and live coding assessments: Codility CodeLive

Even in these unusual times, an off-the-shelf tech test often won’t cut the mustard.  For client and candidate technical interviews, I suggest live coding assessment tool Codility CodeLive is used to allow hiring managers to interact with candidates live, providing an online space to collaborate and code with candidates in real-time tech interviews.  We use Codility across our client portfolio, as it’s widely respected in the tech community.

Contract creation: Docusign

It still amazes me that in 2020 e-contracts are not the norm.  If your offer process isn’t paperless then use e-signature tech such as Docusign, which allows candidates to digitally sign a contract and removes the need for a wet signature.  E-signature technology may not be the most exciting but it’s difficult to think of another tech that has saved more time, and which works more perfectly when all parties are working remotely.