The RPO Voice: Insights for the RPO Marketplace

Data-Driven Recruiting Strategy, and Other RPO News of the Week

Written by Allison Reilly | Thu, Aug 01,2013 @ PM

Making a great hire ultimately comes down to the intangible qualities, but getting to that point relies on a lot of data. A data-driven recruiting strategy will help to ensure that the time spent on recruiting is spent wisely, is spent on the most effective tactics and resources. Relying on what you've always done before, or what you've done in the past, doesn't always work unless there are numbers to back up those gut feelings. Below is more on a data-driven hiring strategy, and other RPO news from the past week:

Recruiters Reveal Their Most Used Staffing Metrics

Which metrics do you check every day? Every week? The Hiring Site revealed the answers to those questions, and found that open requisitions and source of candidates were the top two metrics that staffing agencies were to check every day or every week. The least common metrics were market share and candidate satisfaction. Client satisfaction came in second to last. It's odd that the satisfaction metrics aren't checked more often, especially since they have a direct impact on client retention and revenue.

Fresh, Relevant Recruiting Metrics You Need to Start Using

We all know turnover rate and the cost per hire need to be measured? But is that it, the RPO Hub says no, and that there are other recruiting metrics that offer a clearer, fresher picture of your recruiting process. These metrics include employer brand strength, key position vacancies, and forecasted unemployment rates and labor costs. What sets these metrics apart from the normal ones is that they indicate more places where you can improve your recruiting process and the candidate experience, instead of just filling positions and keeping costs down.

The Keys to Creating a Data-Driven Hiring Strategy

Spoiler alert: there are three keys to a data-driven hiring strategy and they are generational hiring and employment trends, employee satisfaction, and retirement forecasts and reviews. By using this data, you can plan for your recruiting future with much more confidence. For example, by following the trends, you can gauge what the upcoming candidate demographic will look like and adjust accordingly. If you typically hire 20-somethings, but recent college graduates are going to be in short supply over the next few months, then looking at older professionals to fill your open positions saves you headache and time.

How to Format Your Resume for an Applicant Tracking System

Tip number one, which I didn't know about and could be nipping a lot of candidates in the bud, is to send your resume as a Word document. Although a PDF is much more invulnerable to formatting changes because of the different versions of Word, keep in mind that an applicant tracking system is probably going to read your resume and not a person. An ATS isn't all bad, however. It's used to track all the resumes that come in for open positions from all the possible avenues (each job posting on a job board, the career site, referrals et.) as well as the candidate pipeline (who's qualified, who's interviewed, who's hired).

Recruitment process outsourcing services can be very confusing. Each provider offers its own set of services, and some services may have multiple names that are used by multiple providers. In this hour-long webinar, learn the facts about the core RPO services, and make educated decisions on outsourcing recruiting for your organization. View the webinar by clicking the button below.

Related Links:

The ROI of RPO

Evaluating Your Job Posting Strategy

How to Select an RPO Firm