It’s a funny old world, isn’t it? One minute we’re dealing with The Great Resignation, the next it’s the Big Recession. Recruiters are jumping from one challenging situation to another and candidates don’t know if they’re coming or going.

Every business will have its own way of dealing with the recession. Some will decide to baton down the hatches and cut their hiring activity. Others, sadly, will be looking at making redundancies. And then there are the ones who’ll still need to fill vacancies, recession or not. 

For those who are recruiting it isn’t going to be easy (well, I mean, is it ever?). Not so long ago many businesses would’ve been scratching around to find candidates – now the opposite is most likely true. And when you’ve got a high volume of applicants, well, that no doubt means your time to hire will increase.

Even before you factor in high applicant numbers, the shifting economy could lengthen hiring times. Data from executive recruitment specialist Executives Online suggests that the push-pull of recession and economic boom can affect hire time by up to 40 days .

One of the reasons is that during a recession – not surprisingly – businesses are more cautious. They take more time to consider new hires and whether or not to make an offer.

That’s understandable, of course. Trouble is, the longer it takes to fill your vacancy the more time and resources you use. Obviously. Which is never good news for your bottom line. Obviously. And right now… well, you know, recession…

Automate for whippet-fast recruitment

If you’ve never thought about automation before – or thought about it and decided ‘Nah – it’s a cost we could do without’ – you might want to run some figures. Because now, more than ever, your recruitment process needs to be lean. Whippet lean.

Take reference checking . On average it takes HR directors 5.19 days to get through just that one stage of the recruitment process. And 4.77 days to screen CVs . That’s the sort of labour-intensive stuff an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) can take off your hands. Along with job requisitions, interview scheduling, bulk emailing, shortlisting, onboarding and pretty much everything else you’d care to mention in the recruitment cycle.

HARBOUR cut time to hire by nearly 50% for New Look  and Circle Health Group

How will you know if the figures add up? Because – ta-dah! – you can track and report on key metrics through an Applicant Tracking System. You can find out when and where candidates are dropping out. Pick up on bottlenecks. See the acceptance rate. And, yes, get the lowdown on your time to hire. 

It’s a win-win, really. An ATS will help recruiters speed through the hiring process and – bonus ball – it’ll give you the data you need to keep streamlining and optimising so you’re always up to speed. 

Who knows what’s coming down the line in the future. An apocalypse or alien takeover we can’t really help with. Sorry! For everything else, an ATS will (probably) cover it.

* If you’re not a little green person, let’s talk ATS