The “new school” method for engaging with candidates 24/7

Workin’ 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin’
Barely gettin’ by, it’s all takin’ and no givin’
They just use your mind and they never give you credit
It’s enough to drive you crazy if you let it
9 to 5, for service and devotion
You would think that I would deserve a fat promotion
Want to move ahead but the boss won’t seem to let me
I swear sometimes that man is out to get me!

Some of you folks may recognise the lyrics from this 1980 Dolly Parton single. My mum used to have this on vinyl repeat.
Most of us in Talent Acquisition are working hard to make a living somewhere between 8 – 6, as are most other people. I have always been curious as to when during the day people start to apply for roles.
On the flip side, from a recruiter’s perspective, there is only so much time in the day/week to review CV’s, phone screen, interview, and catch up on admin. You seem to be forever chasing candidates, trying to organise mutually convenient times to speak or meet. It is just so inefficient.
Is how we work today efficient and productive from a recruiter’s perspective? And from a candidate’s point of view in a world of “on-demand”, do they trust that our Talent Acquisition function set up to aid their success? I don’t think it is, and here’s why.
I was recently speaking with AllyO, post ATC. AllyO is a bot that engages candidates across SMS, WhatsApp and WebApp. I was really interested to see the data around when people were engaging with the AllyO. Note the data is in US times, but I would imagine it would be similar everywhere.

This chart shows the number of messages and time of day which follows a similar flow to the New User graph. Again, pay attention to the number of messages 24/7, and beyond 6pm, which is huge.

Here is an amazing stat. Approximately 40+ percent apply OUTSIDE OF WORK HOURS. Got any more RAM in that brain to hold onto that thought?
Look out, here’s another crazy set of numbers:

Almost 25 percent of applications are made over the weekend, whilst your Talent Acquisition team are not working. Well, most aren’t, but we all know there is a handful of workaholics out there that just can’t pull themselves away from it.
Recently Trevor Vas wrote a blog about Aussies not trusting AI. Whilst the blog was more around ethics for various aspects of Talent Acquisition, what it doesn’t talk about is the huge productivity gains and candidate engagement to be had using tools like AllyO.
Ol’Skool – Candidates apply, recruiter comes into work and reviews applications. Recruiter then makes several attempts to contact candidate to arrange an interview/screen and then juggles schedules due to conflicts. Tick tock tick tock between 9 – 5 o’clock.
New School – Candidate comes to career site and engages with a bot 24/7. Bot pre-screens and identifies candidates in accordance with agreed parameters and schedules meeting/interview with the recruiter. Recruiter arrives to work and has their day booked with qualified prospects. More time spent speaking to candidates, less time chasing candidates and messing with diaries.
The new school method is not about rejecting candidates. The candidates that fall outside of your parameters have still applied and still need to be contacted. However, the ones you are looking for in the Ol’Skool method have been identified through machine learning and scheduled into your diary.
The data from AllyO proves that candidates are engaging with your brand 24/7, so why aren’t we engaging with them in a similar manner?
Am I suggesting we start working shifts and weekends. Hell no! We passionate recruiter folks already invest far too many additional hours from our lives.
How much time do you invest each day chasing “ideal” candidates and then coordinating a time to speak with them? Let us be conservative and say an hour a day. That’s five hours a week. Wouldn’t you want that five hours back to do more interesting value-add work? I know I would.
Embrace the bot and as Dolly sings “There’s a better life, and you dream about it, don’t you?”
Cover image: Shutterstock