We’ve got a new exhibitor for our October technology showcase event, CandidateNet.co.uk, and their offering is really quite unique. Rather than share some blurb off their site I thought I’d do an interview with their MD Chris Fielder where he comprehensibly explains why the product is of so much interest to recruiters and jobseekers alike.
LOUISE:
Candidate screening without keywords, job titles, industry sectors or even CVs?
CHRIS:
Well….. in the initial stages yes – we don’t rely on any of the conventional methods of matching.
LOUISE:
So how does CandidateNet filter candidates in these initial stages?
CHRIS:
Rather than attempting to match an applicant to their ideal job – which is a very inexact science – CandidateNet removes from a job seeker’s view, all those jobs for which they have no chance of success. This is great for recruiters, as they can widen the net without being swamped by unsuitable applicants, and great for applicants as they don’t waste their time applying for jobs they won’t get – which, in turn, motivates them to try harder to get the few jobs they have been invited to consider – which is then, of course, also great for recruiters……
..… and recruiters can even create individual applicant pools that they can optionally choose to share with colleagues, or even other agencies and then share the finders fees.
LOUISE:
So how does this work in practice?
CHRIS:
Both candidate and potential employer take a 10 minute interview containing questions relating to the required “basic work-skills and aspirations” – the sort of things that are necessary for ALL jobs across the entire spectrum. This alone, improves the initial matching ability by a factor of up to 100,000.
So, if there are 500,000 vacancies on the system, potential candidates will get to see the 5 jobs they have a good chance of getting, and not the other 499,995 for which they have no chance. These selected jobs are then displayed together with any number of screening questions defined by the employer. Potential candidates can quickly dismiss unsuitable vacancies – then, after answering the screening questions, are invited to apply by the employer. As candidates are made aware they have been pre-selected, they are much better motivated to write an appropriate, tailored CV, for the specific vacancy. Rather than, as with many job matching systems, simply hoping to be matched using the CV they had to write before they even saw the job description!
Many of a consultant’s current pool of candidates may well have the skills to match one of their current jobs, but just haven’t put the relevant details on the CV they have on file. So CandidateNet will also help find internal matches that would otherwise have gone un-noticed.
LOUISE:
So, the potential employer takes the 10 minute interview too? Won’t some employers be reluctant to do the extra work? They’ve probably just emailed the job description – and assumed the rest was the recruiter’s problem – right?
CHRIS:
Well …… the employers end of the 10 minute interview – or 10 minute screening – as it’s more correctly called – can be emailed to an employer as a link, or can be done over the phone as part of a courtesy “thanks for the new instruction” type of call …. and so far, the feedback has been very positive. It gives the recruiter an opportunity to demonstrate that they do care about the quality of applicants – and once it is explained that this process will enable the recruiter to widen the recruiting net, but return a narrow selection of suitable candidates – employers immediately see the benefit…… and it only has to be done once for a particular job type – which can then be archived and used again later.
Incidentally – the other great thing about asking an employer to choose a specific answer to a question, is that their answer can be quoted back to the employer as part of the applicant’s covering letter. If we use computer literacy as an example – the employer chooses the answer “Candidates should be capable of searching the internet, sending emails and writing/printing basic letters, & using other programs as directed” ….. if this exact phrase is then quoted back at the employer when forwarding a candidate, ie “This candidate is capable of searching the internet, sending emails and writing/printing basic letters, & using other programs as directed” this triggers a reaction in the employers subconscious memory – and I can almost guarantee they will shortlist the candidate.
LOUISE:
So what sort of business is this system best suited to?
CHRIS:
Well……it’s currently working very well in the Aviation Industry – where our client is recruiting for all types of airport ground staff, but, as it functions as an additional tool that can work stand-alone or in conjunction with any existing system, it has benefits for all types of recruiter. It is probably most suited to those markets that are less specialist. It is unlikely to help in recruiting a Nurse, Doctor or Accountant – where applicants immediately understand what is required by reading the job title – but perfect for less defined or even ambiguous job titles.
I recently saw an online job advert for a “Development Executive in Office Workspace Solutions” which, on detailed inspection, appeared to be a job for a retail assistant in an office furniture shop. Often job titles are made over complicated with the intention of attracting a higher calibre of applicant, but the result is they alienate the majority of applicants, who could do the job, and attract applicants looking for £50K …. who dismiss the job later when they discover it’s only paying £20K.
So it’s particularly suited to anyone who doesn’t have a totally mapped-out, pre-determined career path – or indeed for anyone who is unsure what direction to take, or someone keen to change direction.
Imagine you’re not sure what to look for and are searching the job sites for suitable vacancies. What exactly do they mean by “a good communicator”? How IT literate do you have to be to be considered “IT literate”? Why do they make you read through all that “we are looking for a self-motivated, team player with their finger on the pulse, who is hungry for success and able to think outside the box”, only to find, in paragraph 23, that if you don’t have “a degree in Quantum Physics” you can forget it?
OK … so you try and narrow it down a bit and use the job search filters. What job title am I looking for? I don’t know – I’m a nurse who wants to leave nursing. What industry sector do I want to work in? I don’t know. My skills may well suit any number of industry sectors – but how do I tell? I just want to do something interesting that makes use of my talents…….before I lose the will to keep trying!
Alternatively, if you use CandidateNet you will get to see all the jobs, you could do, simply by taking the 10 minute interview.
And…. as candidates get the chance to “see what’s out there”, without uploading a CV, those currently in employment have no concerns about their current employer finding out they’re looking. So it’s a great way to engage those potential candidates that haven’t yet made the decision to leave, or to get hold of students who haven’t yet got around to making formal job applications.
So – it’s aimed at anyone who doesn’t already have a mapped out career path, anyone who is unsure where they could use their current skills, anyone who wants a quick confidential way to see what’s out there – and to see what they could do, and anyone who fancies a change….. and the beauty of the system, for recruiters, is that it will show your vacancies to the people who could do it, and hide it from those who couldn’t. Giving you a much better targeted selection of applicants – and enabling you to get them from much wider sources – without be swamped with un-suitable ones.
LOUISE:
OK so there are far less unsuitable applicants involved in the process, but there will still be some unsuccessful applicants? Will they get a reply? Can you still motivate these people to keep trying?
CHRIS:
Yes. When a vacancy is filled, the job is archived, and as part of this process all unsuccessful applicants receive a “let-down” email. The text of which is fully customisable – but we provide suggestions. Most importantly, it explains that it is not possible to give individual responses as “we need to spend all our efforts on finding you your next job, but here are a few possibilities ……. You didn’t match the screening questions, there were simply too many applicants”, etc etc – then we give suggestions for improving your chances next time – eg respond as quickly as possible, keep an up to date CV on your smart-phone (80% respond on smartphones), like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter etc etc.
Incidentally – the link we provide to the 10 minute interview can include an extension that feeds a value back to your database showing exactly where the candidate came from. So, by using a different link extension in each tweet, on Facebook, on your website, in email shots etc etc you can evaluate your different forms of advertising.
….and all CandidateNet users, across the board, get connected to our central pool of potential candidates at JobShock.co.uk – a special site where people are simply encouraged to “take the 10 minute interview and see what’s out there”.
LOUISE:
Earlier you mentioned “shared applicant pools”. Can you tell us mote about these?
CHRIS:
Yes. Users can create any number of separate applicant pools. Depending upon which link is used to invite an applicant to take the “10 minute interview” their details are filed in a particular applicant folder. Each folder can have different sharing attributes and can thereby be “shared” with a particular colleague, group, office or even any other CandidateNet user. So, for example, a job board could invite all its applicants to take the interview, then share their applicants with those agencies who pay them for advertising – then switch off this connection when they stop paying. A job centre, or not-for-profit organisation, could create an applicant pool and share it globally – and without charge – so Recruitment Consultants receive applications from their candidates….. that could do the job. It’s a very flexible system and there are many possible “sharing” scenarios.
LOUISE:
Sounds interesting – what should I do if I want to try it?
CHRIS:
Visit CandidateNet.co.uk and click “How to register” at the top right hand corner. We’ll set up a free one month trial – during which time we will give you all the support you need. For prices see CandidateNet.co.uk and scroll down to bottom of the page.
