Stacy Zapar has consulted on global employer branding, social recruiting, and procurement initiatives for top employers such as Zappos, TripAdvisor, Amazon, and Netflix during her 21-year career in recruitment. Additionally, the founder of The Talent Agency and Tenfold has served on numerous technology advisory committees, which suggests that she is well-versed in the ways in which technology can improve the results of talent acquisition.
On June 26-27, she will impart her expertise at the HR Tech Summit Toronto.
“I am interested in any tool that simplifies the process of personalizing an outreach message and contacting candidates at their preferred location.” “That is the direction I anticipate technology will take us in as recruiters,” she stated in an interview with HR Tech News.
She responded without hesitation when asked which technology she could not function without, rattled off five essential tools to take into account.
1. Platforms that integrate ATS and CRM
“I am a strong advocate for the integration of your ATS and CRM on a single platform to ensure that all individuals are monitored in a single location and that there is no duplication of communication.” “In my opinion, the presence of two distinct databases is a recipe for an inefficient sourcing process and a negative candidate experience,” Zapar stated.
She recently evaluated 16 distinct ATS/CRM tools and ultimately selected Loxo, which she admittedly has “fallen in love with.”
“It is not suitable for large enterprises; it is more suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.” However, she stated that in general, a combined ATS/CRM is the most effective approach, and there are numerous examples available.
2. Facebook Groups
She continues to promote the use of Facebook Groups for the purposes of networking, crowdsourcing, and sharing with other members of the recruiting community. She is of the opinion that this is a “untapped resource.”
“Today this is the primary reason why I use Facebook,” according to her. “It can almost act like a talent community with groups of like-minded professionals gathering, sharing knowledge and tips.”
SourceCon, Secret Sourcing Group, HR Open Source – #HROS, and her own networking group, The Talent Agency, are examples of her preferred groups.
3. Canva.com
Zapar also employs Canva to generate visual job postings and other employer branding images. “The focus is on employer branding and the dissemination of graphics and photos in job postings.” She stated, “The engagement you receive from that is significantly greater than a text-only LinkedIn status update that is sent out from an ATS and states something generic like ‘UX Designer, rec number 2546, click here to apply’.”
4. Aggregators of social media
Zapar has been a proponent of social aggregator tools as a method of engaging with candidates for the past few years. These tools appear as a sidebar on social media platforms and display the candidate’s complete social footprint, which includes their contact information, blogs they have authored, Quora interactions, and many other social media profiles. Zapar observed that the LinkedIn Terms of Service have “put the kibosh” on the use of these aggregators on LinkedIn in the past year, resulting in the suspension or deletion of users’ profiles. Nevertheless, they will continue to function on other social media platforms. Prophet, Hunter, and Hiretual are among the social aggregator Chrome extensions.
5. Mixmax
She recommends that recruiters leverage additional business technology, rather than solely HR technology, to improve productivity.
“It is effortless to succumb to the temptation of asserting, ‘There are an excessive number of candidates; I am unable to respond to each one.'” Zapar stated, “That is the time to evaluate your own processes and determine whether you are operating at the highest level of efficiency.”
Mixmax, a CRM for Gmail that includes templates, scheduling capabilities, polling, and the ability to view email receipts and open rates in real-time, is specifically mentioned by her.
“This implies that I can determine whether a candidate has opened an email or clicked on any of the links immediately.” I am able to discern when hiring managers have read my communications. “That is when I am able to engage them in conversation and pick up the phone,” she stated.
Although she recognizes the increasing significance of AI and machine learning, she cautions recruiters against becoming ensnared by “buzzwords.” “Recruiters who are exceptional must identify exceptional individuals and communicate with them in a manner that will elicit a response.” “All of these additional tools are fine, but for me, it all boils down to the fundamentals: identifying trustworthy individuals and engaging them in conversation,” she stated.