Over the years, it’s fair to say that the expectations both for and from talent aquisition teams have grown and grown. And today, meeting those expectations would be unthinkable without a good tech stack.
But gone are the days when recruitment tech started and ended with an applicant tracking software. And, if you’re swotting up on the perfect stack today, your biggest barrier might just be choice. How to know if any one app, platform, or plug-in is right for you?
More platforms, more problems? The paradox of choice
Think of a tough talent aquisition problem, and a quick Google will reveal a dozen technologies that solve it. Apps, platforms, plug-ins – and that’s just page one. No wonder it can be tricky to build your ideal recruitment tech stack.
Most recruiters today recognise that facilitating truly great hiring takes more than a half-decent applicant tracking software. Tech, with its power to unlock time, enhance experiences, and improve decision-making, is now a necessity. The real question is: what should your tech stack look like?
And, when you look at the talent acquisition landscape today, finding the right answer has never been more important. We’re currently facing the worst skills mismatch since the Industrial Revolution. CEOs say a lack of digital skills is holding four in five businesses back. Meanwhile, salaries for the skilled few are skyrocketing, making it harder than ever to fill key positions.
New times call for a new, sustainable and scalable approach – hiring for potential, rather than past experience. And that means a new toolkit, too. But don’t start assembling it just yet…
Think before you build
It sounds simple, but what are you trying to achieve with your tech stack? Are there particular stages of your recruitment process you need to address? Key problems to solve?
For example, are you hiring at high volumes? Do you worry great candidates are falling through the cracks? Or is the problem at the other end – onboarding that leaves new joiners confused and leads to longer ramp-up times?
The perfect tech stack rests on a solid foundation; a clear understanding of your goals and challenges. Only then can you start considering which solutions might work best.
Making the right choice
To help you navigate the crowded recruitment tech market, we’ve mapped out each stage of the process – from sourcing to onboarding – and outlined some of the key solutions available.
ATS – the spine of your stack
The applicant tracking software may no longer be the only tool in town, but it’s still one of the most important. A good ATS will let you track the candidate lifecycle, analyse pain points with clear data, and visualise the average candidate’s step-by-step experience.
Additionally (and crucially), your ATS should integrate with other tools – such as assessments, career sites, etc. This way, all the data pulls through seamlessly, so you’ll never have to waste hours with manual data input, and you’ll have one source of truth to enable data driven strategic decisions.
Examples of strong ATS providers include:
With your ATS in place, the next question is: where to start building your recruitment tech stack?
Sourcing
Great hiring often starts with great sourcing. But this is no walk in the park. Common challenges include:
- Reaching candidates where they are
- Attracting high-quality candidates
- Setting the right expectations
Tools like VONQ, CareerArc, Placed and Recruitment Edge all offer new ways to source candidates. But one of the biggest challenges with sourcing is the time it takes to write (and rewrite) job ads. This is just one area where tools like ChatGPT can slot seamlessly into your stack.
While we wouldn’t recommend letting ChatGPT write your ads entirely, it can do 80% of the work, leaving you with a few final tweaks and flourishes. This is especially handy if you’re a generalist recruiter, with roles to fill across multiple teams.
Nurturing & recruitment marketing
Recruitment is often a waiting game, where good marketing matters. To attract and engage high-quality candidates, TA teams will need:
- A strong employer brand
- A great careers site (or sites)
- A clear strategy for social recruiting
- Ways to track performance
That’s enough to keep a whole marketing team busy – let alone a recruiter. This is why a tip-top tech stack comes in handy. Here are a few options that simplify various aspects of recruitment marketing:
- Adway – automated social media marketing and job ad buying
- Phenom – AI-powered careers sites personalised to each candidate
- Roborecruiters – automated recruitment flows with SMS & chatbots
Candidate screening
We mentioned that new times call for new tools. When it comes to screening, that means scrapping the CV for something more powerful, accurate, and inclusive: a task-based assessment.
Past experience doesn’t predict future success, so there’s little for the CV in a modern, data-driven talent toolkit. Instead, Arctic Shores lets you set up online assessments in minutes, measure candidates’ intelligence and personality in one place, and unlock meaningful data with which to screen, based on their potential. That means a fairer, more accurate screening stage.
For an even smoother sift, you could pair your assessment with an interview tool like Equitas or Willow, which automatically captures data from interviews, automates manual tasks, and provides questions with less bias for hiring managers. For graduate employers or other programmes, you may also consider a virtual assessment centre like TopScore.
A checklist for your tech stack
With so many choices out there, we’ve put together a quick five-point checklist to help you build your perfect recruitment stack. For any tool, ask yourself:
- Does it support me in my key goals/solve my core challenges?
- Does it integrate with my existing stack/my ATS?
- Is it user-friendly? Can I enjoy the benefits from day one?
- What ROI can I expect (ideally linked to my core challenges)?
- Does it fit within my budget?
If a tool meets your needs, provides near-instant (and measurable) value, and doesn’t overstretch your budget, it’s likely to be a safe bet for your stack.
Tech: the key to harnessing potential
Hiring for success in this deepening skills crisis means hiring for potential – not just past experience. Tech can make that transition easier. Tech like our assessment at Arctic Shores.
With 99% candidate completion, total insight, and instant feedback, see how our task-based assessment might suit your stack today.
