Internal database or a resume graveyard?

Almost all Fortune 500 companies rely on an applicant tracking system (ATS) to filter job applicants and resumes when recruiting.  An ATS is a software application that manages the recruitment process by sorting and mapping the skills through thousands of resumes to determine the best fit for placements.

ATS can be a boon to recruiters and HR managers who want to save time and work more efficiently. However, no technology is perfect. For all the benefits of using this type of software, there are bound to be certain negatives.

While an ATS can lighten the workload and improve results simultaneously, it all depends on how compatible the software and resumes are. In short, it can’t process what it can’t read.

Majority of the recruiting and staffing firms utilize their ATS as a resume repository without required segmentation, turning it into a resume graveyard.  For most recruiters, a large number of their resumes in the database is worthless!

The Pareto principle or the 80-20 rule is rightly applicable here. On average, only about 20% of a recruiter’s internal resume database is either active, and/or 80% of their revenue is generated using 20% active candidates. Wouldn’t it be great if you could transform your redundant and dated database into an up-to-date source of information? How good it would be for your candidate sourcing services delivery capability?

The database holds a lot of value.  And, when maintained well, it pays massive returns.  But, when left alone, Recruiters miss out on potential hires and talent pipelines for reasons like:

• The tracking system eliminates profiles if the resume is not processed as expected
• PDF files are often misread and discarded in some cases
• Most tracking software’s cannot read graphics
• Resumes, when not skill coded, don’t always come up in the search, resulting in loss of potential hire

The average recruiter spends 15 hours a week sourcing candidates, so something is not right. Recruiters need to evolve to stay ahead in the race for talent attraction – and a dedicated database management resource/team can help your recruiters increase their speed and quality in candidate sourcing and focus more strategically – on finding, engaging, and hiring the very best talent. The recruiters can then fill a higher number of jobs and generate more significant margins for the business. Thus, the right database management team is streamlined enough not to waste your time but is inclusive enough to recruit ambitiously.

Data management is a difficult yet critical process, and requires dedication of committed time and resources. The steps mentioned below would undoubtedly help in the creation of a clean customer database that offers multiple benefits and serves as a critical factor in the business growth:

1. Database Auditing: Complete auditing of all the resumes in the database reviewing candidate contact information, profile, skills, etc.
2. Eliminating Duplication: Detecting duplicate resumes and retaining only the most updated candidate profiles, archiving the rest.
3. Additional Database Comparison: Buying external data to compare against internal data.
4. Consolidate Data: Assemble and consolidating candidate data and supplementary information like email addresses, phone numbers, or additional contacts.
5. Regular Feedback: Establishing a control mechanism where any inaccurate information gets reported and gets updated into the database, like email addresses.
6. Function Continuity: The candidates’ active lives lead to details such as addresses, telephone numbers, and emails changing frequently. Thus, data cleansing should not be a one-time process; instead, it should be a part of the regular workflow.

At QX Recruitment Services, serving as talent sourcing agency, we understand the complexities of implementing process changes with globally diversified teams. Our approach towards Database Management aims to transform the treasury of substantial data, so that our clients realize the true value of their database, reducing the turnaround time, saving money and scale their service delivery capacity.

With the increasing usage of channels such as social media, aside from job boards to find jobs, it’s never been more vital to find a way to keep your internal resume database up-to-date. Recruiters are often involved with their core task of sourcing and placing candidates instead of maintaining the database. Most staffing firms face a similar situation, and recruiters prioritize their task of filling jobs by processing the relevant resumes from the ATS to generate revenue.  However, they often end up sourcing resumes that might already exist in their internal database but would not show up on the ATS due to the negligence of the database health. This also leads to duplication of effort and a cost to the staffing company – A huge opportunity cost for staffing firms!

Traditionally, the time and effort needed to maintain the resume database have generally been rendered as a fruitless exercise. This has now changed and how! Here is a list of core benefits that you can gain by onboarding QX as your Database Management partner:

• Enhance Quality of Hiring
• Improve Team’s Productivity
• Increase Speed of Hiring
• Complete Control and Visibility
• Data Security
• Configurable Workflows

At QX Recruitment Services, one of the top RPO companies in India, we practice a DRM approach (dedicated resource model) – a business model that focuses on streamlining your recruiting process, maximizing its effectiveness, and increasing your business outcomes.  A dedicated team initially assesses and analyzes your database, effectively mapping the candidate profiles and updating their information, and helping your team optimize their skills to source and place the candidates efficiently.

QX Recruitment Services aims to streamline your talent pipelining by identifying the gaps in your database, foreseeing the types of job roles required to be filled, simplifying the job posting process, and automatically sorting and filtering applications to find the best prospects. We can even help with other recruitment tasks like scheduling interviews, screening applicants, along with admin functions like payroll management.

Recruiting isn’t just an event; it is a recurring, systematic process. Many staffing firms realized the importance of their database and managed to save millions by partnering with QX Global Group to avail their recruitment database management system services. The candidate database you’ve spent many hours and money building up is a potential goldmine, and it’s time to preserve this treasure to grow your business manifold.

Originally published Dec 15, 2020 12:12:49, updated Dec 08 2021

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