Marrying culture and process through technology – Chris Keeling

Do the right thing and do it right.

In the recruitment space, we are constantly visiting the theme of productivity; a subject I am very much intrigued by. Covering everything from man management to encouraging confidence in the workplace, Chris Keeling provides a window into the Jobtrain way of doing things.

Sometimes organisations will talk about attracting people because they are dynamic, high energy and innovative, yet the second you go into their recruitment process you find a dull, turgid lengthy application form. Many recruiters have got a process that is unengaged.”

The recruitment industry has been reimagined through technology. I have personally witnessed a shift in the way candidates and recruiters operate. This week I spoke with Chris Keeling, the Managing Director of Jobtrain on the subject.

Steve: In your experience, what changes have you noticed in the application process?

Chris: There now has to be more of an engagement. “What is this person going to be interested in?” “Are they interested in a specific role or are they interested in the type of organisation?”

I think one of the mistakes that companies are making is that they may flood their social media with every job in the organisation and most people receiving that are not interested. Why would they want a job in a warehouse if they’re a finance director? But they’re getting all the jobs, regardless.

Steve: Is there an aspect of technology that can address such sporadic marketing?

Chris: I’m going to say applicant tracking systems because that’s what I do. However, it is more than just about tracking applications.

It’s about working with partners like idibu. It’s about how you post your job, how you are getting your job signed off and how recruiters post effectively to meaningful job boards. By doing so they will have the metrics to know which ones are successful.

The focus should be managing that candidate process, everything through to onboarding. The part that I think is going to stretch the industry is candidate engagement.

Automate candidate engagement.
Arrange a free idibu trial now.

Steve: We spoke earlier about culture and process. How important is culture in the modern world of recruitment?

Chris: I believe there is disconnect between what an organisation says they are and what their actual process does. Sometimes organisations will talk about attracting people because they are dynamic, high energy and innovative, yet the second you go into their recruitment process you find a dull, turgid lengthy application form. Many recruiters have got a process that is unengaged.

Steve: Is this something Jobtrain aims to alter?

Chris: Yes, we’ve come up with some quite innovative solutions, working with various partners to do so. Rather than going to a job board we use creative algorithms, looking at people’s behaviours and social profiles. For example, we can target people via Facebook that are on a certain bus route. When they travel within half a mile of a vacancy, an advert will then pop up to say, “Do you realise that you could be working here?”.

Clever marketing is targeted marketing, but it’s the way forward. I think many organisations are going to have to look at this if they’re faced with a challenge of attracting entry level people into their organisations.

Steve: Thank you for your time Chris.

If you are a recruiter looking to revise your processes, take a deeper look into the solutions on offer through idibu with a free trial. Joining forces with companies such as Jobtrain, we can now offer a vast selection of bespoke solutions to recruiters across the globe.