Ruehie Jaiya Karri

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has permeated virtually every industry, transforming operations and interactions. The tech recruitment sector is no exception, and AI’s influence shapes the hiring processes in revolutionary ways. From leveraging AI-powered chatbots for preliminary candidate screenings to deploying machine learning algorithms for efficient resume parsing, AI leaves an indelible mark on tech hiring practices.

Yet, amidst these promising advancements, we must acknowledge the other side of the coin: AI’s potential malpractices, including the likelihood of cheating on assessments, issues around data privacy, and the risk of bias against minority groups.

The dark side of AI in tech recruitment

The introduction of AI in recruitment, while presenting significant opportunities, also brings with it certain drawbacks and vulnerabilities. Sophisticated technologies could enable candidates to cheat on assessments, misrepresent abilities and potential hiring mistakes. This could lead to hiring candidates with falsifying skills or qualifications, which can cause a series of negative effects like:

• Reduced work quality: The work output might be sub-par if a candidate doesn’t genuinely possess the abilities they claimed to have.
• Team disruptions: Other team members may have to pick up the slack, leading to resentment and decreased morale.
• Rehiring costs: You might have to let go of such hires, resulting in additional costs for replacement.

Data privacy is another critical concern

Your company could be left exposed to significant risks if your AI recruiting software is not robust enough to protect sensitive employee information. The implications for an organization with insufficient data security could be severe such as:

• Reputational damage: Breaches of sensitive employee data can damage your company’s reputation, making it harder to attract clients and talented employees in the future.
• Legal consequences: Depending on the jurisdiction, you could face legal penalties, including hefty fines, for failing to protect sensitive data adequately.
• Loss of trust: A data breach could undermine employee trust in your organization, leading to decreased morale and productivity.
• Financial costs: Besides potential legal penalties, companies could also face direct financial losses from a data breach, including the costs of investigation, recovery, and measures to prevent future breaches.
• Operational disruption: Depending on the extent of the breach, normal business operations could be disrupted, causing additional financial losses and damage to the organization’s reputation.

Let’s talk about the potential for bias in AI recruiting software

Perhaps the most critical issue of all is the potential for unconscious bias. The potential for bias in AI recruiting software stems from the fact that these systems learn from the data they are trained on. If the training data contains biases – for example, if it reflects a history of preferentially hiring individuals of a certain age, gender, or ethnicity – the AI system can learn and replicate these biases.

Even with unbiased data, if the AI’s algorithms are not designed to account for bias, they can inadvertently create it. For instance, a hiring algorithm that prioritizes candidates with more years of experience may inadvertently discriminate against younger candidates or those who have taken career breaks, such as for child-rearing or health reasons.

This replication and possible amplification of human prejudices can result in discriminatory hiring practices. If your organization’s AI-enabled hiring system is found to be biased, you could face legal action, fines, and penalties. Diversity is proven to enhance creativity, problem-solving, and decision-making. In contrast, bias in hiring can lead to a homogenous workforce, so its absence would likely result in a less innovative and less competitive organization.

Also read: What We Learnt From Target’s Diversity And Inclusion Strategy

When used correctly, AI in recruitment can take your hiring to the next level

How do you evaluate the appropriateness of using AI in hiring for your organization? Here are some strategies for navigating the AI revolution in HR. These steps include building support for AI adoption, identifying HR functions that can be integrated with AI, avoiding potential pitfalls of AI use in HR, collaborating with IT leaders, and so on.

Despite certain challenges, AI can significantly enhance tech recruitment processes when used effectively. AI-based recruitment tools can automate many manual recruiting tasks, such as resume screening and interview scheduling, freeing up time for recruiters to focus on more complex tasks. Furthermore, AI can improve the candidate’s experience by providing quick responses and personalized communications. The outcome is a more efficient, candidate-friendly process, which could lead to higher-quality hires.

Let’s look at several transformational possibilities chatbots can bring to human capital management for candidates and hiring teams. This includes automation and simplifying various tasks across domains such as recruiting, onboarding, core HR, absence management, benefits, performance management, and employee self-service resulting in the following:

For recruiters:

• Improved efficiency and productivity: Chatbots can handle routine tasks like responding to common inquiries or arranging interviews. Thereby, providing you with more time to concentrate on tasks of strategic importance.
• Enhanced candidate experience: With their ability to provide immediate responses, chatbots can make the application process more engaging and user-friendly.
• Data and insights: Chatbots can collect and analyze data from your interactions with candidates. And provide valuable insights into candidate preferences and behavior.
• Improved compliance: By consistently following predefined rules and guidelines, chatbots can help ensure that hiring processes are fair and compliant with relevant laws and regulations.
• Cost saving: By automating routine tasks for recruiters, chatbots can help reduce the labor costs associated with hiring.

Also read: 5 Steps To Create A Remote-First Candidate Experience In Recruitment

For candidates:

Additionally, candidates can leverage these AI-powered chatbots in a dialog flow manner to carry out various tasks. These tasks include the following:

• Personalized greetings: By using a candidate’s name and other personal information, chatbots can create a friendly, personalized experience.
• Job search: They can help candidates search for jobs based on specific criteria.
• Create a candidate profile: These AI-powered chatbots can guide candidates through the process of creating a profile. Thus, making it easier for them to apply for jobs.
• Upload resume: Chatbots can instruct candidates on uploading their resume, eliminating potential confusion.
• Apply for a job: They can streamline the application process, making it easier and faster for candidates to apply for jobs.
• Check application status: Chatbots can provide real-time updates on a candidate’s application status.
• Schedule interviews: They can match candidate and interviewer availability to schedule interviews, simplifying the process.

For hiring managers:

These can also be utilized by your tech hiring teams for various purposes, such as:

• Create requisition: Chatbots can guide hiring managers through the process of creating a job requisition.
• Create offers: They can assist in generating job offers, ensuring all necessary information is included.
• Access requisition and offers: Using chatbots can provide hiring managers with easy access to job requisitions and offers.
• Check on onboarding tasks: Chatbots can help track onboarding tasks, ensuring nothing is missed.

Other AI recruiting technologies can also enhance the hiring process for candidates and hiring teams in the following ways:

For candidates:

1. Tailor-made resumes and cover letters using generative AI: Generative AI can help candidates create custom resumes and cover letters, increasing their chances of standing out.
2. Simplifying the application process: AI-powered recruiting tools can simplify the application process, allowing candidates to apply for jobs with just a few clicks.
3. Provide similar job recommendations: AI can analyze candidates’ skills, experiences, and preferences to recommend similar jobs they might be interested in.

For recruiters:

• Find the best candidate: AI algorithms can analyze large amounts of data to help you identify the candidates most likely to succeed in a given role.
• Extract key skills from candidate job applications: Save a significant amount of time and effort by using AI-based recruiting software to quickly analyze job applications to identify key skills, thereby, speeding up the screening process.
• Take feedback from rejected candidates & share similar job recommendations: AI can collect feedback from rejected candidates for you to improve future hiring processes and recommend other suitable roles to the candidate.

These enhancements not only streamline the hiring process but also improve the quality of hires, reduce hiring biases, and improve the experience for everyone involved. The use of AI in hiring can indeed take it to the next level.

Where is AI in recruitment headed?

AI can dramatically reshape the recruitment landscape with the following key advancements:

1. Blockchain-based background verification:

Blockchain technology, renowned for its secure, transparent, and immutable nature, can revolutionize background checks. This process which can take anywhere from between a day to several weeks today for a single recruiter to do can be completed within a few clicks resulting in:

• Streamlined screening process: Blockchain can store, manage, and share candidates’ credentials and work histories. Thereby speeding up the verification and screening process. This approach eliminates the need for manual background checks. And leads to freeing up a good amount of time for you to focus on more important tasks.
• Enhanced trust and transparency: With blockchain, candidates, and employers can trust the validity of the information shared due to the nature of the technology. The cryptographic protection of blockchain ensures the data is tamper-proof, and decentralization provides transparency.
• Improved data accuracy and reliability: Since the blockchain ledger is immutable, it enhances the accuracy and reliability of the data stored. This can minimize the risks associated with false information on candidates’ resumes.
• Faster onboarding: A swift and reliable verification process means candidates can be onboarded more quickly. Thereby, improving the candidate experience and reducing the time-to-hire.
• Expanded talent pool: With blockchain, it’s easier and quicker to verify the credentials of candidates globally, thereby widening the potential talent pool.

2. Immersive experiences using virtual reality (VR):

VR can provide immersive experiences that enhance various aspects of the tech recruitment process:

• Interactive job previews: VR can allow potential candidates to virtually “experience” a day i.e., life at your company. This provides a more accurate and engaging job preview than traditional job descriptions.
• Virtual interviews and assessments: You can use VR to conduct virtual interviews or assessments. You can also evaluate candidates in a more interactive and immersive setting. This can be particularly useful for roles that require specific spatial or technical skills.
• Virtual onboarding programs: New hires can take a virtual tour of the office, meet their colleagues, and get acquainted with their tasks, all before their first day. This can significantly enhance the onboarding experience and help new hires feel more prepared.
• Immersive learning experiences: VR can provide realistic, immersive learning experiences for job-specific training or to enhance soft skills. These could be used during the recruitment process or for ongoing employee development.

Also read: 6 Strategies To Enhance Candidate Engagement In Tech Hiring (+ 3 Unique Examples)

AI + Recruiters: It’s all about the balance!

To summarize, AI in recruitment is a double-edged sword, carrying both promise and potential problems. The key lies in how recruiters use this technology, leveraging its benefits while vigilantly managing its risks. AI isn’t likely to replace recruiters or HR teams in the near future. Instead, you should leverage this tool to positively impact the entire hiring lifecycle.

With the right balance and careful management, AI can streamline hiring processes. It can create better candidate experiences, and ultimately lead to better recruitment decisions. Recruiters should continually experiment with and explore generative AI. To devise creative solutions, resulting in more successful hiring and the perfect fit for every open role.

“Every hire is an investment for a company. A good hire will give you a higher ROI; if it is a bad hire, it will cost you a lot of time and money.”

Especially in tech hiring!

An effective tech recruitment process helps you attract the best talents, reduce hiring costs, and enhance company culture and reputation.

Businesses increasingly depend on technical knowledge to compete in today’s fast-paced, technologically driven world. Online platforms that provide technical recruiting solutions have popped up to assist companies in finding and employing top talent in response to this demand.

The two most well-known platforms in this field are HackerEarth and Mettl. To help businesses make wise choices for their technical employment requirements, we will compare these two platforms’ features, benefits, and limitations in this article.

This comparison of Mettl alternative, HackerEarth and Mettl itself, will offer helpful information to help you make the best decision, whether you’re a small company trying to expand your tech staff or a massive organization needing a simplified recruiting process.

HackerEarth

HackerEarth is based in San Francisco, USA, and offers enterprise software to aid companies with technical recruitment. Its services include remote video interviewing and technical skill assessments that are commonly used by organizations.

HackerEarth also provides a platform for developers to participate in coding challenges and hackathons. In addition, it provides tools for technical hiring such as coding tests, online interviews, and applicant management features. The hiring solutions provided by HackerEarth aid companies assess potential employees’ technical aptitude and select the best applicants for their specialized positions.

Mettl

Mettl, on the other hand, offers a range of assessment solutions for various industries, including IT, banking, healthcare, and retail. It provides online tests for coding, linguistic ability, and cognitive skills. The tests offered by Mettl assist employers find the best applicants for open positions and make data-driven recruiting choices. Additionally, Mettl provides solutions for personnel management and staff training and development.

Why should you go for HackerEarth over Mercer Mettl?

Because HackerEarth makes technical recruiting easy and fast, you must consider HackerEarth for technical competence evaluations and remote video interviews. It goes above and beyond to provide you with a full range of functions and guarantee the effectiveness of the questions in the database. Moreover, it is user-friendly and offers fantastic testing opportunities.

The coding assessments by HackerEarth guarantee the lowest time consumption and maximum efficiency. It provides a question bank of more than 17,000 coding-related questions and automated test development so that you can choose test questions as per the job role.

As a tech recruiter, you may need a clear understanding of a candidate’s skills. With HackerEarth’s code replay capability and insight-rich reporting on a developer’s performance, you can hire the right resource for your company.

Additionally, HackerEarth provides a more in-depth examination of your recruiting process so you can continuously enhance your coding exams and develop a hiring procedure that leads the industry.

HackerEarth and Mercer Mettl are the two well-known online tech assessment platforms that provide tools for managing and performing online examinations. We will examine the major areas where HackerEarth outperforms Mettl, thereby proving to be a great alternative to Mettl, in this comparison.

Also read: What Makes HackerEarth The Tech Behind Great Tech Teams

HackerEarth Vs Mettl

Features and functionality

HackerEarth believes in upgrading itself and providing the most effortless navigation and solutions to recruiters and candidates.

HackerEarth provides various tools and capabilities to create and administer online tests, such as programming tests, multiple-choice questions, coding challenges, and more. The software also has remote proctoring, automatic evaluation, and plagiarism detection tools (like detecting the use of ChatGPT in coding assessments). On the other side, Mettl offers comparable functionality but has restricted capabilities for coding challenges and evaluations.

Test creation and administration

HackerEarth: It has a user-friendly interface that is simple to use and navigate. It makes it easy for recruiters to handle evaluations without zero technical know-how. The HackerEarth coding platform is also quite flexible and offers a variety of pre-built exams, including coding tests, aptitude tests, and domain-specific examinations. It has a rich library of 17,000+ questions across 900+ skills, which is fully accessible by the hiring team. Additionally, it allows you to create custom questions yourself or use the available question libraries.

Also read: How To Create An Automated Assessment With HackerEarth

Mettl: It can be challenging for a hiring manager to use Mettl efficiently since Mettl provides limited assessment and question libraries. Also, their team creates the test for them rather than giving access to hiring managers. This results in a higher turnaround time and reduces test customization possibilities since the request has to go back to the team, they have to make the changes, and so forth.

Reporting and analytics

HackerEarth: You may assess applicant performance and pinpoint areas for improvement with the help of HackerEarth’s full reporting and analytics tools. Its personalized dashboards, visualizations, and data exports simplify evaluating assessment results and real-time insights.

Most importantly, HackerEarth includes code quality scores in candidate performance reports, which lets you get a deeper insight into a candidate’s capabilities and make the correct hiring decision. Additionally, HackerEarth provides a health score index for each question in the library to help you add more accuracy to your assessments. The health score is based on parameters like degree of difficulty, choice of the programming language used, number of attempts over the past year, and so on.

Mettl: Mettl online assessment tool provides reporting and analytics. However, there may be only a few customization choices available. Also, Mettle does not provide code quality assurance which means hiring managers have to check the whole code manually. There is no option to leverage question-based analytics and Mettl does not include a health score index for its question library.

Adopting this platform may be challenging if you want highly customized reporting and analytics solutions.

Also read: HackerEarth Assessments + The Smart Browser: Formula For Bulletproof Tech Hiring

Security and data privacy

HackerEarth: The security and privacy of user data are top priorities at HackerEarth. The platform protects data in transit and at rest using industry-standard encryption. Additionally, all user data is kept in secure, constantly monitored data centers with stringent access controls.

Along with these security measures, HackerEarth also provides IP limitations, role-based access controls, and multi-factor authentication. These features ensure that all activity is recorded and audited and that only authorized users can access sensitive data.

HackerEarth complies with several data privacy laws, such as GDPR and CCPA. The protection of candidate data is ensured by this compliance, which also enables businesses to fulfill their legal and regulatory responsibilities.

Mettl: The security and data privacy features of Mettl might not be as strong as those of HackerEarth. The platform does not provide the same selection of security measures, such as IP limitations or multi-factor authentication. Although the business asserts that it complies with GDPR and other laws, it cannot offer the same amount of accountability and transparency as other platforms.

Even though both HackerEarth and Mettl include security and data privacy measures, the Mettle alternative, HackerEarth’s platform is made to be more thorough, open, and legal. By doing this, businesses can better guarantee candidate data’s security and ability to fulfill legal and regulatory requirements.

Pricing and support

HackerEarth: To meet the demands of businesses of all sizes, HackerEarth offers a variety of customizable pricing options. The platform provides yearly and multi-year contracts in addition to a pay-as-you-go basis. You can select the price plan that best suits their demands regarding employment and budget.

HackerEarth offers chat customer support around the clock. The platform also provides a thorough knowledge base and documentation to assist users in getting started and troubleshooting problems.

Mettl: The lack of price information on Mettl’s website might make it challenging for businesses to decide whether the platform fits their budget. The organization also does not have a pay-as-you-go option, which might be problematic.

Mettl offers phone and emails customer assistance. However, the business website lacks information on support availability or response times. This lack of transparency may be an issue if you need prompt and efficient help.

User experience

HackerEarth: The interface on HackerEarth is designed to be simple for both recruiters and job seekers. As a result of the platform’s numerous adjustable choices for test creation and administration, you may design exams specifically suited to a job role. Additionally, the platform provides a selection of question types and test templates, making it simple to build and take exams effectively.

In terms of the candidate experience, HackerEarth provides a user-friendly interface that makes navigating the testing procedure straightforward and intuitive for applicants. As a result of the platform’s real-time feedback and scoring, applicants may feel more motivated and engaged during the testing process. The platform also provides several customization choices, like branding and message, which may assist recruiters in giving prospects a more exciting and tailored experience.

Mettl: The platform is intended to have a steeper learning curve than others and be more technical. It makes it challenging to rapidly and effectively construct exams and can be difficult for applicants unfamiliar with the platform due to its complex interface.

Additionally, Mettl does not provide real-time feedback or scoring, which might deter applicants from participating and being motivated by the testing process.

Also read: 6 Strategies To Enhance Candidate Engagement In Tech Hiring (+ 3 Unique Examples)

User reviews and feedback

According to G2, HackerEarth and Mettl have 4.4 reviews out of 5. Users have also applauded HackerEarth’s customer service. Many agree that the staff members are friendly and quick to respond to any problems or queries. Overall, customer evaluations and feedback for HackerEarth point to the platform as simple to use. Both recruiters and applicants find it efficient.

Mettl has received mixed reviews from users, with some praising the platform for its features and functionality and others expressing frustration with its complex and technical interface.

May the best “brand” win!

Recruiting and selecting the ideal candidate demands a significant investment of time, attention, and effort.

This is where tech recruiting platforms like HackerEarth and Mettl have got you covered. They help streamline the whole process.Both HackerEarth and Mettl provide a wide variety of advanced features and capabilities for tech hiring.

We think HackerEarth is the superior choice. Especially, when contrasting the two platforms in terms of their salient characteristics and functioning. But, we may be biased!

So don’t take our word for it. Sign up for a free trial and check out HackerEarth’s offerings for yourself!

Lately, you are finding it difficult to onboard talented candidates. You notice a lot of candidates are dropping off at the job application stage, some have stopped replying to you after the interview, and some more have simply ghosted you, post rolling out an offer letter.

If this continues and promising talent keeps dropping out of your hiring process, you know the answer. It’s 2 words—candidate engagement.

Your candidate engagement strategies are not at par with what modern candidates will tolerate in hiring. Indeed, a recent report by Appcast shows that a whopping 92% of candidates do not complete filling out online applications. Now the burning question is why?

While the application flow and hiring life cycle are not as clunky as before and have improved over the years, they still make candidates jump through too many unnecessary hoops. Understandably, candidates look for quick, easy processes and if you can’t provide that, they will move on to someone who does.

Recruiters, how would you feel if we told you that it is possible to treat your candidates better? And to have:

• better candidate response rates
• increased candidate engagement in recruitment
• reduced ghosting from both ends
• fewer hiring managers breathing down your neck?

You’ve come to the right place. Let’s go!

Candidate experience vs. candidate engagement in recruitment

What is candidate engagement? And how is it different from candidate experience? While both these terms sound similar, candidate engagement is actually the subset of candidate experience. Both together make for a successful hiring strategy.

Candidate experience is how prospective candidates feel about an employer’s recruiting, hiring, and onboarding processes. Is it positive or negative? Was it memorable or frustrating? Did the candidate feel valued or neglected?

Candidate engagement is the process of communicating with your candidates across every single touchpoint in your recruitment journey. Application status, interview stages, real-time updates, feedback, interview prep, etc. If a recruiter takes care of the candidates, keeps them in the loop, and regularly communicates with them, how would the candidate feel? They would feel encouraged, supported, and seen.

Consequently, the candidate would leave with an unforgettable hiring experience!

Also read: 5 Reasons For Bad Candidate Experience In Tech Interviews

Why is candidate engagement important?

Candidate engagement can have a negative and direct impact on your company’s bottom line, if not taken seriously.

• If candidates feel undervalued or mistreated, the word will spread. Potential candidates will read those bad reviews and decide not to apply. Consequently, your employer branding will take a hit
• A badly structured application process will lead to greater drop-off rates and increase your time-to-hire metric
• Disengaged candidates make for disengaged employees leading to higher attrition rates

Now that you know the consequences of not treating your candidates right, head on to the next section on how to improve candidate engagement.

Tips to improve candidate engagement during the entire recruitment process

1. Simplify the application process

This goes without saying but the first thing to take care of is your application process. Is it long? Is it confusing? Why are candidates abandoning it midway through? Are there any technical glitches to make candidates drop off? Are there any unnecessary steps that could be cut out?

The easiest way to find out is to attempt filling out your own job posting and see what might deter a candidate from completing it.

2. Be clear and upfront about recruitment process details

Make sure you and your candidates are on the same page by setting clear expectations about your company’s hiring process. Provide a timeline for all the steps involved in the hiring lifecycle. In case of any potential roadblocks or delays like postponing a scheduled interview, let the candidate know.

For instance, Google updates its candidates with detailed information about what to expect in each stage of the interview process, and it also offers feedback and support throughout. This may come across as a simple thing that anybody would do to respect their candidates’ time but that is unfortunately not the case.

More importantly, hiring managers should consider if their candidate hiring process is inclusive and accessible to all. Is it easy for those with disabilities to participate in the selection? How best can you provide alternative solutions to help them take part?

Also read: How You Can Leverage Candidate Experience To Attract Top Talent

3. Don’t prolong the screening stage

If you take days to review new candidate applications, you risk the chance of skilled candidates being recruited by your competitors. In today’s digital age, it is strongly a candidate-driven market and lengthy technical screening processes only lead to your candidates shopping for quicker, better offers.

Use candidate engagement tools like advanced ATS platforms to recruit faster and keep your candidates interested in working for you. You can also craft personalized, time-saving experiences for your candidates, which helps in boosting candidate engagement to a large extent.

4. No ghostly activities…Follow through on promises

Do you feel a twinge of annoyance and desperation when a good-quality candidate doesn’t show up for an interview? That’s also how your candidate feels when you ghost them and do not provide timely feedback, important updates, etc. Two-way communication is key to providing a positive candidate experience.

If you say you will call them at a certain time, follow through on that. In case of any unforeseen delay, make sure to let them know. Respect your candidates’ time, give clear instructions for any assessments or tests, and be responsive to any questions they may have. You are halfway there to nurturing a healthy, trusting relationship with them.

Also read: 3 Ways For Recruiters To Deal With Professional Ghosting By Candidates

5. Use technology to make better hiring decisions

As an extension to screening candidates faster, allow technology to help you further shortlist candidates much more quickly. Invest in other contemporary tools akin to candidate engagement tools like online coding assessment tools and video interviewing platform for conducting interviews. This will enable you to provide a personalized experience and speed up the hiring process.

Coding assessment platforms like HackerEarth help recruiters and hiring managers screen the most talented candidates with ease. You get to make use of our rich library of 17,000+ questions across 900+ skills.

Remote coding interview platforms are designed keeping in mind a candidate’s experience. They come with a code editor, built-in code libraries, and simulate a realistic day on the job. Our online coding interview platform, FaceCode lets you easily set up, invite and conduct coding interviews on a collaborative, real-time code editor that automates your interview summaries.

6. Deliver hiring as an experience, not a run-of-the-mill process

Any good tech recruiter will know that rolling out the offer letter does not mark the end of the candidate hiring process. It is what comes after that is important. Laying the groundwork for long-term retention of your employees begins once the offer has been given.

Until the candidate has officially joined the company, you need to ramp up your candidate engagement strategies to ensure they do not jump ship. Be it AI-enabled onboarding systems to help new hires fill out paperwork quickly, or sharing useful welcome videos through online hiring platforms, infuse a level of excitement in your new hires!

Pro tip:

Always, always provide relevant and timely feedback, and thank the candidates for their time, even those who were not shortlisted. Also, ask your candidates for their feedback. Create a short survey and ask them to share their thoughts. Not only does this show you care about them but you will also gain valuable insights into your recruitment process and identify the gaps.

BONUS: 3 unique examples of how recruiters can continuously keep candidates engaged

1. Tailor candidate engagement strategies to specific personas – The Salesforce way

Candidate engagement cannot be one-size-fits-all. Just as copy/pasted job descriptions do more harm than good so do generic candidate engagement strategies. To truly connect with a diverse set of candidates, your strategy should be persona-focused. Tailor your communication and social media posts to target specific candidate personas.

Salesforce actively reaches out to underrepresented groups to encourage them to apply for job opportunities. Additionally, they partner with organizations such as the National Society of Black Engineers and the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

It doesn’t end there. Salesforce also has numerous employee resource groups (ERGs) that provide support and resources for underrepresented groups within the company. This goes a long way in making employees feel like they really belong and leads to better retention rates. Moreover, these ERGs play a role in recruiting and hiring by helping to attract diverse candidates to the company.

Also read: Guide To Creating Candidate Personas For Tech Teams

2. Send newsletters to candidates – The HackerEarth example

As any B2B marketer would agree, we mainly rely on newsletters to capture the attention of clients by showing off the company’s products and services.

But it can also be a great way to get promising candidates (who may be looking for jobs or not) to think of applying to your company! Create your own talent community and work on keeping them engaged so that when the time comes to hire, you have a warm talent pool to fall back on.

Design and curate a newsletter specifically for candidates both active and passive. Send them regular updates on job opportunities, events, viral tech-related news, and relevant blogs.

We, at HackerEarth, take immense pride in our community newsletter, titled “In A Nutshell”, which is aimed at developers and coders. Recently, our newsletter saw a whopping open rate of 90% so believe me when I say, this is a proven way to connect with your candidates!

Want to stay in the orbit of “all things tech” and uncover hidden gems from the developer universe? Here’s where the magic happens 🙂

3. Love in the times of “VR tech”

Get creative with your hiring!

We all know, conducting a coding assessment is the go-to method of testing a candidate’s technical skills. It is mundane, it is routine, and it can be tedious.

But what if we told you it doesn’t have to be? A few good ways to do so are using gamification and virtual reality to assess your candidates and make it more enjoyable in the process.

• Take Deloitte, for instance. It uses virtual reality simulations to test candidates’ skills. The hiring team creates VR simulations of real-world scenarios that candidates may encounter in their roles and accordingly solve those challenges.
• Cisco makes use of gamification to assess candidates’ technical skills and problem-solving abilities. Their game-based hiring platform is called “Cisco Mind Games.” It sounds fun, right from the start!

You can use VR technology in more ways than just candidate screening. A fool-proof way of getting your candidates excited about working at your company is to let them in on what goes on behind the scenes! Give them a juicy taste of what it’s like.

• Amazon turns to virtual reality technology to provide candidates with an immersive tour of their fulfillment centers, giving them a glimpse into the company’s operations.
• So does Walmart. It even goes so far as to provide candidates with an interactive experience of what it’s like to work in Walmart stores with virtual reality simulations.
• PwC’s “career preview” program allows candidates to explore different roles and experience different scenarios through virtual reality. It truly makes for an immersive experience of what it’s like to work for the company.

Take your candidate engagement to the next level with VR tech. As tomorrow’s workforce is mainly Gen Z, who are rather tech-savvy, they will appreciate you doing so.

Also read: 6 Must-Track Candidate Experience Metrics To Hire Better

The way to your candidates’ hearts!

As a recruiter, ask yourself—what do you look for in a candidate’s application? Is it a clear and simple resume? Good communication skills? Timely responses to your emails? Joining the scheduled interview on time?

Now, let’s turn this on its head. You say you want a clear resume. Is your job posting clear or is it confusing? Does filling on the job application take up a lot of the candidate’s time? Is the candidate worrying about the next steps since they did not hear back from you? Did the interviewer make the candidate wait?

You see where I’m going with this. Treat your candidates the way you want to be treated—with care and respect. Invest in whole-hearted candidate engagement practices and you will leave them with a superlatively memorable experience.

Moreover, with all the examples of how candidate engagement looks when done right, we hope the path to your candidates’ hearts is a little clearer.

As always, happy hiring 🙂

“Interns are the bottom of the surgical food chain” — Dr. Bailey, Grey’s Anatomy

I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with this quote from the popular medical drama, where surgical interns are made to do all the grunt work. They are treated as nobodies—but interns in the tech industry are a whole other ball game! Tech companies compete with each other to hire freshers, interns, and students. They want to build and nurture relationships with the next generation of workers as early as possible.

Consequently, campus recruiting becomes the holy grail for companies and their big chance to snap up tomorrow’s top talent!

With campus hiring coming up in a few months, we thought it would be a great idea to go behind the scenes for this event. Come, spend a day with our campus recruiters from HackerEarth, and see for yourself!

A special shoutout to our Talent Acquisition Manager, Preethi Saakre for all the insider information that shaped this blog and allowed us to go into great detail about the workings of a recruiting team during campus recruitment!

P.S. This article is an extension of the first part, Spend A Day With A Tech Recruiter, where we debunk plenty of misconceptions floating around about tech recruiters. If you haven’t read it already, here you go.

What is campus recruiting?

Campus recruitment (not to be confused with mass hiring) involves attracting, sourcing, engaging, and hiring young talent for entry-level positions. Companies with high-volume recruiting needs opt for campus hiring. Moreover, whether it’s on-campus recruiting, virtual, or hybrid, the responsibilities of campus recruiters stay more or less the same.

On the other hand, mass hiring, while interchangeably called campus hiring varies in the type of candidates companies look for. Mass hiring drives are mainly to recruit experienced candidates and are generally not open to fresh college graduates.

How HackerEarth can spice up your campus recruiting strategy

Unlike traditional campus hiring, which happens once a year, a virtual campus recruitment drive can take place in phases throughout the year. That gives you many options to take your remote hiring strategy up a notch –

#1 Encourage students to become brand ambassadors

Invest time in students even before they graduate. Offer mentorship and networking opportunities through a student brand ambassador program. This helps you create targeted brand awareness as well as show the students that you care about them.

The HackerEarth Campus Ambassador program offers free mock interviews along with a certificate of appreciation, the opportunity to network with leading coders, and to be taught by engineering leaders at our company. Join our campus ambassadors to experience the HackerEarth advantage.

#2 Host hackathons to better engage with students

Instead of relying only on 1:1 interviews, conduct hackathons as well. Those students who couldn’t perform well in interviews might outdo themselves in a practical setting.

If you’re looking for a hands-off experience when organizing a hackathon, then HackerEarth is your best bet. All our online hackathons and hiring challenges are fully curated managed services. To put it simply, you get the engagement you need, without any bandwidth drain.

#3 Invest in a remote-ready campus recruitment platform

Virtual campus recruitment can open so many doors in terms of a wider, bigger talent pool, lesser costs, and better returns. To fully capitalize on this, you need a trusty platform to dot the i’s for you.

Enter HackerEarth’s campus hiring solution that has helped hundreds of companies ease the burden of remotely assessing students from universities across the globe. Be it assessing students through coding assessments or interviewing them with our tech video interview tool, FaceCode, we’ve got you covered.

There’s more where that came from. Bake in extra innovative elements as part of your tech recruitment strategy to capture the attention of your potential talent pool. 👇

Also read: Create The Perfect Virtual Recruiting Strategy For Universities With These Tips

A typical day for campus recruiters looks like…

Create a core team of campus recruiters and hiring managers

You need a dedicated recruiting team to drive the best results from your campus hiring drive. Put together a mix of campus recruiters and hiring managers to carry out the different stages of the process including screening, interviewing, and shortlisting candidates.

The next crucial step is to pinpoint your hiring goals and requirements. Some questions to ask that will help you identify your needs –

• Who is your ideal candidate for this exercise?
• Which team would need to add new employees in the next six months?
• What departments (for instance, engineering or sales) are short-staffed currently?

Make a list of suitable colleges and universities

Now that you have your ideal candidate persona, figure out what colleges and universities you need to target.

• Are you looking at tier 1 universities or tier 2 and tier 3 universities as well?
• Are you looking to hire students from any engineering field including computer science, electronics and communications or are you looking for purely technical candidates, etc?
• How many tech roles and non-tech roles are you hiring for?
• What businesses in your company need fresh talent?

Try and target a diverse range of universities to build an inclusive pipeline of fresh talent.

Reach out to the respective placement coordinators

Here’s an important part of campus recruitment that has nothing to do with attracting potential candidates. Bonding with the university placement coordinators!

If you want your pick of the season, you need to begin your recruitment right at the beginning. And who is in charge of that? Yes, you guessed it, the placement coordinators. To even get on their pre-selected list of companies, you need to woo them first.

Along with offering competitive salary packages and benefits (which almost every company would do), you need to stand out. This is where campus recruiters can shine. Use all the experience you’ve gained building and maintaining relationships with candidates and channel that here.

Create and nurture strong long-term bonds with the placement cell and build trust with the colleges well before the campus hiring season begins. So when it starts, they know whom to reach out to.

Sidebar:

The first three steps are carried out ahead of the campus recruiting season. This ensures you are prepared to tackle this head-on and deliver the best outcomes possible.

Once the campus drives begin, reach out to the respective campus placement coordinators with the job descriptions for roles, EVPs, relevant company data, if you have any cutoff percentage for students, etc. This will make it easier for them to select those students who are eligible and invite them to participate in the selection process.

Get a list of students who applied

Ask your coordinators to share a list of students who have applied for your company. Depending on the pre-defined criteria, filter the list further based on their academic performance in school and college, core specialty, etc.

Then let the placement coordinator know that this is your final list and you would like to send them a screening test post conducting your pre-placement talks.

Conduct pre-placement discussions

Send the students who’ve applied to your company relevant company information like roles/responsibilities, salary range, location of the role, etc.

Arrange for your HR lead or the engineering department head to hold a pre-placement talk for these students. Trying to get potential students hooked about working for your company by holding one single discussion can only take you so far. Especially on a day when students are under immense pressure to perform well during interviews.

Additionally, do this. For having a better shot at keeping your brand top of mind for students, plan and host several informative virtual events throughout the year. Online hackathons, virtual career fairs, and QnAs with the leadership team can all shine a light on your workplace culture, career paths, and so on.

Also read: 5 Best Practices For An Effective Hybrid Campus Hiring Strategy

Assess all the candidates who applied

If it’s an on-campus hiring drive, then the next step is to shortlist candidates through a group discussion round (which is quickly becoming outdated) and a skill assessment test.

The best part of a virtual/hybrid campus recruiting process is it is extremely candidate-friendly. Instead of rushing through the screening phase to quickly run coding assessments for students and then reveal the final selection can be tedious to carry out in a day.

When you’re remotely assessing students, you can check when they are available to take the test and send them an assessment invite, accordingly.

With an advanced campus hiring solution like HackerEarth, you get to assess students remotely through accurate online coding assessments and robust proctoring.

Also read: Importance Of Online Proctoring In University Hiring

Schedule interviews with the shortlisted candidates

During an on-campus recruitment process, the students are interviewed on the same day. Those who cleared the assessment round will have 3-4 rounds of interviews, depending on what the hiring team decides. Students who don’t meet the criteria are eliminated after each round.

The first two rounds are technical, the third round will be the managerial round with the engineering head, and the final round is the HR round. Here the student is evaluated based on culture fit and is rarely eliminated at this stage.

In a virtual or hybrid setting, if there is bandwidth the interviews take place on that day itself. Otherwise, they are scheduled within the next two days.

Set up, invite, and conduct coding interviews on a collaborative, real-time code editor such as FaceCode. This is a smart remote interviewing tool that helps you make objective, data-driven decisions thanks to AI-powered insights.

You know what happens next! Announce who made the cut

But wait…The day is not over yet

If you think you’re done for the day and you get to put your feet up, then you’re wrong 😛 Tieing up loose ends after wrapping up can be the most important step of all, especially in the traditional way of conducting campus hiring.

There is documentation to take care of, carefully putting together lists of shortlisted candidates from each panel, sending out feedback forms, and closing emails.

And you have to prepare to do this all over again, the next day, until the campus hiring season comes to an end.

Drink lots of coffee, you’re going to need it!

Also read: The Biggest Challenges Faced By Recruiters In University Hiring (+ Perfect Solutions)

There you have it…Campus recruitment simplified

As seen in this article, it takes a village to maneuver campus hiring season. Be it in-person or online, running a successful campus recruitment drive is a Herculean task.

Campus recruiters have their work cut out for them. They shoulder a lot of responsibility to do right by their company and their candidates.

With support and a solid campus recruiting strategy, it is possible to run the show seamlessly. Moreover, it is a straightforward way to engage and nurture fresh, undiscovered talent!

As always, happy hiring 🙂

Imagine this: You went to a restaurant for lunch.

There is a 30 min wait period and you decide to wait since you heard great things about their food.

After 45 minutes, you get a table but there is no waiter in sight to request a menu card.

A waiter finally comes up to you, looks disinterested in taking your order, and doesn’t even get you a water bottle.

You wait 20 more minutes after placing your order and decide you had enough. You get up and leave—without even tasting the food.

Now, the figurative restaurant is your job application process. If the process is slow, lengthy, and complicated, candidates will not have the patience to see it through.

If you as recruiters do not show an interest in them, keep them in the loop proactively, and nurture them, your candidates will go elsewhere for a job.

Moreover, even if your organization has a reputation as a great place to work, candidates will never find out because getting in itself is so problematic.

Good employer branding and robust corporate culture mean nothing if the candidate experience you provide is not up to the mark. It is a large part of your business and even if you are doing all the right things, there will always be improvements to be made.

By improving candidate experience, you can increase conversion rates and reduce cost per hire. The best way to do so is to collect and use candidate experience metrics and insights.

Use the data you gather to see how candidates interact with job postings, h ow they click through the application form, and what their profile looks like at different stages of the application process.

Shift your focus to improving your candidate experience! Let’s start with the basics and discuss how hiring metrics and insights can help create an awesome candidate experience.

Candidate experience metrics: Which are the most relevant?

#1 Time-to-hire

Time-to-hire is the length of time it takes to fill a vacancy. This is one of the most important candidate experience metrics because if you’re unable to fill positions quickly, you may be losing valuable resources in terms of productivity, morale, and revenue.

Time-to-hire is a metric that measures the average length of time it takes to fill an open position. You can measure this in days, weeks, or months, depending on your industry and how quickly you need to fill the vacancy.

For example, if you run a fast food restaurant with long lines of hungry customers waiting for their lunch orders and only one person is working the register while another employee is off sick with the flu, it would be important to find someone new as soon as possible.

If you can improve or make your time-to-hire metric quicker, you’ll be able to hire new employees faster. This will allow you to fill positions more quickly, increasing productivity and revenue.

Also read: Data-Driven Recruiting – All You Need To Know

#2 Interview-to-offer ratio

The next metric to track is the number of interviews it takes before you make an offer to a new employee. This is the number of interviews you conduct divided by the number of offers you make.

For example, if you conduct 10 interviews and hire only one new employee, your ratio is 10/1. This will help you determine whether your interview process is thorough enough or needs more work.

For example, if it takes, on average, three interviews for every hire in your company and there are only two people interviewing candidates at any given time, then you’re not going to be able to fill positions as fast as possible.

You can improve this by adding more interviewers or by training existing employees to conduct interviews. Once this metric is enhanced, your candidate experience will also improve because you can fill positions faster and more efficiently.

The speed at which you can fill a position is an important metric because it has a direct impact on your company’s bottom line. If you have to fill 10 positions and each position takes three months to fill, then that’s 30 months of lost productivity.

#3 Interview experience

This is a measure of how well you’ve trained your interviewers. You want to make sure that your interviewers are aware of their biases and that they work hard to eliminate them from the interview process. If an interviewer is biased against women, for example, this will show up in their interviews with female candidates. This is also an important candidate experience metrics.

Automated tools are a great way to reduce bias in the interview process. By using these tools, you can ensure that your interviews are more consistent and fair. Automated tools also help with candidate screening by allowing recruiters to quickly identify candidates who don’t meet the company’s requirements.

If you don’t have a structured interview process, it can be easy for bias to creep in. The best way to prevent this from happening is by hiring a professional recruiter who knows how to create a structured interview process that will help you identify the most qualified candidates.

Also read: 5 Steps To Create A Remote-First Candidate Experience In Recruitment

#4 Net promoter score (NPS)

NPS is another metric that can help enhance the candidate experience. It’s a simple question that you can ask at the end of an interview: “On a scale of 1-10, how likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend or colleague?”

The answer will give you insights into how your company is viewed by candidates. If your score is low, then there are areas where you must improve. You may need more training for interviewers or offer more information about what life at your company looks like.

On the other hand, a high NPS score doesn’t mean there’s no need for you to improve your candidate experience. It’s a good indicator that there are ways that you can make the process more seamless, and it will help you identify them. A LinkedIn study found that 78% of candidates say that their entire candidate experience is a clear indication of how a business values its employees.

For example, if many candidates say that they didn’t have all of their questions answered during the interview, then consider creating an FAQ page or providing more information about what life at your company looks like.

#5 Offer acceptance rate

A good offer acceptance rate is a strong indicator that candidates are satisfied with your interview process. If you have a low acceptance rate, then it’s likely that there are ways you could improve candidate experience.

For example, if many candidates didn’t feel like they had enough time to prepare for their interviews or weren’t sure what kind of questions they’d be asked, consider creating an FAQ page or providing more information about what life at your company looks like.

This metric is especially important to large companies that receive a lot of applications. It’s easy to ignore the candidates who aren’t right for your company, but if you want to improve the candidate experience, it’s important to find ways of making the process more personal.

For example, consider inviting applicants who were rejected back into the process as mentors or interviewers. You could also send them thank you notes and other forms of recognition for their efforts even though they weren’t selected. Remember, a study found that 73% of candidates say the job search is very stressful, so give it your best to make your candidate experience stress-free.

Also read: Joel Soucy’s Roadmap To Creating A Seamless Employee Experience

#6 Candidate drop-off

A bad candidate experience directly contributes to a high candidate drop-off rate. The candidate drop-off rate is the percentage of applicants who visited your career site but didn’t apply or those who abandoned filling out an application midway.

You’ll want to track this metric over time to see if it’s decreasing or increasing. If it’s going up, consider what you can do to keep candidates engaged and interested in applying for jobs with your company.

Make sure that your job listings are relevant and current, or create new ones based on feedback from applicants.

If your candidate drop-off rate is declining, you can celebrate this by highlighting the decrease in your recruiting efforts.

Expert tips for a memorable candidate experience

• Consider how the hire will fit in the company

When you begin efforts to improve your candidate experience, you must consider not only what the person will contribute to your organization but also how they will get along with existing employees.

Will this person be performing a specific function? If so, are there any metrics you can use to measure their performance? What is the salary range for this position? How important is it that we fill this vacancy quickly? Can we afford to take our time and find the perfect candidate?

Answer all these questions before you begin the search for your ideal hire.

Also read: Optimize Your Hiring Process With Recruitment Analytics

• Keep candidates well-informed

Make sure that your candidates know how their applications are doing. From the initial contact, until the current status of their application, your candidates should know where they are in the process. Use candidate relationship management software to keep your candidates well-informed.

Send a detailed offer letter that includes all pertinent information about the position to candidates. This can include salary, benefits, and other relevant details.

Give candidates a timeline of when they should expect to hear from the company. This will help them plan their lives around this new job opportunity, which is important to both parties involved.

If you need more time to make a decision about your candidates, be honest about it. This will help them move on with their lives as well as keep your company’s reputation intact.

• Adapt schedules to candidates’ needs

Schedule interviews and assessments so they match your candidates’ needs. For example, if you need to set up an interview with someone who works nights and weekends, do it during their off hours.

This will help keep everyone happy. Sometimes, the candidate can’t make it on time because of a sick child or some other emergency. Let them know that you understand and will reschedule for another day (or week). This can be advantageous to both parties. Because it shows that you care about their needs as well as the company’s needs.

You can effectively address these scheduling requirements by leveraging the efficiencies that HR technology tools offer. To ensure you get to use only the top platforms, ensure to check out the best HR software lists available in reputable review platforms.

• Ensure new hires’ eagerness to onboard

When it’s time for onboarding, make sure your new hire feels welcome and happy about joining the team. You can do this by creating an employee onboarding kit and sending a welcome email that includes the necessary information they need to get started. This could be the company’s mission statement, a list of benefits and perks, or even an overview of their role in the company.

This is the time to educate them on the company’s culture and values, as well as their role within it. It’s also an opportunity to show them what they can expect from you and your team. If they’re new to customer support, example scripts will help them get started quickly.

Be sure to go the extra mile to keep their enthusiasm high. Right from the time they learn they have been hired until they start their onboarding. If you can sustain this, your new hires will likely perform well in their work from day one onward.

• Job simulation

This is a great way to get your new hires ready for their first day of work. Job simulation helps them learn about their job and the tools they’ll use on it, as well as how it fits into the company’s operations. You can also use it to test how well they grasp procedures and policies.

Job simulations are a growing trend among employers, who view them as the most effective way to assess candidates’ abilities. With job simulations, you can replicate the conditions of real-world jobs. They can be used in a variety of roles, from help desk agents to marketers to technicians.

A job simulation can be as simple as walking them through their day with you. Or it could involve a more elaborate simulation that includes training materials and other tools.

Why candidate experience matters

Candidate experience is not just a part of the recruitment process; it’s a critical element that can significantly impact an organization’s ability to attract top talent. The way candidates perceive and interact with a company’s recruitment process can have far-reaching consequences.

The recruitment process is often the first interaction a candidate has with a company. A positive experience can enhance the company’s brand, while a negative one can tarnish it. In the age of social media and online reviews, candidates are quick to share their experiences, and these shared experiences can influence a company’s reputation.

A smooth and engaging candidate experience attracts top-quality candidates. Talented individuals have multiple options, and they tend to gravitate towards organizations that value and respect their time and efforts during the recruitment process.

Candidates who have a positive experience are more likely to accept job offers and remain with the company longer. A negative experience, on the other hand, can lead to declined offers and a higher turnover rate, which is costly for any organization.

The candidate experience is a reflection of a company’s culture and values. A respectful, transparent, and engaging process suggests a positive work environment, whereas a disorganized and impersonal process may indicate systemic issues within the organization.

In industries where competition for talent is fierce, the candidate experience can be a significant differentiator. Companies that invest in creating a positive candidate experience stand out and are more likely to attract the best talent.

Feedback from candidates can be invaluable in refining recruitment processes. Understanding where candidates face challenges or discomfort can help companies make necessary adjustments to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Use candidate experience metrics to leave lasting impressions

There you have it! The key candidate experience metrics and insights that you must consider to help improve candidate experience.

You only get one chance to make a first impression. Working on enhancing the candidate experience is one way to do it.

It won’t be an overnight change, but if you stay consistent in your efforts, it will pay off.