2023 is the year of candidate experience. Today, there are frequently more open positions than qualified candidates, so the candidate experience with your company is crucial. To draw candidates to their jobs, businesses are investing heavily in improving the candidate journey. You can expect this trend to continue, particularly when there are 10 million open jobs every month. Despite some recent layoffs in the tech sector, there’s a lot of competition for job candidates in every industry.
The candidate’s journey, from applicant to hire, is a critical factor in their decision to accept or decline your job offer. In fact, up to 90% of candidates say a positive or negative candidate experience can completely change their minds about your company.
At a time when it’s tough to find and hire talent, you need the best tools to nurture candidates during their applicant journey. Online employment application software creates a better candidate experience. Here’s what you should know about using software for the employment application process:
What is Online Job Application Software?
Online employment application software is used by organizations and businesses to manage their recruitment processes. It is a web-based system that allows companies to create and post job openings, receive and manage applications, screen candidates, schedule interviews, and communicate with job seekers.
Online job application software can help streamline the recruitment process by automating many of the administrative tasks involved in hiring. It can also provide a more efficient and effective way to track applicants and evaluate their qualifications. Many of these systems use algorithms and artificial intelligence to filter out unqualified candidates and identify those who are the best fit for the job.
Online employment application software can vary in features and pricing, but most offer a range of functions that can help organizations save time and resources in the recruitment process.
How Does Online Job Application Software Work?
Online job application software helps streamline the recruitment process, automate manual administrative tasks, and provide a more efficient way to manage the hiring process. Here’s a general overview of how these platforms work:
- Creating and Posting Job Openings: Employers can create job postings that include details about the position, qualifications required, and other relevant information. These job postings can be published on the company’s website and other job boards.
- Receiving and Managing Applications: Once the job postings are live, job seekers can apply through the online application form. The software then collects and stores the application information in a centralized database.
- Screening Candidates: Online job application software can use algorithms and artificial intelligence to screen candidates based on their qualifications and skills. This can help recruiters quickly identify the most qualified applicants.
- Scheduling Interviews: Recruiters can use the software to schedule interviews with candidates and send reminders and other communication related to the interview process.
- Evaluating Candidates: After the interviews, recruiters can use the software to evaluate candidates based on their performance in the discussion, qualifications, and other factors. The software can also help track and manage feedback from other team members involved in the hiring process.
- Making Job Offers: Once a candidate has been selected, the software can generate offer letters and other necessary documentation.
Benefits of Online Job Application Software for Candidates
Online job application software offers several benefits for job seekers. Here are some of the main advantages:
- Easier to apply for jobs
- Applications are kept secure, improving the accuracy of candidate details
- Streamlines candidate communications
- Speeds up the hiring process
- Process is mobile-friendly
Applying is Easier with Online Job Application Software
Online job application software typically has a user-friendly interface, making it easier for job seekers to fill out applications and submit resumes and cover letters. This can help reduce the stress and anxiety of the job application process. With a few clicks, a candidate can upload a resume. The software parses the data from the resume directly into the platform, eliminating the need for the candidate to enter data manually. If you’ve seen the one-click application process on LinkedIn, you’ll understand how easy this process is from the candidate’s perspective.
Many of the software programs for employment applications allow job seekers to track the status of their applications in real time. This feature can help alleviate some of the uncertainty of waiting to hear back from potential employers.
Finally, many online job application software systems even allow job seekers to create customized job alerts based on their qualifications and preferences. This means the candidate can receive notifications when relevant job openings become available, making it easier to stay updated on job opportunities at your company.
Software for Employment Applications Improves Submission Accuracy for Candidates
Remember the days of faxing or emailing a job application? Job seekers can upload resumes directly into a secure online job application portal. This ensures no data is lost. Because these platforms draw data directly from a resume, there is no manual application process that can create typos in your database. The result is cleaner data and a more accurate submission from the job candidate.
From this portal, candidates can also view the status of their job application. This ensures there are no misunderstandings about the status of their application. As a bonus, the online job application software can also hold testing information, like background checks, writing samples, coding tests, portfolio links, and more. These robust platforms become the single source of truth on a candidate’s application, keeping their data secure and accessible to the company. The candidate’s data is safe, and the company can feel confident that it is meeting regulatory HR rules.
Online Job Application Software Streamlines Candidate Communication
Online job application software can streamline candidate communication in several critical ways that improve their journey:
- Automated Responses: Many job application software platforms allow recruiters to set up automated responses to acknowledge receipt of an application or to notify candidates when they are not selected for a role. These automated responses can save recruiters time and ensure that candidates receive a response in a timely manner.
- Centralized Communication: Job application software can centralize all communication between recruiters and candidates in one place. This can help recruiters stay organized and ensure that no candidate messages are missed.
- Real Time Updates: Some of these automated platforms provide real time updates to candidates about the status of their applications. This feature includes notifications when the application has been received, when it has been reviewed, and when a decision has been made.
- Mobile Access: Many job application software platforms are accessible on mobile devices, making it easier for recruiters to communicate with candidates on the go and to access their application status from anywhere.
- Interview Scheduling: Some job application software platforms allow recruiters to schedule interviews directly within the platform, saving time and eliminating the need for back-and-forth communication to coordinate scheduling.
Using Online Job Application Software Helps Candidates Get Hired Faster
Because online job application software streamlines the recruitment process, it may result in faster response times for job seekers. This is a software benefit that can help a candidate move through the application process more quickly and potentially secure job offers sooner. Streamlining the application-to-hire process makes for a much better candidate experience overall.
For example, these platforms allow candidates to apply for jobs quickly with one or two clicks. The data is culled directly from the resume, so the candidate doesn’t have to retype anything. Typically, automation sends out candidate messaging, so they’re kept in the loop on their status. Most of these platforms automate scheduling with a self-service feature that allows the candidate to select an interview time that’s convenient for them. Screening and interviewing are easier and faster because many of these tools use artificial intelligence to pre-screen and match candidates with the right jobs.
These features improve the candidate journey by speeding up what used to be a laboriously long and often frustrating process. If your job application software can’t do these things, it’s time for an upgrade to a more modern, efficient platform to improve the candidate journey.
Candidates Can Apply on Their Mobile Devices with Online Job Application Software
Today, more than 45% of job applicants use their cell phone to apply for a job, and 72% of candidates use their phone to search for a new position. Online employment application software allows job seekers to quickly access job postings and apply for positions from anywhere they have an internet connection. Mobile-friendly software makes it easier to find job opportunities that match their skills and qualifications. If your job application software isn’t mobile-first, you run the risk of creating a bad candidate experience for these potential applicants.
You Can Improve the Candidate Experience with COATS Online Job Application Software Online employment application software can help provide a more positive candidate experience overall. By streamlining the application process and providing clear communication and feedback, job seekers may feel more engaged and informed throughout the hiring process.
COATS offers job candidates many of the features we’ve discussed. If you’re worried your candidate journey isn’t positive, could it be that your application software is partially at fault? Talk to our team and schedule a demo of our product. We’re here to improve the candidate journey and help you find the talent you need.