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Five Questions to Ask When Choosing a Talent Acquisition Platform

May 4, 2018
 
iCIMS Staff
4 min read

You’ve been tasked – or have elected – to improve your talent acquisition processes with a new solution. The good news is there are many products that can support your needs. Given today’s highly competitive hiring climate, the recruitment software market is the most dynamic and exciting space in HR tech. The bad news is that this active market makes finding the best tool for your organization seem like a daunting task. There are so many tools to choose from.

And once you’ve narrowed your search to a few promising solutions, how can you be sure you’re choosing the right talent acquisition platform? If vendors are all promoting the same benefits, you need a way to navigate these claims to identify true differentiators.

Whether you’re investing in software for the first time, evaluating your HCM’s recruitment module, switching your dedicated hiring solution or somewhere in-between – here are five questions to ask a vendor when choosing a talent acquisition platform for your organization.

1. What types of technology do you use to support integrations between different hiring tools?

?Why ask?

Recruitment is complex and requires more than an applicant tracking system – in fact, businesses use up to 24 tools for talent acquisition. If your intention is to transfer large volumes of data between systems in real-time or safeguard for compliance, it’s essential to know that your talent acquisition platform has the technology to support your needs.

What you want to hear:

Look for a vendor that offers innovative, and industry-leading technology because an integration is only as reliable as the technology behind it. A vendor should offer different integration methods like flat-file, REST API and streaming API to support your current and future integration needs. Also, it may benefit you to work with a vendor that offers resources for developing and integrating your own tools. While this may not be a priority today, this support could be necessary as your organization grows and your needs change.

2. What are the costs associated to integrating with our other hiring tools like assessments, background checks, job board posting, video interview etc.?

Why ask?

The subscription fee for standalone talent acquisition software or HR management software with bundled applicant tracking is only one part of the total cost of ownership associated with implementing new recruitment technology. A big part of hidden costs are integration fees. It’s important to understand how the talent acquisition platform will integrate with your other HR tools.

What you want to hear:

Look for a vendor who has extensive integration experience and a standardized integration implementation process. This standardization takes the guesswork out of how much your company is expected to spend to create a seamless experience.

3. How will you guarantee that my data is safe?

?Why ask?

In an era where data breaches are all too common, your organization must be smart about who it trusts to store and protect sensitive information. Candidates and employees rely on you to keep their personal information safe. The wrong talent acquisition platform could put your organization at risk for penalties for non-compliance. Penalties may include fines, reprimands, bans or certification withdrawals.

What you want to hear:

Data security, compliance and privacy should be a top priority for a talent acquisition vendor. Look for a vendor with strict data encryption procedures, up-to-date certifications, security policies and plans for supporting General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance.

4. What complementary support resources do you offer?

Why ask?

Customer support is often another hidden cost, especially if the vendor offers a tiered support model. It’s important that you understand exactly what type of technical, user and account support is included with your talent acquisition platform to avoid future budget related headaches.

What you want to hear:

The right talent acquisition platform will come with complementary training to support all learning styles. The vendor should also offer a dedicated account manager, a diverse team of in-house professional services specialists and standard 24×5 technical support.

5. In what ways does your talent acquisition platform support a positive candidate experience?

Why ask?

People who are satisfied with their candidate experiences are almost 40 percent more likely to accept a job offer. Candidate experience matters and it’s too important to be broken by the wrong hiring software. If you’re unable to fill open roles, then you don’t have the talent to deliver results for your business. In the end, recruitment success leads to business success.

What you want to hear:

A great candidate experience is more than an engaging career site. The right vendor will offer functionality like automated emails and mobile-optimized career portals to help you build a talent pipeline, create a favorable brand impression and ultimately facilitate a smooth transition from candidate to hire. Best-in-class talent acquisition platform vendors even work with innovative tools like Google for Jobs and text recruiting to allow for a better candidate experience.

These questions are intended to start a dialogue with a vendor around areas that are critical to your recruitment and business success. Get the information you need to successfully choose the right talent acquisition platform for your organization.

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