Technology permeates every aspect of our lives today. But it wasn't nearly as prevalent just a few years ago - especially in recruiting. Traditional recruiting strategies involved putting ads in the career section of a newspaper, hosting events like job fairs, scheduling a face-to-face interview, and signing a physical offer letter. Now, that seems antiquated as digital recruitment strategies have replaced traditional hiring processes.

Transitioning from traditional methods like print advertisements and physical interviews to an online-centric approach seemed impossible just a few years ago. After the successful launch of early applicant tracking systems in the late 70s, and online job boards in the mid-1990s, it seemed like we'd reached the full capability of the bandwidth available at the time. Video cameras weren't a common addition to phones and laptops as they are today and uploading resumes, cover letters and other files proved to be a cumbersome process.

But the world of technology evolves quickly, and so do recruitment strategies. Social media platforms like LinkedIn emerged in 2003, followed by online video interviews in 2010, and finally, AI-powered candidate sourcing and recruitment software that could screen resumes automatically. Today's human resources management (HRM) professionals are faced with the rapid pace of innovation, diversity, workforce shortages, and fluctuating economies, and must adjust quickly to whatever circumstances they face.

Digital recruitment strategies provide a solution to these challenges by helping automate aspects of the hiring process that don't require a human touch, allowing HRM teams to reach a broader audience, reducing costs, targeting specific skill sets, and reducing the time-to-hire. Traditional methods often fall short in addressing these issues due to their limited reach and inefficiency. This is where digital recruitment campaigns can fill the gap.

Digital platforms enable the creation of tailored recruitment campaigns, leveraging social media, professional networks, and advanced analytics to find the right candidate in a faster and more cost-effective manner. Once the respective candidates have been identified, recruitment tools like interview intelligence can help HRM professionals assess a candidate's potential and fit for the organization. In addition to finding the best talent, digital recruitment strategies also support building employer branding, improving candidate experience, and engaging with passive candidates who may be a perfect fit in the future.

As we dive into the positives and negatives around both traditional and digital styles of recruitment, note that neither one is 100% right all the time. There is a time and place for everything, but it's important to understand the benefits and drawbacks of each approach. Traditional methods may work well for certain industries or positions, while digital strategies may be more effective for others. A successful recruitment strategy should use a combination of both traditional and digital methods to achieve the best results. This is also just a brief snapshot of how these powerful tools can reshape your hiring process - next, we'll do a brief overview of types of recruitment strategies, with some examples.

Recruitment Strategy Plan

When designing a comprehensive recruitment strategy plan, the key is to know your desired outcome and understand the types of recruitment strategies that will get you there. Broadly speaking, you could categorize recruitment into two camps, traditional and digital, but that doesn't really tell the whole story.

Traditional strategies often include things like internal recruitment, where current employees are considered for new roles, and external recruitment through channels like recruitment agencies, job fairs, and print advertisements. Internal hiring is a great way to level-up current talent, the other aspects of traditional hiring can be overshadowed by the powerful capabilities of digital approaches- but that doesn't mean digital is faultless.

Digital recruitment strategies are now at the forefront of modern hiring practices due to their ability to reach a wider audience and streamline the recruitment process. A well-designed digital recruitment campaign strategy leverages various online tools and platforms, including job boards, social media, interview intelligence, and AI-powered recruitment software, to attract and identify potential candidates with the right skill sets efficiently.

Digital recruitment systems also offer the benefits of using data-driven decision-making as a core component of the recruitment process. This allows HRM professionals to analyze key metrics such as time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, and quality-of-hire to continuously improve and optimize their recruitment strategies. The data also plays a significant role in providing valuable insights into candidate behavior and campaign performance, allowing for continuous optimization of the recruitment process.

If you look at your current recruiting process, there are probably many tasks that modern digital recruiting tools can automate. A modern tech stack of digital and virtual tools (online-centric tools) generally consists of:

1. Digital Sourcing Software
2. Applicant Tracking Software (ATS)
3. Interview Intelligence Software
4. Skills Assessment Tools
5. Onboarding Solutions

Incorporating these types of online recruitment tools into a well-crafted strategy ensures efficiency. For example, sourcing software can help HRM professionals automate candidate search and selection processes. ATS streamlines the hiring process with features such as automated resume screening and email responses- this system will also serve as your source of truth. Interview intelligence tools assist in assessing candidates' skills and fit for the organization through data-driven analysis. Skills assessment tools provide objective measurements of a candidate's abilities, while onboarding solutions streamline the process for new hires. Incorporating these diverse types of recruitment solutions into a cohesive recruitment strategy plan ensures that an organization can adapt to the fast-paced, ever-evolving landscape of talent acquisition.

Digital Recruitment Strategies Examples

Successfully measuring your recruiting strategies can feel overwhelming. Where do you start? What primary metrics are you focused on? What initiatives do you need to put in place to hit those goals? Let's use DEI as an example. DEI recruitment strategies differ from many traditionally used avenues, they require a more specific focus. Organizations that have achieved successful DEI metrics generally launched digital recruitment campaigns that break their initiatives into four key steps:

1. Attracting a diverse applicant pool
2. Improving the candidate experience for underrepresented groups
3. Ensuring fair and equitable hiring practices
4. Implementing strategies for long-term diversity and inclusion.

Achieving digital recruitment goals is far easier than with traditional methods. Digital recruitment strategies and examples showcase that these tools are up to 7x more efficient. Consider Pillar's interview intelligence (shameless plug) for example. Recruiters, hiring managers, and HR spend an estimated 14 hours per role just scheduling interviews with traditional tools - Pillar automates a significant portion of this process for you, cutting interview scheduling down to less than 2 hours per open role- increasing a team's bandwidth dramatically.

Digital recruitment campaigns and their importance to modern hiring processes are undeniable. However, traditional methods should not be overlooked as they still have valuable roles to play in recruitment. Ultimately, a strategic combination of both traditional and digital approaches will lead to the most efficient and effective recruitment outcomes. As technology continues to advance, it's essential for organizations to stay updated and adapt their strategies accordingly. With a well-designed recruitment strategy plan that incorporates both traditional and digital methods, organizations can attract top talent and create a diverse and inclusive workforce for long-term success.

This brings up a question we get asked a lot in sales calls and in other interactions with customers. "Why don't you just go completely digital?" Well, we've seen what big tech companies like Google, Amazon, and others have faced as they tried to implement 100% automated systems, namely AI, into their hiring processes with poor results.

Instead, we focus on the intersection between humans and software in what we consider a "sweet spot." Automation saves time, resources, and money, the software allows us to collect better data for decision-making, and humans play a pivotal role in building relationships, connections, and ultimately organizational success. Organizations that strike the right balance between traditional and modern recruitment approaches will have a significant advantage in attracting, retaining, and developing top talent. It's crucial to embrace digital tools but also not neglect the human aspect of recruitment.

In conclusion, these tools will only get more powerful in the future. AI, while imperfect at the moment, will continue to get better until it's nearly indistinguishable from human interactions. Automation will take human involvement in the recruitment process to a minimum, and digital recruitment strategies will be so good that they're virtually impossible to ignore. As the job market becomes increasingly competitive, organizations that embrace digital recruitment strategies and tools will have a significant advantage in attracting top talent, ensuring diversity and inclusion, and ultimately achieving long-term success. The future of recruitment is digital, and it's essential for organizations to stay ahead of the curve by continuously adapting their strategies to leverage these powerful tools. So try a few out and see how much time you could be saving!

If you'd like to see how interview intelligence can help your team make better hiring decisions and exponentially increase the success of your digital recruitment campaigns, book a demo to learn more!