According to the Academy of Innovative HR (AIHR), the number one challenge recruiters face today is too many irrelevant or underqualified applicants. There are several reasons for this.

First, artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Bard/Gemini have made tailoring a resume easier than it's ever been. It's well known that job applicants submitting resumes will filter their resume and cover letter to a job description to be placed at the top of the applicant pool and get “first dibs” on a role. As you can imagine, this can be helpful in a small number of cases but for the majority of roles, this has the negative result of flooding recruiters and HR professionals with resumes for potentially unqualified candidates.

Second, widening skills gaps and workforce shortages are exacerbating the problem as job boards are flooded with potentially unqualified candidates so companies have looked to ads and other methods to find top talent. But the quality and accuracy of job board search engines also aren't guaranteed for every role or industry.

Third, employers are increasingly searching for candidates with emerging skills that traditional hiring methods may not capture. For instance, a rising demand for hybrid skills will create an even more difficult process of selecting qualified candidates. A great example of this would be a sales and marketing manager with AI prompting experience, or an Account Executive (AE) who can also build sales process automation.

As a result of these challenges, more companies are turning to digital recruitment tools to filter out applications that don't fit and identify top talent to interview. Digital recruitment tools are generally online (OR) cloud-based platforms that streamline some aspects of the hiring process. Most digital tools for recruitment and selection focus on data analytics, automation, and candidate evaluation as a way of creating a more efficient and effective hiring process.

Offering features like resume parsing, candidate tracking, interview scheduling, structured interviews, and interview intelligence, these tools use artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to complete a function without human involvement. This saves time, reduces costs, and allows for a fairer, more objective evaluation.

There are many tools for digital recruitment - as a matter of fact, there are more than 310. You can find an exhaustive list of them on G2 (if you can't sleep tonight and want to read through the entire list)- Or, read one as we’ll cover a few top platforms in this article. Sidenote: due to SEO requirements from Google over the past few years, many recruitment tools are niching into categories like, "The best recruiting software for agencies," or The best digital recruitment tools for managers," but what we'll cover today is industry agnostic (unless noted), and would be ideal for any recruitment needs short of requiring full-scale enterprise software.

Recruitment Tools Examples

So let's go back to our initial challenge - the flood of resumes. HireEz is a highly-rated AI recruiting tool that uses AI to filter resumes and shortlist the best candidates based on your specific needs. It has features like resume parsing which saves time and resources for recruiters.

Once HireEZ (or another digital sourcing software) has created a shortlist, you need a place to serve as your "source of truth." An applicant tracking system (ATS) is the perfect place to store candidate data and serves as a candidate relationship management (CRM) tool that offers the added benefits of built-in reporting. We like Lever for its ease of use and integration capabilities, but there are many great options on the market.

Now, you can either use an interview scheduling tool to book applicants straight into screenings, or you can use a candidate engagement tool like Paradox's Olivia to answer questions and communicate with them until they're ready to schedule an interview. Olivia is a chatbot that can be integrated into your careers site and social media channels, and "she" is capable of answering candidate questions 24/7. Olivia also collects data on candidates to help with the screening process.

Fast hiring is becoming more prevalent as workforce shortages and skills gaps increase the demand for qualified candidates. This is where interview intelligence can be a huge help. Pillar's interview intelligence software (our shameless plug) comes pre-baked with structured interviews, interview guides, and a library of interview questions tailored to your open roles. Our suite of tools shortens interview prep times and allows for better candidate analytics and skills assessment throughout the entire interview process.

Let's say you've got a pool of qualified candidates but you want to assess their skills further before proceeding to final interviews. HackerRank and Codility offer coding challenges (these are industry-specific tools for software engineers and developers), but you can also use gamification tools like Pymetrics to assess culture fit and PredictiveIndex to assess their cohesion with a team.

At this point, you'll have no shortage of data to make a great hiring decision, so the next step is onboarding... something we'll cover in a future article. As you can see, recruitment tool examples like the ones mentioned above can make life much easier for hiring teams- and new recruiting tools are coming to market every day.

The key takeaway is to do a thorough needs analysis so you can find the one that works best for you. There's a simple decision matrix that may be helpful as you search.

1. How likely is this solution to help you overcome your current hiring challenges?
2. Does it fit your budget?
3. Is it easy to use?
4. Secure and compliant?
5. Does it scale to fit your needs?

As you navigate the plethora (today's “word of the day” so I couldn't resist) of recruitment tools available, remember the ultimate goal is to enhance your hiring process, making it more efficient and effective- not add another tool you won't use. Choosing a solution that specifically meets your needs, ensures data security and compliance, and also has the ability to scale with your organization will net massive returns in time and top talent.

Digital Recruitment Platform

So, what about recruitment tools in 2024 and beyond? I mean, isn't AI going to put everyone out of work? For kicks, I asked ChatGPT this question earlier just to see what it would "say"- it responded with, "That's unlikely." but I just know it's cooking up some plan for world domination...

Be that as it may, it's very unlikely that recruitment tools will change dramatically in the near future. And, while AI may automate certain tasks, the need for human involvement in recruitment will (at some level) always be present - and that's a good thing. As evidenced by unsuccessful efforts at companies like Google and Amazon, relying solely on AI for hiring processes leads to negative outcomes. Conversely, having trained hiring managers and interviewers involved in the recruitment process mitigates biases and provides a better candidate experience (CX) overall.

Digital recruitment platforms are, however, getting smarter. With innovative technologies like NLP, ML, and AI being integrated at a blistering pace, these tools are enabling recruiters and hiring managers to make more informed decisions and streamline their workflows. This means better candidate profiles, improved decision-making, and ultimately a more efficient and effective recruitment process.

One major benefit of the marriage between AI and digital recruitment platforms is the ability to store and analyze large amounts of data on candidates. Large language models (LLMs) (a subcategory of AI) are some of the best filters for massive amounts of data - this allows for a better understanding of candidate skills, behaviors, and preferences - providing hiring insights we've never been able to access before.

In conclusion, the future of digital recruitment tools is bright, with more advanced technology being developed and integrated every day to support hiring teams in their quest for top talent. These tools are revolutionizing the hiring process, making it more efficient, objective, and data-driven- meaning less bias, more objectivity, and better results.

As the landscape of digital recruitment continues to evolve, so will the need to stay ahead of the curve with tools that give you a competitive edge in attracting, qualifying, and retaining the best talent in the industry.

According to DemandSage, around 40% of companies today are using AI in their hiring processes- 44% of those say they use AI to save time. With advancements in technology, we can only expect this number to increase- making digital recruitment platforms a must-have for any competitive organization. So if you haven't already, take a second look at the vast array of digital recruitment tools - who knows, you may find one or two you can't live without!

To discover how Pillar's interview intelligence can save you up to 14 hours per role- streamlining your interview process to save you time and resources, book your demo today! Happy Hiring!