Candidate Relationship Management (CRM)

Table of Contents

• What is CRM?
• What is recruitment CRM?
• What is recruitment CRM software?
• What is the best recruitment CRM?

What is CRM?

In the world of human resources, talent acquisition, and recruiting, CRM stands for candidate relationship management. CRM is often confused with its close relative, which also goes by the CRM acronym (customer relationship management) and is commonly utilized by sales and marketing teams. Hiring professionals use CRM (candidate relationship management) software to manage the early phases of the recruitment process with job candidates. Amazing employees start with great candidates. But in today’s job market, finding exemplary candidates is difficult and competitive. That’s where a CRM comes into play. Hiring professionals use CRM software to identify a talent pool of non-applicants. It then works similarly to marketing automation solutions such as Marketo, by leveraging messaging campaigns to nurture the candidates – keeping them warm, active, and engaged in your brand. Think of a CRM as a talent intelligence hub that includes past applicants, silver medalists (candidates you loved but were unable to hire at the time), and a proactively sourced talent pool of passive candidates. A strong CRM with a structured process will fuel future hiring needs with quality talent – on time and on budget.

What is recruitment CRM?

Recruitment CRM (candidate relationship management) is a software system that manages the entire recruitment process while building and maintaining relationships with job candidates. Providing a smooth and positive experience for candidates is a top priority for hiring professionals. The more positive the experience, the more your brand stands out. Recruitment CRM can help talent acquisition professionals to:

• Engage with candidates on a deeper level
• Build flexible and dynamic career pages
• Collaborate more efficiently
• Accurately measure the performance of source-to-hire efforts
• Proactively source and nurture talent

Treat all of your candidates like they are clients while improving engagement and team productivity with a native recruitment CRM.

What is recruitment CRM software?

Recruitment CRM software is a candidate relationship management system used by sourcers and talent acquisition professionals. Many companies offer these systems as a standalone that integrates into your current Applicant Tracking System (ATS), while others offer native, or fully integrated CRM within their core Talent Acquisition Suites (TAS). Regardless, properly built CRM’s should have the following components:

• Email and text campaign functionality
• Source and conversion rate analytics
• Drip campaigns
• Talent pools
• CTA (call to action) functionality for landing pages
• Robust search functionality
• Ability to move interested candidates over to current job openings
• Landing page builder

The ultimate goal of using this software is to increase your overall talent pool of people who may be interested in working for your company in the future. In order to achieve that outcome, its best to think of future job candidates as consumers as you want them to have a positive employer brand experience with your company. Once fully implemented, the users of the recruitment CRM software are ready to:

• Engage and nurture candidates
• Create a positive candidate experience
• Increase collaboration across the hiring team
• Reduce reactive recruiting
• Deliver on time hiring at a lower cost

With the functionality of recruitment CRM software, HR teams can effectively engage with qualified talent, expedite their sourcing efforts, and reduce overall costs as the needs for outsourced agencies and other top of funnel activities become diminished.

What is the best recruitment CRM?

There are two types of CRMs: a stand-alone CRM (candidate relationship management system) that bolts on to your ATS (applicant tracking system) or a CRM that is native to your ATS. With a bolt-on CRM, you are essentially forced to manage two separate databases that require you to check for candidate information from two separate places. For the best recruitment CRM, the choice is clear– A robust CRM that is native within an ATS. A native CRM allows for one database with a single view into your candidate profiles, both active and inactive. The benefits of a native CRM include:

• Clean and accurate reporting and analytics
• More compliance and security due to less data exposure
• Lower initial investment and fewer maintenance costs
• Higher efficiency/productivity for recruiters
• One vendor to manage vs. multiple

For one technology to track from source to hire, a 100% native CRM + ATS is best, and that’s why SmartRecruiters’ SmartCRM is the best recruitment CRM.