Posting a job is just the beginning ...

Hiring candidates requires a) finding and b) talking with prospects to identify viable candidates; followed by interviews and assessments. The process of identifying candidates is labor intensive and time consuming.

Even a small project can require a lot of effort. Organizations typically identify six prospects to identify one viable candidate and interview four candidates to make one hire. Additionally, it takes on average seven phone calls to reach and screen a candidate. To make just ten hires will require making:

(10 hires) X (4 candidates) X (6 prospects) X (7 phone calls) = 1,680 phone calls

E-mail is near useless as a substitute. Fewer than 4% of e-mail messages, soliciting candidates yield a response.

So a recruiter must call. A typical recruiter can make at best 40 phone calls in a day. To make 1,680 phone calls requires 42 working days.

Making Recruiters More Effective

Recruiters are involved in a lot of activities, many of which, while necessary do little to make them more productive. Tasks such as sourcing take up a lot of time. Sourcing is a mechanical effort that works best when done to support hiring in volume. It is not a task that recruiters relish or get better at the more experience they get. However, by using a dedicated sourcing effort, an employer can significantly boost the productivity of recruiters while improving quality.

Source: Employment Management Association

The A-List uses a highly efficient and effective approach to sourcing. By segmenting research, screening, and administrative tasks we bring industrial efficiency to the recruiting process. Our screeners typically call candidates at home during hours when they are most likely to be available, that is, evenings and weekends. One of our screeners can place over 200 calls in the time it takes a recruiter to make 40.

That allows recruiters to focus on in-depth assessments and face-time, instead of low-yield activities like locating and screening candidates.