Hiring Manager Cures for Compliance Woes

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Julia Friemering

Sometimes handing over the hiring process to the hiring manager can be downright frightening. What are they going to say? What are they going to write? What will they post in the applicant tracking system that will be there FOREVER?

Although training can outline some steadfast rules, the tools in an applicant tracking system can drive the hiring process and reduce compliance risk.

The first tool, interview guides, provides a template for interview questions and scoring. Hiring managers can simply launch the interview guide to move step-by-step through the approved interview process. When finished, the hiring manager can rate the applicant based on the standardized scoring system.

If an applicant is deselected from the hiring process the second tool, reason codes, becomes available. When an applicant is updated to a deselected status, the hiring manager will be asked to select from a predefined list of reasons for updating the applicant’s status. This reason is then recorded and available for reporting purposes. Using reports, deselection reason codes can be analyzed for trends to improve the hiring process.

What applicant tracking tools do you use to manage the selection process?

Filed under: Applicant Tracking | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

myStaffingPro Review by River Valley Bank

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Julia Friemering

We asked River Valley Bank’s HR Specialist, Linda Derocher, what she thought about myStaffingPro applicant tracking system.

What is your experience with using an applicant tracking system?
Using myStaffingPro was the first experience I had with using an applicant tracking system.  I love it!  The electronic application process we formally used was ineffective, cumbersome, and most importantly did not allow us to communicate with applicants as we moved through the interview/hire process.

How long have you been using myStaffingPro?
Since March of 2010

How has myStaffingPro affected your processes (i.e. cost effectiveness, time to fill, etc.)
We are just now starting to use HR Metrics to measure how MSP has affected our processes.  I do believe that the use of this software has had a positive impact on how we communicate with applicants.

What is your favorite myStaffingPro feature?
The HM feature.  I love forwarding application documents to hiring managers knowing the system will prompt them to review application documents if they fail to do so within the allotted time.

What would you say to other HR professionals about myStaffingPro?
Set up and customization of this software to mirror your present process is easy and simple!  If you are hesitant to adopt myStaffingPro because you don’t have time to learn another new software system don’t worry about that happening with MSP!

With all the time you have saved since using MSP, what do you do with your extra time?
Due to the effectiveness and efficiencies created by using this system I am doing the job of two HR employees.  A co-worker who was performing the same recruiting duties as me resigned and we made a decision not to replace her.  So, I can’t say that I have more extra time because we adopted MSP.  I can say I am able to meet the hiring needs of our company as a single recruiter because we are using MSP.

We would like to thank Linda for taking the time to tell us about her experience with myStaffingPro applicant tracking system.

Filed under: Applicant Tracking, Customer Reviews/Interviews, Why myStaffingPro? | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

2010 myStaffingPro Highlights

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Julia Friemering

We would like to thank all of our clients for another year of success and recommendations. In 2010, we were able to expand upon the functionality of myStaffingPro applicant tracking system by using your recommendations as a guide.  Over the course of a year, we added the following functionality to myStaffingPro:

Free Enhancements:

  • Free job board posting to Trovit.com
  • New Appbuilder PDF with a cleaner design, faster loading time, and a logo
  • Ability to mass update applicants when filling a req
  • New resource center where you can read, search, and ask questions about myStaffingPro
  • Ability to keep hiring managers, recruiters, and other users “in the know” with requisition specific auto-emails
  • Functionality to email or import resumes into myStaffingPro
  • Ability to “clean up” myStaffingPro with the archive requisitions functionality
  • A free scheduling tool to manage appointments
  • Expanded questionnaire functionality to collect veteran and disabled status

New Modules and Updates:

  • Improved Offer Approval module with a new applicant approval portal and the ability to preview the offer letter
  • Enhanced HM QR portal that enables hiring managers to select a reason for deselecting the applicant
  • Functionality to assign multiple hiring managers to a requisition
  • New Global Prescreening module which enables you to deliver prescreening questions based on location
  • Ability to collect and process WOTC through our partner MAXIMUS
  • Re-release of the Employee Referral module with the expanded capability to upload and parse the applicant’s resume into the contact fields

Coming Soon:

  • Revamped Build a List of Applicants with a more flexible interface to select, sort, and limit by over 30 system fields
  • myMenu/Dashboard redesign with widget-driven tools

Curious about myStaffingPro? Contact us to learn how you can utilize these tools to hire the best applicants faster. For more information about the SaaS applicant tracking system, myStaffingPro, please visit http://mystaffingpro.com.

Filed under: Applicant Tracking, Product Announcements, Product Development, Why myStaffingPro? | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Online Portals That Will Revolutionize Your Hiring Process

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Jennifer Brogee

Candidate Portal a.k.a. Your Career Site

One of the most important elements of your applicant tracking system, the Candidate Portal lists your job openings on your organization’s career site. With myStaffingPro, you get to choose the look and feel of your portal so candidates are comfortable with it as being a trusted part of your overall web site. From the portal, candidates can search for job openings, check the status of their application, or sign up to be notified for future openings. The Candidate Portal is the launching point for the online application – collecting the information that you want from your candidates, and creating an electronic application.

Internal Candidate Portal

The Internal Candidate Portal includes openings that only your internal applicants are eligible to apply for. You can choose to post jobs to just your Internal Candidate Portal, or to post them for a few days on the internal portal only, then to your external Candidate Portal. Your employees can check the status of their applications, or sign up to be notified when new postings are added to the portal.

Employee Referral Portal

The Employee Referral Portal leverages your best and most inexpensive source of applicants – your employees. How it works: Jobs that are available on your external Candidate Portal are also posted to your Employee Referral Portal. Your employees can then browse the jobs and submit potential candidates. When an employee submits a candidate, her name is tied to the application, so you can easily see who referred the new candidate. You have the option to either review the candidates or let myStaffingPro auto-email the candidates, inviting each one to fill out a complete electronic application. Either way, you can build reports identifying the referrals, so you can easily track and reward the employees who submitted candidates.

Hiring Manager Portal

With myStaffingPro’s Hiring Manager Portal, your hiring managers have access to only their own requisitions and candidates. You can customize the portal to give hiring managers the access they need – allowing them to enter feedback about an interview and request a background check, for example. Or, just give read-only access to hiring managers, so they can easily review the status of their applicants, and run reports. Flexible options allow you to configure the hiring manager portal around your specific hiring process.

New Hire OnBoarding Portal

Quickly and easily bring your new hires on board with the New Hire OnBoarding portal. New hires are invited to the portal via email. From the portal, they read information about the organization, step through W4 and I9 forms, review and sign documents, and enter additional information, such as emergency contacts. With myStaffingPro’s eSignature technology, new hires can legally, electronically sign documents, and the documents are stored in our secure document vault, with complete audit trail.

Vendor Portal

The Vendor Portal provides a simple and efficient way for your organization to work with external vendors such as recruiters. Each vendor is assigned a specific portal. You then choose which requisitions you want to push to which vendors. When a requisition is pushed to a vendor, an email with information regarding the new job opening is included. The vendor can then log into their portal to view additional information about the job opening and submit candidates. Candidates submitted are validated with a duplicate check, assigned the vendor as a source, and given a specific status. You can choose to be notified when each new candidate is submitted. Vendors appreciate the ease in submitting new candidates for consideration, and you save a ton of time!

Filed under: Applicant Tracking, Product Development, Why myStaffingPro? | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Maximize the Brain Power of your ATS

Posted on June 15, 2010 by Jennifer Brogee

I was sitting at my computer today, waiting (yet again) for it to respond to my mouse clicks, when I thought, “this computer is supposed to be able to process a million times faster than my brain can.  So why am I sitting here waiting for it to respond?”  The answer, of course, is that my computer’s software has outreached its hardware.

However, the same question can easily be asked of your applicant tracking system.  Are you letting it work for you?  Too often, I see an ATS used as just an online version of the file cabinet.  Anything going in and out requires manual intervention.   To get your system to work for you, close the door, turn off the phone, take a few minutes away from the constant demands on your time, and configure it to match your hiring process.  Below are some simple steps you can take.

1.  Status Emails

Configure your applicant tracking system to auto-send emails when candidates reach a certain stage in the hiring process.  For example, once the applicant has completed the online application, let the system auto-send a “Thank You” email.  When the applicant is moved to the status ”Eligible for Interview”, setup an automated email invitation to the interview.  If a requisition has been filled, configure your system to auto-send an email to all of the candidates who weren’t selected.

2.  Prescreening Questions

Automatically identify the top applicants by configuring prescreening questions.  Identify those questions that will absolutely knock the candidate out of the hiring process, such as a minimum level of education, and set those up to be automatic disqualifiers.  For other not-so-absolute criteria, setup scoring so that the best answer gets the highest score.  For example, five years of experience would get an score of 10, while no experience will get a score of 0.  Then, when you build your list of candidates, sort by that score and work with the top candidates.  Just be sure to apply your ranking criteria the same across a requisition.

3.  Hiring Manager Portal

Let your hiring managers add their requisitions and review only their candidates via a self-service hiring manager portal.  Access can be configured a variety of ways.  They will thank you for it and you will save a lot of time!

4.  Job Board Feeds

Your applicant tracking system should be able to automatically feed your job openings to job boards.  With just a few clicks, you can send your openings to the job board(s) of your choice, even to free job boards!

5.  Requisition Approval Workflow

With an automated requisition approval process, you can shave days off the normal approval time.  When a requisition is created, you can launch a routed approval workflow.  As each approver reviews and approves the requisition, the next approver is automatically notified.  If an approver doesn’t reply within a certain amount of time, the applicant tracking system will auto-email a reminder.  Once the approval workflow is completed, you have a log of all comments, with absolutely no manual intervention from you.

- Jennifer Brogee
Chief Information Officer

Filed under: Applicant Tracking Trends, Hiring Best Practices, Recruiting | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Get Feedback from your Hiring Managers!

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Julia Friemering

Over the years, we have heard a lot of recruiters talk about how difficult it is to receive feedback from hiring managers on an applicant. Most of them have stated that their struggles relate to:

  • Sending the appropriate applicant information to the hiring manager for review
  • Ensuring the hiring manager RECEIVES and READS the applicant information
  • Obtaining feedback on which applicants the hiring manager would like to move forward with
  • Coordinating interview schedules between the applicant and the hiring manager

To remedy the information tug-of-war, myStaffingPro applicant tracking system created the Hiring Manager Quick Response (HM QR) enhancement in 2008. Since its inception, HM QR has been enhanced to:

  • Send an applicant feedback request to the hiring manager(s) through email or text message
  • Provide hiring managers with a simple web based portal to review applicant information and insert their comments
  • Allow hiring managers to define their preferred interview times
  • Enable the applicant to schedule their interview and receive pertinent information
  • Send an email to the hiring manager with the applicant’s confirmed appointment slot and functionality to add the appointment to Outlook

To learn more about the myStaffingPro HM QR 3.0, join the informational webinar on May 27th at 1:00pm by registering at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/652925763

Filed under: Applicant Tracking, Product Announcements, Recruiting, Why myStaffingPro? | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Use Text Messaging to Communicate Easily with Your Managers

Posted on May 4, 2010 by Jennifer Brogee

Did you know you can use text messaging within myStaffingPro to quickly communicate with your managers?  With myStaffingPro’s Hiring Manager Quick Response, you can send requests for feedback to your hiring managers regarding one or more applicants.

Use Hiring Manager Quick Response to ask your managers which applicants they want to interview.  Or, request feedback from them after an interview has been completed.  Or both!  Our Hiring Manager Quick Response feature can be used for multiple phases of the hiring process.

With our Offer Approval workflow, you can also send requests for Offer Approval to your managers via email and text messaging, and let them easily review and approve or revise an offer.

Both features allow you, the HR professional, the ability to request information from your managers with just a few clicks.  Both features are compatible with smart phones and the iPhone.  All responses are recorded in myStaffingPro for easy review.  And when a deadline is missed, myStaffingPro sends friendly reminders!  No need for you to keep reaching out to your managers.

Filed under: Applicant Tracking, Product Development, Why myStaffingPro? | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Customer Feedback from SHRM

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Melisa Zachrich

Cultivating a strong recruiter/hiring manager relationship is crucial if your goal within the organization is to be a well-respected recruiter.  Most Applicant Tracking System (ATS) vendors have focused a lot of energy on improving the applicant experience and the back-end “recruiter as a user” experience, but many have missed the mark when it comes to helping recruiters leverage their ATS to build an efficient, collaborative relationship with their hiring managers.

Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down with a few of our clients and discuss this topic at length.  What we found out may surprise you.

  1. The average hiring manager to recruiter ratio (in our group of small to mid-sized companies) was 40 to 1!
  2. Most hiring managers don’t know what an applicant tracking system is and they don’t care to know.   
  3. Hiring managers don’t understand how to manage an applicant pool like recruiters do. (Which is why they need effective guidance every step of the way.)
  4. Getting feedback from hiring managers, even vague and untimely feedback, continues to be a major challenge for most recruiters.
  5. Attempting to “empower” the hiring manager by giving them access to manage their own requisitions and applicant pool via the ATS rarely works.  Eventually, they either become frustrated with the ATS (which probably was not designed with them in mind), overwhelmed with the amount of applicants they have to review and screen, or both.

So what is the solution?  An ATS agile enough to deliver timely and relevant candidate information (resumes, applications, candidate’s availability for an interview, etc…) to hiring managers in a simple-to-understand, easy-to-access, no-training-required platform would be a great start.  (Think, “I can’t remember my password or the URL to that resume application, what is it called?  The ATV?”).  The ability to collaborate seamlessly with hiring managers, say when scheduling candidates for interviews, would also be a real time-saver for the recruiter.  (It’s important to remember this is an iterative process of back and forth between one recruiter and multiple hiring managers.)  Finally, as our recruiters pointed out, if you can’t deliver it via a mobile devise, don’t bother.  These folks are on the move.  If they can’t review a candidate’s resume via their Blackberry or iPhone, good luck with the timely feedback thing.

Filed under: Applicant Tracking, Conferences, Product Development, Why myStaffingPro? | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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