As pandemic conditions persist, the job market will also continue to fluctuate, and increased applicant volume sometimes puts a strain on the administrative workload associated with recruiting. Historically, when recruiters get overextended, the candidate experience is the first thing to suffer. Knowing this, let’s explore how to navigate applicant volume to reduce the burden on talent acquisition teams without sacrificing quality or compassion.

There are three main factors to consider with nearly every business function: people, process and product. In talent acquisition, you have recruiters, hiring managers and candidates to account for, each with a unique role. When applicant volume is up, you need to help recruiters to improve the experience for everyone involved. Sounds easy enough, but without adding hours to the day or bringing in additional recruiters, there’s not much you do for people that doesn’t involve process or product.  

Process and product go hand in hand. By most accounts, when candidate volumes increase, process needs to evolve accordingly and making that happen will almost always involve product. To maintain quality and compassion throughout hiring, the product needs to support the process and, in turn, people. See where this is going?

Product plays an integral part in recruiting these days, enabling teams to do more with less. With the right tools in place, making process more efficient and people more effective is possible. Less time spent on administrivia means there is more available for connection and communication. Take scheduling. Everyone knows how difficult it can be to coordinate schedules, especially across geographies. That’s why Tope Awotona built Calendly. Likewise, for applicant volume. We created Wedge to solve an obvious problem that’s become all the more obvious in recent months: screening job seekers faster while preserving the candidate experience.  

The “now what” of where we are means something has to give. So, use this moment to identify the pain points. Are recruiters inundated with resumes? Are they losing touch with the candidates they’re eager to engage? Are phone screens eating up entire days of the week? Work through the people, process and product, knowing that minor changes often lead to big results, like reducing time to hire from 60 days down to 32. Now, imagine turning those thousands of applicants into a few good hires.