Today’s job market has created a conundrum for growing companies. The landscape is rich with qualified candidates. But issue a want ad, and some statistics note that 200 applications are likely to respond.

How can any employer reasonably cope with that flood of candidates?

Those corporations, healthcare organizations and government departments using an applicant tracking system find they have a powerful, enterprise-wide job acquisition and talent management solution ideal for businesses in hiring mode – or even those that are fully staffed.

Today’s ATS provides web-based applicant tracking and candidate management systems that empower businesses with easy-to-acquire and easy-to-use tools to reduce costs and streamline business operations. They automate candidate application and resume management – and create an invaluable competitive advantage.

The solution starts at the beginning of the job requisition life cycle. Job requests entered into the system automatically are distributed to Indeed.com, SimplyHired.com and GoogleBase, expanding the reach of the company’s corporate career center and saving thousands of dollars in premium job board costs. Some ATS providers even leverage social media sites for locating applicants.

Once applicants begin responding, that’s where the magic occurs. Employers with an ATS solution in place make quick work of managing inbound resumes and pre-qualifying candidates. Even unsolicited resumes are handled easily and quickly. Every required form or document, from resumes to supporting documentation, is submitted online and stored on the host server. No more paper resumes and faxed applications, thereby simplifying handling, review and storage needs. Once reviewed, the candidate immediately can be entered into the prospect pool, or saved for future consideration.

The solution manages applications by categories, enables cross-department searches, facilitates job requisition approval chains, and allows for feedback on specific candidates from anyone in the organization– even if those submitting feedback aren’t paid users on the system.

What about the list of qualified applicants who weren’t hired? Companies used to delete or toss those applications. No longer. An ATS enables companies to retain documentation of pre-qualified applicants for when job openings arise. Just search – by geography, criteria, skills or other fields – from among the pool of highly skilled candidates who already have been vetted and met company criteria. Having this storehouse of candidates close at hand makes filling openings fast and easy.

An ATS also enables a company to be less reliant upon its human resources staff for such processes as forwarding applicants to appropriate departments or managers for review. The system collects and organizes information in a centralized database accessible not only to a particular HR staffer’s computer, but to anyone with account access.

A well-designed ATS also is highly scalable to meet the needs of a growing organization. Like many software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, the modern ATS is an evolving tool. New features and functionality that help users gain efficiency and streamline the candidate management process are added seamlessly. More recent additions include background check, onboarding and payroll functions. This makes today’s ATS an end-to-end solution for the entire candidate-to-employee life cycle.

Moreover, the best solutions feature a short learning curve. They’re staffed by experienced advisors with a wealth of knowledge about candidate management, and customer service representatives are standard as part of the service.

Simply put, a right-priced ATS application delivers leading-edge solutions and compelling return on investment. Starting at $100 a month, an ATS can be a cost-effective solution at a reasonable expense – regardless of whether your company is hiring today or tomorrow.

Via CollegeRecruiter.com …

There’s been an interesting discussion in the NACE JobPlace discussion list about the perception by many employers that students who do a more effective job of searching for employment opportunities will have a better chance of being hired.

I agree but caution those who believe that the best candidates are those who try the hardest to be hired.

Read the rest of the article >>

Via MercuryNews.com …

A recruiter who left Google last year says that the company had maintained a “do not touch” list of companies including Genentech and Yahoo, whose employees were not to be wooed to the Internet search giant.

That revelation could be significant in light of this week’s disclosure that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Google, Yahoo, Apple, Genentech and other tech companies conspired to keep others from stealing their top talent.

Read the rest of the story >>

Houston, TX – PreCheck, Inc.™ and Hirebridge LLC, today announced the integration between PreCheck’s background screening service and Hirebridge’s applicant tracking and hiring management system.  Through these system integrations, both companies are able to offer clients the five core integration components and as a result abridge the hiring processes for their clients.

“We saw this as a favorable partnership because both PreCheck and Hirebridge are committed to providing outstanding customer service, as well as offering customizable solutions to meet the unique needs of our healthcare clients,”  stated Bruce Smith, President and Chief Operations Officer at PreCheck, Inc.  “With over fifteen years of exclusive industry focus, PreCheck also brings valuable experience in recognizing our clients’ needs and providing innovative solutions.”

This partnership helps meet human resource departments’ demands of quickly staffing qualified individuals in their facility.  The full integration between PreCheck and Hirebridge allows human resources and hiring professionals to easily order background screening services and receive results through the applicant tracking and candidate management system.  Hirebridge provides the web-based application platform for applicants to apply for a job on any computer, anywhere in the world, while PreCheck delivers the background screening report which could include, criminal and sanction screening, employment, licensing and education verification, plus credit and motor vehicle registration checks.  These background check components are important when hiring individuals within the strict guidelines of the healthcare industry and promote patient and employee safety, along with assisting in risk mitigation for the healthcare facility.

“Our clients are consistently looking for ways in which they can reduce their costs and streamline their business operations.  Ease of use and efficiency of workflow are vital to them.  Partnering with PreCheck, enables us to offer a complete packaged solution that greatly reduces the inefficient, manual and repetitive tasks that are often present in running background checks,” stated Marc Berman, Chief Executive Officer for Hirebridge LLC.

Both companies offer a suite of cost-saving, web-based services that help streamline human resource departments’ daily tasks.

About PreCheck, Inc.

PreCheck Inc. is the nation’s leading provider of background verification and credentialing services for the healthcare industry. PreCheck provides healthcare organizations dedicated to patient safety with the information they need to verify and preserve the integrity of their people and programs.  PreCheck’s services for healthcare organizations expand beyond background verifications and credentialing to include innovative outsourcing solutions to handle employee sanction screening, professional license management, employment verification, vendor credentialing and student background screening.  For more information about PreCheck’s products and services, call 888-PreCheck (773-2432) or visit www.PreCheck.com.

About Hirebridge

Hirebridge, LLC, (http://www.hirebridge.com/) located in Coral Springs, FL, is a provider of web-based Applicant Tracking and Hiring Management Solutions. Its products and services includes Hirebridge Recruiter, a powerful, web-based applicant tracking and candidate management system that provides businesses with easy-to-acquire and easy-to-use tools to reduce costs and streamline business operations. Hirebridge has successfully deployed solutions for more than 125 leading companies, inculding GoDaddy.com, Chicos, White House|Black Market, Snowbird Resort, Menards, Maurices, Tulane University Hospital and Campus Management.

Contact:  Lindsey Reczek - lindseyreczek@precheck.com - 713.590.1139

If the belief that any press is good press holds true, Yale student Aleksey Vayner’s decision to create a self-promotional video resume will be deemed a huge success.

Let the debates begin (actually, they have and they are well under way):

• Student’s video resume has Wall Street howling (from MSNBC)
• Sagario: Quirky resume proves point: Never send a video (from DesMoinesRegister.com)
• Video Résumé Creates Web Hilarity (from theday.com)
• WorkBytes: Avoid bells and whistles on resumes (from ShreveportTimes.com)

Fifty-seven percent of hiring managers say they have caught a lie on a candidate’s application, according to an online survey by CareerBuilder.com.

Among hiring managers who say they have caught a lie, 93 percent did not hire the candidate. Forty-three percent of hiring managers say they would automatically dismiss a candidate who fibbed on their résumé. Others say it depends on the candidate and situation.

READ MORE >>

Here are some good resources for learning more about the US Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP):

OFCCP Website:
http://www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/

Frequently Asked Questions:
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/ofccp/faqs/offaqs.htm

WikiPedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OFCCP

Godfrey & Kahn (Law Firm):
http://www.gklaw.com/publication.cfm?publication_id=442

If you would like to submit and additional resources, please send us an email to info@hirebridge.com