3 New Tools That Will Change Recruiting in 2015

As the year comes to a close it’s time for many of us in the tech industry to look ahead to 2015 and determine how we need to adapt and improve to build on this year’s success and avoid getting left behind by the latest trends. For entrepreneurs and hiring managers, one of your big focal points next year will likely be on building out your team. In that regard, it’s already shaping up to be a very exciting year. That’s because we are in the midst of a major technology shift within the recruiting tools industry, and it’s going to change the way you identify and hire top candidates.
Two significant trends, in particular, are already making an impact on hiring, and are set to play out in an even bigger way in 2015:

1. Companies are leveraging access to more and more candidate data to make their searches more targeted and efficient.
2. Sourcing is shifting to more centralized skill-specific talent pools.

Major players in the recruitment/talent acquisition software space are reacting to and driving these trends forward with new tools and functionality. What can we look forward to in 2015? Below, I’ve highlighted three tools that I am really excited about to keep an eye on — two new implementations from LinkedIn that are being tested and are targeting a 2015 release and the new platform from Gild that is tailored exclusively to IT engineering recruiting.
Each of these tools has a great opportunity to really impact the market and enable recruiters to better manage their searches and leverage big data to ensure they can accurately predict workforce shifts, changes, and trends.

1) LinkedIn Cultural Fit Assessment Tool

One of the as-yet-unnamed tools that LinkedIn will be rolling out next year focuses on the pivotal aspect of finding a candidate who is the right cultural fit for your organization. By looking beyond desired skills and qualifications and pulling in new data points such as a candidate’s involvement in other activities, groups, and communities, LinkedIn is hoping the new tool will be able to accurately identify candidates with greater chances of fitting in and thriving in your organization.
The tool will be heavily centered around trend analytics to help you identify the areas, schools, and other companies that you are targeting the most in your sourcing, as well as the common patterns and characteristics of new hires who have succeeded at your company. This makes it useful in different facets as well, such as diversity. If you notice a trend that you are hiring from specific areas or schools only, for example, you can then make a conscious effort to look in other areas where you can find great talent you may have otherwise missed. Being able to accurately visualize these trends and patterns will be a great addition to any recruiter’s toolbox.

2) LinkedIn Data Visualization Tool

Companies across all industries are increasingly leveraging Big Data to identify bottlenecks, areas of success, and areas for improvement. LinkedIn is looking to create a foundation for Big Data to be better utilized in the everyday recruiting efforts of talent professionals. Their second tool currently being tested will give recruiters the ability to access more information surrounding the candidate/employee pool in particular areas.
Other platforms have been very successful in compiling similar research. Payscale, for example, analyzes data for different geographic areas and provides a price point for compensation packages. LinkedIn is aiming to do the same thing, but providing data on the top schools, companies, and geography breakdown of the top candidates you are looking for.
The functionality of this product will be very similar to running a PayScale report, from my understanding. The report will allow recruiters and hiring managers to look at the geographical pool they are working in or, better yet, plan to be operating in. This can be a great tool for startups who are in the process of choosing an office location, enabling them to get an idea of the market they are putting themselves in for attracting and retaining top talent.

3) Gild: Intelligent Sourcing

Gild has really shifted the perspective on sourcing. Next year, the company looks to shake up how sourcing is done for technical engineering positions by scraping the internet to paint a more vivid picture of developers and their skills. Gild’s goal is to be able to implement a smarter system that allows recruiters to identify and hire better developers with a quicker time-to-fill.
The key aspect of this platform is that it will breakdown candidates in a more comprehensive manner, introducing hundreds of additional determining factors beyond the qualifications or programming languages they have listed on their profiles. Recruiters will be provided with two scores: one “Expertise” score based on the candidate’s capabilities and experience, and one “Demand” score, giving you an idea of how much competition there is for a candidate with that particular skill-set in the current market.

Bonus Tool: SmashFly

A great tool that we should also keep an eye on rolling into 2015 is SmashFly (disclosure: an OpenView portfolio company) and their all-in-one Recruiting Marketing Platform. The greatest aspect of having an all-in-one recruiting platform is the ability to organize and manage you job distributions, recruitment CRM, multiple career sites, social recruiting efforts, mobile recruiting, and your employee referral networks in one place.
There are a handful of unique features that SmashFly’s platform offers, but my favorite benefits are the end-to-end recruiting analytics and the full integration ATS ability. Not only do they enable you to utilize the data from a single search, but you can also access campaigns at multiple levels to better align budgets and resources for individual searches. The ability to fully integrate with any ATS is a great selling point for SmashFly and gives them open opportunity to directly impact and improve recruiting efforts across the board.

Keeping Pace in 2015

As you can see, there are several tools coming down the pipeline that should prove to be extremely useful for the talent community. The only downside that I can see is that the tools are heavily centered on a candidate’s social media presence. A key takeaway for job seekers is that maintaining an up-to-date and robust profile is more important than ever.
On the hiring side, being active online and staying abreast of the latest tools is also incredibly important as competition continues to rise.
Are there any recruiting tools that you are excited about for 2015? I would love to hear about them.