Optimized & automated recruitment events with a CRM (Candidate Relationship Management) tool

The value of well-organized events to the candidate experience

In recruitment, everything turns around making contact and nurturing relationships with promising talent. Events are an important part of the candidate experience. They enable candidates to make in-depth contact with their potential employer.

Problem: events take up a lot of time and resources. Two elements that HR and recruitment departments often lack. Not only is the event itself time-consuming for recruiters, but also the preparation and follow-up, as well as a myriad of small administrative tasks. What a pity! Because with the right tools at your disposal, it could be much easier.

Candidates expect professionalism from companies that organize job events

Recruitment events (whether digital or face-to-face), are very interesting contact points in the candidate's journey. It's not always necessary for everything to go perfectly right to leave a positive impression on attendees and start a long-term relationship with relevant talent. If small, unexpected incidents occur during the event, this lends an authentic impression and can even win sympathy points.

However, the whole administrative side of the event needs to run smoothly. Here, candidates have clear expectations. Incorrect invitations, misspellings of names, insufficient information or no response to questions are absolutely unacceptable and don't reflect well on the employer brand. But recruiters are human, and mistakes do happen: how can you avoid them?

Reduced workload, fewer errors: the benefits of automation

For instance, what can you do when the error rate in entering candidates' contact details increases with the stress of the event, or because of a heavy workload after the event? The solution is called “automation”.

When planning and organizing an event, recruiters are always faced with the same steps and tasks. Ideal conditions for automated processes! Successive manual activities can all be carried out at the same time by pressing a single button once. If this is good for the recruiters' well-being, it's perhaps even better for the candidate experience:

• the error rate drops to practically 0%,
• long processing times are avoided,
• recruiters can become more involved in the personalized relationship with their candidates.

A high-performance Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) tool helps them in this task.

What is an “automated process” (also known as a “workflow”)?

Workflow is a work process that always involves the same steps in the same order. Process automation consists in digitizing some (or all of the) steps and having them carried out automatically by a software.

Behind this “miracle” lies the simple principle of setting parameters in a CRM (Candidate Relationship Management) tool in the format: “IF X happens, THEN action Y is triggered”.

Each defined action therefore has a trigger. In event management, there are a number of predictable, linear workflows for which it's easy to determine the corresponding trigger and subsequent action. Once and for all!

Example: organize a “Recruiting Day” at your company

To organize a company recruitment day, you can set up a workflow.

The invitation is sent to a talent pool selected via the CRM tool. A link allows interested guests to access the registration form and sign up for specific workshops or conferences according to their interest. At the same time, they give their consent for their data to be treated. Registration (the "trigger") automatically initiates a sequence of actions, without the recruiter having to take any action of his/her own:

1. Talent pool registration and RGPD status are updated.
2. By selecting workshops, etc., the profile is tagged with the corresponding keywords.
3. Candidates receive confirmation of their registration and other important information about the event by email.
4. A reminder is sent shortly before the event. A second form is used to request additional information to enhance the profile.
5. After the event, a series of individual messages starts automatically, beginning with “Thank you very much for your participation”.
6. This is followed by further information based on the new profile data and notification of job offers matching the profile.

Automation, job creation and events: don't forget online events!

Online events, such as webinars or virtual job fairs, can also be organized more efficiently using automated workflows.

Every candidate action - whether registering for the event, requesting the presentation shown during the webinar or signing up for a newsletter - can act as a trigger to activate a predefined process.

Ideally, this process leads to an application without having to write follow-up e-mails, manually enter talent data or update distribution lists. Candidates benefit from smooth, professional communication, and recruiters from a considerable reduction in their workload.

How do you set up workflows for your job events?

Even an automated workflow can't be completely effortless. To save yourself work later on, you first need to invest some time in preparing and implementing this process within your Candidate Relationship Management tool. Here's how it works:

• Step 1: First create a talent pool for the event concerned. This allows you to bring together all the participants in the target group. Tags and filters can then be used to fine-tune the target group and approach candidates individually during the campaign (especially during invitations and follow-up emails).
• Step 2: Create a talent form. You can choose the information you wish to request from participants. In addition to contact data, education or experience... topics concerning the company in which the talent is interested can be useful. At the same time, this form allows you to obtain consent for data treatment.
• Step 3: Design a confirmation e-mail that participants will receive when they register. Ideally, you can already use a template you've created for other campaigns. You don't need to start from scratch every time: you can simply save successful layouts or texts as templates, share them with your colleagues and reuse them. This way, you not only increase efficiency, but also ensure that the team communicates consistently with talent.
• Step 4: Create a workflow for your event. Thanks to the “if, then” principle, the CRM tool takes care of the rest. This means, for example: IF a talent registers, THEN he/she is automatically assigned to the appropriate talent pool and the confirmation email is sent.

Automation and CRM: the winning duo for your Talent Acquisition strategy

A high-performance Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) tool offers optimal conditions for setting up automated workflows at different levels of the recruitment process. Communication campaigns targeting talent free up recruiters' time for higher value-added assignments.

👉 Find out more: ATS + CRM: 2 high-potential tools for converting talent into candidates

CRM also makes it possible to stay in touch with a large number of potential candidates even before the recruitment process begins, and to turn passive talent into active candidates. Thanks to smooth processes and a modern, targeted approach to candidate relations, it strengthens the employer brand image and makes the company attractive.

👉 Want to understand how CRM works? Request a demo