How to Use HubSpot for Inbound Recruiting & Applicant Tracking

The job application and hiring process can be tedious and time-consuming for both the applicant and the company looking to hire. Why? Communication challenges and the complexity of the process are often to blame.

According to TalentLyft, 63% of candidates say they aren’t happy with employer communication during the application process, and only 25% of job candidates say their candidate experience is great.

As an employer, this is concerning – especially in today's competitive hiring environment.

So, how can you implement inbound recruiting while leveraging HubSpot as an applicant tracking system (ATS) to automate the communication process both internally and externally?

Inbound Recruiting

Similar to the inbound methodology for marketing, hiring managers and recruiters can use an inbound methodology to attract strangers, turn them into job candidates, and make impactful hires for the company. 

Utilizing the inbound recruiting methodology requires your company to think about the candidate experience at every stage.

• How do job seekers first find out about your company?
  
  Maybe it's a job board, a blog, or social media that gets the attention of a potential applicant.

• Once they're on your site, are there opportunities for them to interact with relevant content like a careers page?
  
  Try creating a video that highlights your company culture and gives reasons why talented people are attracted to be a part of your team.
   
• Do they have the ability to sign up for your talent network?
  
  By nurturing these relationships with leads who have shown interest in your company, you’re keeping them in the loop for when they decide it’s the right time for them to apply. 

• How do you turn these applicants into promoters?
  
  Give them opportunities to reflect on the application and interview process they had with your company. Surveys are a great way to do this as well as creating and cultivating a community that surrounds your open positions. 

Applicant Tracking in HubSpot 

An important part of the candidate's journey typically starts with an application.

Setting up HubSpot forms to capture documents like resumes and cover letters will help to keep information organized with a contact record.

Using hidden fields in forms will also help to designate different positions that people are applying for. 

Once your applicants are in the door, keeping track of the status of their applications and interviews can become a large task for your HR department and hiring managers.

Communicating both internally and externally while coordinating schedules, results of interviews, and offers oftentimes leads to things falling through the cracks or taking too much time. This can result in highly qualified candidates accepting other offers.

Creating a Hiring Pipeline

Creating a deals pipeline that emulates your hiring process gives visibility into where all applicants are in the hiring process and what you may be waiting on from your internal team.

By developing a centralized location for your hiring process, you’ll eliminate the need to follow up with multiple departments to find out the status of each applicant. 

Automating Communication

To start this process, workflows can be set up based on applicant submissions to create the deals that end up on your hiring pipeline.

Once these deals are created, automation can be used throughout the rest of the process, internal notifications that a new application is ready for review can be set up, and external emails can be sent to unqualified applicants.

If an applicant is qualified, an automated email can be sent with a HubSpot meetings link for the applicant to schedule time for another interview.

When your team is ready to send an offer to an applicant, it can be presented using a custom quote through HubSpot or through an integration. 

Implementing an applicant tracking system not only streamlines communication and keeps all applicant information in a single place, but it also provides a single view for hiring managers and HR departments alike to know where they’re at with all applications in the company.

Ready to see how HubSpot can help your recruiting and hiring process? 

Schedule time with our team today!