by Eric Covert, CTO
At SeasonedPros.ca, technology has always been an integral part of our processes. From day one our model was centered around building a roster of experienced professionals available for interim and fractional roles. My role, hired initially as a web programmer, was to enhance the existing tools, making the recruitment and matching processes as efficient as possible while preserving the human touch that defines quality in our service.
Early Adaptations: Building an In-house Platform
My journey here began as a web programmer, diving into an existing in-house platform with fundamental search and reporting capabilities. The goal was simple – enhance the tools to make it easier for our client services team to find and vet the best matches for our clients.
Over time, the platform’s capabilities were expanded, and integrations with external tools were established to automate communications, parse resumes, analyze website effectiveness, and more.
Evolving Technological Tools
A component of my position here is to research and stay up-to-date with advancements and trends in IT which can have a potential benefit if applied in our tech ecosystem. Around this time I was introduced to a relatively new software called RecruitCRM. Analysis of their offerings showed that they had developed a tool with much of what we had planned for our platform already in place.
There arrived a point where we had to make a decision. Although our custom-built platform was serving our needs very well, there were many ways it could be made better and extensive plans to do so were underway. The question was, would it benefit us, our clients, and our SeasonedPros to replace components of our existing ecosystem with the tools available from RecruitCRM? We chose to integrate RecruitCRM into our platform, as it offered a robust existing framework and their product was (and still is) undergoing continuous improvement. This move marked a shift in my focus towards honing the integrations between various tools in our tech stack, promoting efficiency and scalability.
Delivering on Our Promise for Clients
The meld of quality talent and technology-enhanced processes has been crucial in delivering our core value propositions – providing 2-4 qualified candidates within 10 business days. This capability has fundamentally changed the landscape of talent acquisition for our clients, enabling them to respond swiftly and confidently to their evolving business needs.
Enhancing Candidate Experience
For candidates, technology simplified the process of joining our roster. Features like resume upload, which auto-fills profile details, have made the onboarding process easier. Yet, despite the technological enhancements, maintaining a personal touch in our recruitment process has been imperative. The human element defines the quality of our service, and technology serves to enhance this, ensuring scalability without compromising on personal interactions.
Measuring Success and Looking Ahead
Metrics have played a crucial role in analyzing and enhancing our processes. For instance, evaluating the effectiveness of search terms used to fill a contract led to the development of a new Artificial Intelligence tool aimed at generating a list of search terms for any given position description. Metrics also allow us to judge the overall effectiveness of our services, such as our placement success rate, boasting an over 95% success rate. This serves as a testament to our incredible client services team, enhanced by the positive impact of technology on our recruitment services.
As we look ahead, the focus is on further honing the integrations between our tech tools, ensuring they continue to serve our evolving needs. Artificial Intelligence presents exciting possibilities, yet its implementation requires a thoughtful approach, ensuring it serves to enhance, not replace, the human element in our recruitment processes.
Challenges and Learnings
A notable challenge has been the parsing of uploaded resume files, with varying formats causing inconsistencies in data capture. If I had one suggestion for candidates, it would be to keep resumes simply styled with well-defined sections and headings. This will enhance their visibility on any recruitment platform that uses technology to parse their resume such as ours.
Our journey has reaffirmed the importance of focusing on the human element first, then employing technology to enhance those processes for scalability. The blend of technology with a personal touch has been the cornerstone of our tech-enhanced recruitment journey towards excellence at SeasonedPros.ca.
SeasonedPros.ca is an on-demand business talent source. Clients with an immediate need for experienced talent trust us to source professionals for fractional, interim and part-time roles. Each professional in our national database has 15+ years of business experience. We provide our clients 2-4 four vetted professionals in 10 business days or less.