Since 2014, Germany-based SaaS-based recruitment solutions provider softgarden has regularly conducted surveys on recruitment and employer branding. After applying through their Applicant Tracking System (ATS), applicants are immediately surveyed. “In this way, we have already surveyed over 40,000 candidates online”, CEO Mathias Heese says.
“Skilled employees have become a scarce resource and candidates are aware of their strong market position.”
“Our studies show that the topics of the job market, job search and job application have changed fundamentally”, he continues. “Candidates’ expectations have fundamentally changed. Skilled employees have become a scarce resource and candidates are aware of their strong market position. This means that in most job markets, candidates choose their employers, rather than the other way around.”
softgarden’s comprehensive TA suite
Founded in 2003, softgarden offers companies a range of solutions to optimise their recruitment for employers and industries of various sizes. With a presence in the DACH region as well as other European markets such as France, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, softgarden offers its clients a comprehensive Talent Acquisition Suite that includes an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and Employer Branding solutions.
“Our ATS is designed with the candidate experience and needs in mind, employers shorten their recruiting processes by more than half.”
“In recent years, we have adapted these solutions to the changing recruitment market”, Heese adds. “The best candidates do not stay long on the job market and are very impatient about how long the recruitment process takes. Our ATS is designed with the candidate experience and needs in mind, employers shorten their recruiting processes by more than half. Moreover, we allow for a solution with which employers can intuitively design a compelling career site, independent of external agencies, to generate applications and convert jobseekers into employees.”
‘Candidates pay attention to reviews’
According to Heese and softgarden, the rise (or norm) of online shopping behaviour is also translating onto the behaviour candidates show when applying for a job. “In other words, they pay attention to employer reviews and ratings and want the online application process to be easy”, Heese explains. “The same principles of e-commerce apply to digital recruitment today.”
“Our research tells us that candidates place particular value on this transparency, as well as on ratings by other candidates and employees.”
It led to softgarden’s decision to build their Employers Reviews Module on a foundation of transparency — allowing users to integrate KPI’s of the different stages into a career page. “Our research tells us that candidates place particular value on this transparency, as well as on ratings by other candidates and employees. These can also be integrated on the career page and in the job advertisements. In order to continuously generate verified reviews and strengthen their reputation as an employer.”
‘We are setting standards in the recruitment industry’
softgarden currently serves over 3,500 international customers, after acquiring internal HR process solutions provider absence.io in August 2021. “As an international provider of SaaS-based recruitment solutions, we help companies attract the best candidates to their workforce digitally”, Heese says. “In doing so, we focus on the needs of recruiters and candidates as well as current e-commerce standards — in terms of the speed of processes and the integration of assessments. With this approach, we are setting standards in the recruitment industry.”
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