For some staffing firms, good candidate response rates resemble MLB batting averages. If a recruiter gets a 25% response rate from passive candidates, it’s presumed that person surpasses most of the competition. However, since 6% of recruiters consistently get response rates of 50% or better, there are clearly ways to use strategy and smarts to increase the odds of getting more frequent replies.

Beyond adopting industry best practices, top recruiters benefit from staffing software that anticipates the challenges associated with earning candidate responses and provides solutions that overcome them.

Reach Candidates at the Best Time

Reaching passive candidates depends heavily upon getting your message seen by target candidates when they are most receptive. Each industry will have its minor differences in when that messaging sweet spot happens, but certain trends tend to prevail.

Most people are in the habit of checking emails when they wake up, so scheduling an email for 6am is surprisingly effective. Additionally, most people want to get some productivity out of their commute home or as they wind down their day, so sending messages between 7pm and 10pm tends to also boosts candidate response rates.

However, if you expected recruiters to always work those hours, they would almost never be unplugged from the job. Using staffing software that integrates with your email platform not only simplifies their ability to schedule messages when candidate response rates will be highest, but it boosts continuous productivity. That way, recruiters can craft messages uninterrupted when candidates are less likely to be available for calls (around 10am and 3pm).

Better Personalize Your Messaging

Even messages that are perfectly timed need to captivate the audience. Candidate response rates plunge whenever the recipients are smacked over the head with obvious form letters. Though writing a 100% customized letter for each candidate consumes time needlessly, skillful recruiters find a way to balance targeted customization, a bit of personality, and pre-set details about the position in each message.

All of a recruiter’s preliminary research pays off during this stage. Knowing defined information about a candidate’s skill set, work history, education, and even passion projects helps to write introductory sentences that show you paid attention to their resume and/or LinkedIn profile. Additionally, making your sales pitch as quickly as possible (no one wants their time wasted with a novel length InMail), increases candidate response rates significantly.

Your staffing software comes into play in gathering the details you need to appeal to candidates. Recruiting software automation helps to parse resumes online, sending applicable candidates into your database as soon as you post a job. That way, recruiters are relieved of tedious data entry and get more time to craft the pitch perfect message.

Get Mass Messaging Down to a Science

After making successful first contact with candidates, recruiters earn themselves a little more leeway with mass messaging. Though most recipients will still be deterred by a shameless form letter, a message that at least accounts for their top skills and experience will boost candidate response rates.

In these instances, staffing software that quickly parses through your internal database for the most apt candidates is indispensable. Being able to confidently send a more generalized message that appears custom requires the ability to retrieve resumes that fit a position’s major requirements to a tee. And if your staffing software uploaded resumes automatically into an intuitive interface, your recruiters will be able to fine-tune even the more massive mailings they send out.

Empowering Recruiters to Hit Higher Candidate Response Rates

With the possibility for recruiters to increase candidate response rates well within reach, the choice of which staffing software to use is an important one for any decision maker. Smooth functionality and the ability to automate more tedious aspects of a recruiter’s role frees up their schedule for more productive tasks, helping them to get more placements as the competition struggles to even get their foot in the door. Staffing software can be just the batting coach needed to raise the chances of making a connection every time you take a swing.

Ultra-Staff Staffing Software is designed to solve the greatest challenges facing the staffing industry today. We are constantly adding cutting-edge features to our software to provide our customers an evolving edge over the competition. Request our staffing software demo and see first-hand how your recruiters can amplify their success with the best talent on the market.