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How to Manage a Candidate Pipeline: DIY vs. Third-Party Services
Building a strong candidate pipeline is the foundation of an efficient and successful hiring process. This list of interested and qualified candidates, with whom you stay in touch over time, will be the first people you call in the event of an open position. Instead of scrambling to find someone through the open job market, you can take your time interviewing candidates with whom you already have good rapport.
There are two primary approaches to managing your talent pipeline after sourcing candidates: DIY (Do-It-Yourself) or working with a third-party service like RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) or recruitment research firms (like Corporate Navigators). Each approach has its advantages, and the best choice ultimately depends on your company’s resources, hiring needs, and goals.
Option 1: DIY, aka Managing Your own Candidate Pipeline
Managing your own candidate pipeline requires initiative, creativity, and persistence. It costs less than hiring a third party service overall, but it definitely takes more time, which can slow down operational productivity if your staffing is limited or inexperienced. However, if you already have a recruiting department in-house and are familiar with pipeline management, DIY management can be a great solution for your business. Here’s how to go about it:
Organization: Store Your Information in One Place
After you build your candidate pipeline by collecting resumes, referrals, contact details, and candidate profiles, you can store this information in a simple database, like a spreadsheet. However, to make future communications easier and more streamlined, you can invest in an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or (Customer Relationship Management) CRM to organize your talent pool.
Not only do these systems have extra features to keep you organized, but you can also automate email messages and polls (such as “are you still interested in learning more about our company?”) at designated time intervals. With systems designed to keep track of each contact interaction, you can know when you called them last, if they opened your emails, and if they are actively engaged with your employer brand.
Keep in Touch: Plan Regular Engagement Intervals
The bulk of candidate pipeline management is done during the candidate development stage, in which you call each candidate one-on-one to determine interest with working with your company. This intensive period allows you to build a list of candidates you can organize into a database to continue to nurture in the future.
Thereafter, the work is less intense, but you till need to regularly engage with candidates through newsletters, emails, or other outreach strategies to keep them warm and interested in future opportunities. You may also continue to discover and add more candidates over time. It’s also inevitable that circumstances change for certain individuals and you would need to periodically update the candidate pipeline list.
Benefits of DIY Candidate Pipeline Management
- Cost-Effective: Since you’re not paying third-party management fees, the upfront costs of management are typically lower. However, this does not figure in the cost of in-house recruitment team salaries and CRM/ATS software monthly fees.
- More Control: You can manage the pipeline yourself and tailor it to fit your company’s needs without needing to speak with a third party. If your organization prefers to be high touch and directly involved in the talent acquisition journey, then DIY management is an excellent option to source and manage all the job seekers in your midst.
- Build Long-Term Relationships: During DIY pipeline management, you can develop direct relationships with candidates, which gives you the chance to better understand their skills, goals, and preferences. This can give you a strong pulse on the quality of hires and help you further refine your recruiting strategy.
The Challenges of DIY Candidate Pipeline Management
- Time-Consuming: Maintaining a talent pipeline manually can take significant time and effort…and you know the old adage, “time is money.” Managing a pipeline involves many phone conversations, ongoing database management, email automation, and adjusting information in an ATS or spreadsheet. If you do not have a dedicated and experienced employee to manage your pipeline, this task will take time away from other employees’ primary tasks.
- High Learning Curve: Effective networking, outreach methods, and candidate evaluation require skill and experience. If you want to make the most out of your talent pool, then it’s important to craft an excellent candidate experience through competent candidate pipeline management. This requires building up your staff’s experience through consistent training and education.
- High Cost of Software: While it’s possible to manage a talent pipeline through a cheap method like a spreadsheet, you can save more time with automating emails through ATS or CRM software. There are some cost-effective options out there, but they are usually the “free” versions of more sophisticated software that ultimately make the tasks easier. Overall, it pays to use the good software for optimal candidate management.
Option 2: Working with a Third-Party Service
If you prefer to focus on other aspects of your business while still building a robust candidate pipeline, working with a third-party service such as RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) or recruitment research firms (like Corporate Navigators) can save you significant time and effort. This can ultimately save you time and money, especially if there is a steep learning curve or no in-house recruitment support.
How Recruitment Outsourcing (RPO) Manages Your Pipeline
An RPO provider or Recruitment Research Firm can take on the responsibility of managing your candidate pipeline.They often use specialized tools and networks to build and maintain a strong pipeline of candidates tailored to your specific needs.
These firms also specialize in talent mapping and market research, helping you identify potential candidates before you even begin the hiring process. While RPO is ideal for high volume hires, recruitment research can be especially valuable for finding hard-to-reach, passive candidates, or specialized talent for senior or technical roles.
Expert CRM/ATS Management
When you hire a third party provider, they do everything on your behalf. In other words, you get to relax and focus on your business. They will take your list of candidates (or identify them on your behalf) and proceed to call them to verify interest and qualification. Then, your third party recruiters will organize each candidate’s information in a database and keep in touch with them at specific intervals, such as three or six month periods.
Touchpoints can be phone calls or emails in which your recruiter asks each candidate if they are still working at their current job, still opent o change, or not. They will keep track of posiiton changes, promotions, and interest levels. They can also source new candidates who could be good fits for future roles.
Benefits of Third-Party Services:
- Expertise & Efficiency: RPOs and recruitment firms specialize in candidate pipeline building, so they have access to advanced tools, networks, and strategies to accelerate and optimize the management process. If you need to fill open roles with the most qualified candidates, this is the way to go, especially if you’re starting from little experience.
- Faster Results: With their expertise, third-party providers can quickly build and maintain a candidate pipeline, saving you time on sourcing and screening. This maximizes your chance of shortening your time-to-hire and encountering top talent.
- Broader Reach: With access to large networks and databases, third-party services can often tap into a wider talent pool than you might be able to on your own. This helps you get the most qualified choices for your future job openings compared to DIY with a less experienced team.
Challenges of Third-Party Services:
- Cost: Third-party services come with associated fees, which can be higher than DIY approaches, especially if using RPO or high-level recruitment firms. However, you can save money if you select a recruitment research firm that doesn’t include placement fees (Corporate Navigators). This is a cost saving option if you are able to interview and onboard candidates in-house, since recruitment research firms only handle the core services of recruitment, not the full cycle.
- Less Control: Working with an external provider means you may have less direct control over the sourcing and screening process. However, it’s important to keep in mind that reputable recruitment firms will do their utmost to keep their clients updated frequently.
- Cultural Fit: External providers may not always fully understand your company culture, which can lead to mismatches in candidate selection. To circumvent this, hiring managers should take time to meet with their third party provider and give a detailed description of their ideal candidate profile, as well as information about their company and its values.
How Should You Manage Your Candidate Pipeline?
Building a candidate pipeline is a critical part of a successful hiring strategy, and both DIY and third-party approaches have their advantages.
- DIY Approach: Ideal for companies that want full control and have the time and resources to dedicate to networking, job postings, and building relationships with candidates. It’s cost-effective but requires consistent effort and expertise.
- Third-Party Services: Perfect for companies looking for expertise, faster results, and scalability. RPOs and recruitment firms provide a broader reach and can handle the heavy lifting of sourcing and screening candidates, but at a higher cost.
Many organizations can use a combination of both methods, relying on DIY approaches for ongoing talent engagement and leveraging third-party services for specialized roles or high-volume hiring needs. For whatever you need regarding talent pipeline management, feel free to reach out to us anytime!
