That’s a hard “no” from all of us at ATR International.

Not all recruiters are created equal. But the differences that matter most to candidates and companies aren’t always apparent at first glance, requiring a bit more investigation. For example, did you know that less than 7% of all staffing firms have a recruiting process that is certified for quality assurance? That means more than 93% of staffing firms aren’t operating against any real standard of quality!

ATR knows a thing or two about standards, being the very first quality-certified staffing firm in the U.S. We set the tone for an entire industry, so in the interest of transparency, we’d like to show you the reason why. Meet TruRecruit, one of the nation’s first ISO-certified recruiting processes, established in 1995. Although the ISO is no longer offered nationally, ATR has built upon TruRecruit since its inception to make it the finely tuned process it is today—a process that remains a high benchmark for the recruiting industry.

A TruRecruit Primer

Put simply, ATR’s TruRecruit is a system built to provide organizations with the best candidates as quickly as possible, which helps drive projects, departments, and entire companies forward. The right contractors can make a big difference to an organization’s bottom line by increasing productivity and decreasing downtime.

And if you’ve worked with other staffing firms, you may have experienced some roadblocks in finding the right fit for your needs. Most firms flood you with resumes, take too long to reply to inquiries, and often present candidates that don’t match the job description. TruRecruit was built from the ground up to buck these trends.

Blueprint for Success

It all starts when a client submits a job requirement. We use top sourcing methods, which are constantly updated as new technologies become available. Next, we enter candidate resumes into our own database to maintain a huge pipeline of talent. During the initial interview, our recruiters ask candidates a specially tailored series of questions to cover criteria specific to the skills and certifications required for the job.

We leave no stone unturned—in addition to assessing any future legal ramifications that could arise, we delve into the candidate’s personality to give your company stakeholders a total snapshot of the person who will be entering into your culture. Salary expectations and any other special requests are also notated for future reference. It’s safe to say that we’re detail-oriented!

Once a candidate is hired, we upload all of their assignment information into our database. Our recruiters use this information to follow up every two weeks with talent to ascertain any legal or interpersonal issues, an extra preventative step that benefits all parties involved. This enables us to ensure a solid culture fit for our candidates and to mitigate liability for our clients. No matter what end of the transaction you’re on, once you engage with ATR and TruRecruit, you’re under our wing for the duration of an assignment.

Other Differentiators

The main factors that separate TruRecruit from other staffing firms’ methods are attention to detail and dedication to the people we serve—both clients and candidates. But beyond that, our system is backed by more than 33 years of recruiting experience. We’ve been a cornerstone in Silicon Valley from the very beginning, and as a result, we know what innovative tools and optimized systems.

Speaking of which, the technology that fuels TruRecruit is still considered leading-edge even today. Our proprietary software—named “Riley” after our CEO’s dog—acts as the central nervous system for our quality-certified process. The system was developed to automatically create and update requisitions on the ATR website, adding seamless organization to the application process. Based on a modified version of FileMaker Pro, Riley helps us track applicants, data, and CRM for our clients. It’s the infrastructure our recruiters depend on to keep sight of goals and keep in touch with candidates.

More Than Just a System

TruRecruit represents our dedication to treat each and every candidate with intention. Through this trustworthy, repeatable process, we bring contractors under the ATR umbrella to make them feel like they’re part of our organization.

In the past, most staffing firms were viewed as interchangeable. Companies simply engaged a handful of firms, distributed their job requirements to each one, and waited for the deluge of resumes. Some resumes were good, some of them were not. And some firms that seemed reliable at first faded away without a word over time, leading to many of the staffing industry stereotypes we now endure. TruRecruit is our attempt to make these issues a thing of the past.

We’ll say it again: not all recruiters are created equal. And thanks to TruRecruit—our quality-certified, end-to-end recruiting methodology—we can show you that maxim in practice.

If you’re looking to hire talent, you can do so with confidence utilizing our repeatable quality processes. Hiring managers no longer have to wonder about the quality of their candidates or speed of delivery. Both have been built into the process. We’re proud of this highly repeatable and thoroughly documented set of procedures, and we look forward to putting them to work for you to achieve quick turnaround times and qualified placements that drive your business.

Ready to work with a staffing firm that continues to set the tone for industry quality? Reach out to ATR to benefit from TruRecruit today!

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The post The World’s First Quality-Certified Recruiting Process: ATR’s TruRecruit appeared first on ATR International.

Angelique Alvarez, Head of Supplier Diversity & Inclusion, who made SIA’s DE&I Influencers List in 2021 and hosts a podcast on diversity, cites ATR’s unique perspective as a driving force behind making the list.

“Diversity at ATR has never been just a strategy or an initiative to check boxes,” she said. “It’s a way of life for us, and it’s been that way since we opened our doors. We’ve always taken it upon ourselves to mirror the rich diversity of the communities in which we work and serve. It’s great to have that dedication to authentic diversity recognized by SIA.”

ATR was founded by immigrants in 1988 and has grown into a woman-led, Hispanic-owned business whose leadership team is currently 90 percent female—a notable achievement in California’s male-dominated Silicon Valley. The company has worked diligently to build strong relationships in the Minority Business Enterprise community over the course of its history, and the efforts have paid off. In addition to making SIA’s list for 2022, ATR’s recent award-wins include a 2022 Stevie Award for Ethics in Sales, a Latinx Business Leadership Award from Silicon Valley Business Journal in 2021, and numerous others.

“Being named to SIA’s list of diversity-owned staffing firms makes me proud of how far we’ve come as a champion for underrepresented people in our business,” said Andrea Brenholz, CEO and President of ATR. “My sincere hope is that this list gets even longer in the near future as more entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds take a chance to pursue their dreams. I’m hoping we can all work together to push this industry forward into a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable future.”

About ATR International

ATR International is a staffing and consulting leader and Minority Business Enterprise for the IT, engineering, accounting and finance, professional, manufacturing, and scientific industries. Founded in 1988, it has grown to serve both small and Fortune 500 organizations while delivering next-generation recruiting that enables businesses and communities to thrive. ATR has won a number of awards recognizing its business success and diversity and was previously crowned the NMSDC Supplier of the Year. For more information, visit www.atrinternational.com.

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ATR & The Stevie Awards for Ethics in Sales

The post ATR Recognized on SIA’s Prestigious List of Diversity-Owned Staffing Firms appeared first on ATR International.

The Sales Partnerships Ethics in Sales Award recognizes organizations for best practices and achievements in demonstrating the highest ethical standards in sales. Nominees submitted specific examples, case studies, and practices, illustrating why their organization should be considered an excellent practitioner of both successful and ethical sales. This year’s award looked at accomplishments since the beginning of 2020.

“We are overjoyed and grateful to receive this recognition,” commented Laura Munson, VP of Sales & Strategy at ATR. “The last few years have not been easy, but our team has worked tirelessly to cultivate direction relationships, committed to meeting our clients’ needs while respecting their decisions, whatever the outcome. We put our clients first, day in and day out.”

Maggie Miller, President at the Stevie® Awards, said she is looking forward to having the longtime Stevie® Awards sponsor present these awards during the May 11th virtual awards ceremony of the Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service: “We are gratified that Sales Partnerships has decided to recognize those who not only succeed in sales at their organizations, but who do so in a particularly ethical manner. The judges were especially impressed with those organizations that increased their ethical practices while others were facing the hardships of COVID-19. We congratulate all the 2022 Stevie® winners.”

About ATR International

ATR International is a staffing and consulting leader and Minority Business Enterprise for the IT, engineering, accounting and finance, professional, manufacturing, and scientific industries. Founded in 1988, it has grown to serve both small and Fortune 500 organizations while delivering next-generation recruiting that enables businesses and communities to thrive. ATR has won several awards recognizing its business success and diversity and was previously crowned the NMSDC Supplier of the Year. For more information, visit www.atrinternational.com.

About Sales Partnerships

Sales Partnerships, a sponsor of the Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service program, is one of the most-awarded B2B field sales and marketing outsourcing organizations in North America. They partner with respected brands to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical market challenges, and accelerate revenue. Their customized approach combines deep insights into territory and customer data, the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that their clients achieve sustainable revenue and market growth goals. Founded in 1997, Sales Partnerships is a private company with field teams in more than 100 markets. For more information, visit www.salespartnerships.com.

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The post Winner of Sales Partnerships Ethics in Sales Award Announced appeared first on ATR International.

Staffing Jobs Overall

Let’s start with three great reasons why staffing jobs in general are so rewarding:

Independence, flexibility, and a dynamic work environment

Staffing jobs and recruiting roles easily mesh with remote work. Pre-pandemic geography was not a barrier and we actively sought out employees regardless of proximity to an ATR office. Obviously, we continue to look for great people no matter where they live or might work. The job responsibilities allow for flexible hours and independence in execution. No two days are alike in staffing, and no two clients are, either. One day you’re working with a leading telecom company, the next with a global pharmaceutical giant. It’s interesting and exciting work.

Staffing professionals are always in high demand

This is a career with job security. Demand for hiring and the need for people to work isn’t going away. If anything, it’s going to get more intense. Those hiring and those seeking jobs both need your help. If you want to be an in-demand professional and have a high level of job security, this is the career for you! 

It is incredibly rewarding

This is the best part of most staffing jobs: In the end, we are always making people happy. Clients are thrilled when they find the professional they need—no one likes to be understaffed, and having a full team can be the difference between success or failure. Placing a consultant in a job they need and want is even more rewarding. You see and feel the difference that you are making in people’s lives every day. Meaningful work is one of the top five things people are looking for in a job, a desire that has increased over the past two years.

ATR in Particular

Now let’s look at three reasons why ATR specifically is the ideal destination for your staffing career:

ATR is a “Goldilocks Firm”

We’re just the right size! We aren’t so big that you get lost in the shuffle or feel like a cog in a system. We’re a connected, supportive team that stays in touch and works together while offering autonomy in how and when you get things done. And while we’re small enough to provide an intimate working environment, you’ll still get the chance to work with some of the most prestigious and successful companies around. Plus, we provide a competitive salary and benefits package.

Professional development opportunities

We provide training where needed and help you grow and develop your staffing industry skills and expertise. We encourage ongoing learning at all levels, and as you become more experienced, you’ll have opportunities to mentor and develop others. Our team-based approach to client service can also help you gain leadership skills and manage your own team. If you are an experienced recruiter or staffing professional, your best opportunity to further your career is waiting at ATR.

Get promoted faster

If you’re smart and a hard worker, you can probably advance sooner at ATR than at many larger staffing firms. Your responsibilities will increase as your knowledge and experience does. There is a clear path from sourcer to recruiter, and once you reach that point, you can become a team leader, sales rep, account manager—anything is possible! We want to see our people succeed, so we promote from within as much as possible while always keeping watch for talented, experienced recruiters elsewhere. Whether you’re just starting out or a seasoned professional feeling like a change might be good, we’d love to hear from you.

If you want to work in an environment where “variety” is the word of the day and your job is helping people, the staffing industry is calling! If you want a position with flexibility, autonomy over your daily responsibilities, and the ability to work remotely, the industry could be a great fit for you. Finally, if that all sounds good and you want to work for an established firm that combines the benefits of a close-knit, team-focused workplace with great opportunities for learning and advancement, then ATR is where you want to be. Come join us!

Ready to take the first (or next) step in your staffing career? Check out our open positions today and join the team!

The post Six reasons to consider a staffing career at ATR appeared first on ATR International.

In the first episode, I was interested to see that during the elimination round, instead of having each dish presented by the chef who cooked it, the plates were delivered by waitstaff so none of the judges knew who cooked what. It was a blind tasting and ensured that the judging was based solely on the quality of the dish, the success of the chef in creating delicious food, and no other factors.

Which got me thinking about the parallels between Top Chef and hiring – in particular, hiring diverse candidates, a goal that so many companies are focused on. It reminded me of the importance of recognizing the role that unconscious bias can play. It also showed me how we can improve hiring by designing things to eliminate bias as we try to evaluate and judge job candidates rather than chefs.

Blind taste tests are not new – think of the Coke/Pepsi commercials, or taste tests where you don’t see the label or the price. These all acknowledge the same thing; we prejudge things, we have hidden biases. We think more expensive things are automatically better or we favor brands we are familiar with. The gotcha moment is when someone can’t tell the difference or chooses the less expensive version.

The blind tasting forced the judges to consider only the food without knowing whether it was cooked by a 5-star Michelin chef or the owner of a food truck. What if we looked at resumes the same way? What if we judged candidates only on their abilities, not the name of the college they graduated from or the company they used to work for? What if we didn’t know a candidate’s name or gender when we screened their resume?

The results of blind tastings tell us that it makes a difference. Some of us are paying more for soda than we need to. Unconscious bias is at work in other places too. Which means that we are preferencing some candidates and likely both paying more than we should in some situations while also ignoring quality candidates who don’t fit our name brand expectations.

So, what can we do? We can take a page from Top Chef and figure out how we can improve hiring by making our processes more neutral. Design things to eliminate or at least alleviate the biases in all of us that are at work.

Screen Resumes Blindly

Like Top Chef, we can remove identifying personal information from resumes and just look at the skills and experience. There is software for this, from simple tools on up. AI is already doing some remarkable things in terms of screening and evaluating candidates at this early stage and the future is very promising. One of the challenges of AI is to ensure our biases are not written in, but it still can be useful. Removing the kinds of information that tend to trigger a reaction can make a difference.

Test People

One lesson from Top Chef is the importance of actually testing people. The whole show is premised on the idea that they all look good on paper, but which chef can deliver delicious food at each “test?” Testing should be a part of the hiring process for everyone. Not just to eliminate bias and help fairly evaluate people but simply because it will truly help hire the best candidates. Simulated experiences show how a person reacts, thinks or doesn’t think, and solves problems in real time. You don’t hear about what they can do, you see it. Again, software and AI can do amazing things. Testing can give you impartial results that you can benchmark against the job requirements.

Interview Purposefully

Even once you’re interviewing candidates and it is no longer anonymous, there are things that can help counteract unconscious bias. Having a predetermined set of questions that each interviewer follows can be useful. This way you have similar data to evaluate from each person. It’s also a good idea to have multiple people interview and evaluate candidates. More and more companies are adopting a 360 approach, meaning not just managers, but peers and direct reports meet with candidates. Having many viewpoints from a diverse group of people can help reduce the effects of unconscious bias or preference.

Perhaps the most important thing to learn from Top Chef is that unconscious bias is real and creeps into many places, but it can be counteracted. We can do things about it. Simply acknowledging it is a start. Taking action to change things is the next step. We live in a complex world with complex problems but doing things differently, even small things, can be the start of the solution.

The post Top Chef and Unconscious Bias – How We Can Improve Hiring appeared first on ATR International.

Need to know the most up-to-date salary levels for technology roles in our region? We’ve got you covered, but this guide is more than just a collection of numbers. While compensation figures will help you make the right decisions for your business, you need more than that to truly be empowered. That requires taking a step back to see the full picture, looking at the employment stats and trends truly shaping technology hiring in Silicon Valley.

Several hard-to-ask questions have to be answered to accomplish that: Is the technology industry still as strong as it once was? Are people moving out of Silicon Valley? Is remote work helping or hurting the employment market? And are companies finally taking diversity seriously? The answers are enclosed, and they’ll do more than just give you hope; they’ll give you a blueprint for your 2021. They’ll empower you to determine an appropriate salary, but they’ll also open your eyes to the real story of Silicon Valley and not just the one the news focuses on.

This wide-angle view helps you recruit the skilled professionals who can maximize your company’s opportunities, and we should know. ATR has been here for 32 years, and we’ve seen it all. We know that things will be ok as long as we stay informed and adapt to a shifting market. Silicon Valley’s technology industry outlook is still strong, but it’s strongest when we come together to share our perspectives.

To access the insights and compensation figures that will shape your 2021, fill out the form below.

The post Hiring Managers: Download Your Free 2021 Silicon Valley IT Salary Guide appeared first on ATR International.

It’s an easy question to ask, but a very difficult one to answer. After all, it can singlehandedly shed light on inefficiencies in your interviewing, vetting, and onboarding processes. Given how common this question is, it’s clear that candidate fit is something businesses everywhere struggle with.

In light of ATR’s 30-year successful staffing track record, I’m often asked how we’re able to ensure the candidates we present are such great fits.

Why Culture and Personality Matter

A business cannot hire for candidate fit without first understanding why culture and personality matter and how they work together. In many industries, especially ones like IT, there is a huge emphasis on hard skills. That makes sense; after all, a Data Scientist may not be able to fulfill the responsibilities of a role if they don’t have the right education, certifications, and experience. With such low unemployment rates across all sectors, it’s also clear that companies are in dire need of talent. Businesses require a skilled individual as fast as possible so they can avoid leaving a role vacant, hurting their productivity and bottom line.

This is the crux of many hiring managers’ problems. It creates tunnel vision that almost exclusively focuses on matching resumes to job responsibilities while neglecting cultural fit. After all, hiring a certified expert in any role will be meaningless if that person causes conflict, doesn’t work well with your existing teams, or ends up quitting after two months. In fact, studies show that when a new hire doesn’t work, 89% of the time it’s because of difficulties integrating into the workplace.

High-performing teams are the ones that get along. They excel at helping each other out on hectic days, communicating the status of projects clearly, and collaborating on solutions to problems. On top of that, every company has a unique corporate culture. Some may be more traditional and reserved while others emulate the colorful nature of Facebook or Google. Even within the same company, there can exist a different culture in different departments or different office locations. While there is no “right” culture that works for every organization, selecting talent based on your specific culture is how to reduce turnover, boost productivity, and enjoy a stronger hiring process.

How ATR Achieves the Right Fit

In order to understand what will make the right fit for your culture, ATR focuses on communication and education. We build relationships with our clients in order to dig in and reach an understanding of your culture and what type of talent thrives in your environment. The reason that ATR often unlocks cultural fit when a client has struggled to is because of our perspective. While you’re living your culture, we can see that culture the way candidates do. After all, candidates are outsiders before they become employees. Understanding and communicating these different viewpoints can help you discover parts of your culture you’re too close to fully see the impact of.

Education means learning as much as we can about your company. Talking directly to hiring managers and the supervisors who will oversee the new employee goes a long way. Taking what we see as the right fit and blending it with what you see as the right fit requires collaboration and discussion. However, determining an ideal candidate profile also means aligning hiring with company goals. Some organizations think they need a certain type of talent simply because a role is open, but after strategic discussion, they realize a different resource would better help them achieve their goals. The more information ATR is able to pull out of a client, the easier and faster it is for us to find that right fit. If there’s a secret to our success in staffing, that just might be it.

Finally, I can’t talk about cultural fit without also discussing the role our recruiters play. All members of our recruiting team are skilled, but they each possess their own specialties. When engaging with a client, we make sure the appropriate recruiters are assigned to accounts that will benefit from their exact knowledge and skillset. For example, if you’re a financial company, we make sure one of our recruiters who has worked with Fortune 500 financial institutions is working with you. This sets a strong foundation and starting point for the relationship, making all those subsequent conversations about cultural fit even easier.

Forming an Accurate Picture of Candidates

All the above activities make sure we’re on the same page with our clients, understanding exactly the type of talent needed. While that is most of the battle in hiring, it’s not the whole battle. The way we work with our candidates ultimately helps businesses like yours find the right fit.

It comes down to this: candidates have to accurately present themselves to you so, in just one interview, you can know exactly what they would be like on the job. It sounds simple, but even the most talented individuals struggle during interviews. Working through their nerves so they can be themselves when they talk to you is a big part of what we do. We also work with candidates to discover their true strengths, not just the bullets on their resume. When these strengths match your culture, that’s a candidate who gets sent to you. When they don’t match your culture, even if they seem perfect on paper, they don’t move forward.

That idea of forming an accurate picture of the hiring equation goes both ways. Candidates want to know what’s expected of them in any job or organization. The better we get to know your business, culture, and open roles, the better we can set accurate expectations for them up front. By knowing what both candidates and hiring managers want, ATR is uniquely positioned to quickly understand what makes a great fit.

Cultural Fit in Hiring

Finding those great culture fits who will help your business thrive is a process that is part science and part art. No two organizations or professionals are the same. Certain people excel in certain environments, and the details surrounding the hiring process matter. A staffing agreement is not about a transaction; it’s about getting to know your business and culture and delivering talent accordingly. It’s not easy, but it’s why companies rely on us to make it happen.

Want to talk about how ATR can help your hiring? Reach out to us or come find me at the NMSDC conference in Atlanta from October 13^th to 16^th!

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The post How ATR Ensures Cultural Fit in Your Hiring appeared first on ATR International.

These are just a few of the issues that can arise in the three-way circle that encompasses staffing firms, their candidates, and clients. For hiring managers, it’s frustrating when a candidate shows up to an interview and is a wrong match, or worse, if they cancel the interview the day of because they weren’t properly informed about the role or took another job offer. Needless to say, these kinds of gaffes happen. The recruiter gets reprimanded, the hiring manager gets irritated, and the cycle of miscommunication and frustration continues.

Staffing firms can work to minimize these types of occurrences, but because there are multiple parties involved, they can’t control everything. Since all are partners in the relationship, all can do things to help the process work more effectively and efficiently for everyone. Companies working with a staffing firm can do a number of things to improve results, from maintaining trust and good communication, to providing the information recruiters need to do what they do best.

What exactly can you do?

Provide the correct and most recent job description

Sometimes job descriptions can be generic and provide little to no details on what a company is actually looking for. Often times, this leads to candidates interviewing for jobs that are different than what they thought they were going in for. This can mean that they are either not interested, not properly qualified, or both. It’s a waste of everyone’s time and it can be avoided. When you partner with a staffing firm it is very important to provide as much detail as you can to help recruiters with their sourcing. When the same job description keeps showing up over and over for multiple positions, it leaves recruiters confused as to what or who they should be looking for and submitting. It’s a recruiter’s job to help you, but they can only do that with the right job description and information.

Consider flexibility in hiring

Due to the niche skills that are often needed for many roles, especially in IT and Healthcare, finding the perfect candidate can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. This is why it is good for companies to consider being flexible when it comes to adaptable and learned skill sets. If someone with the right background happens to have 8 years of experience, but the role is asking for 10, truly consider if someone who is close could do the job. This goes for lower-level roles as well.

When job requirements are too rigid and hiring managers are unwilling to be flexible, many good candidates who may be able to grow into the role could end up being looked over. If the position is still open one month later, and the hiring manager is suddenly willing to interview your candidate, you may find that the candidate has already taken a different job, leaving you back at step one. Due to this, it is always good to be flexible and consider candidates who are close to what you are looking for.

Keep everybody updated

A lack of feedback often leads to frustrating scenarios between clients and candidates. Sometimes the hiring manager doesn’t get back to you with any feedback, and then the candidate is left wondering if they should hold out hope for a job offer or not. Sometimes the hiring manager and their team need to take some time to get approvals and deliberate over the potential hire. This is fine, but always make sure to keep your staffing firm updated on where consideration of the candidate for the role is.

Without updates, the recruiter won’t be able to figure out what was wrong with their candidate and submit a more suitable one for this or a future opportunity. On the other hand, if hiring managers take even a small amount of time to provide feedback on the interview, it can help the recruiter immediately start looking for someone who more closely aligns with what is needed. Providing feedback for candidates and recruiters should always be an expected best practice.

The importance of timeliness

Timing is everything when it comes to hiring. Without good timing, someone else, especially a competitor, may snatch a great candidate from right under your nose. Many job seekers simply don’t have the luxury of being able to remain unemployed while companies mull things over. If you really like the candidate, being quick and efficient with the hiring process should be your goal.

The time constraints of candidates and the competitive nature of recruiting make it important to avoid waiting too long before making hiring decisions. That candidate that we love and you love unfortunately can’t sit around forever, so be sure to keep that in mind when hiring. You don’t want to lose a great candidate because they took a job offer 30 minutes before you offered them one!

Have trust in your partner

Trust is a crucial element in successful partnerships between staffing firms and clients. Without it, the relationship can be one of friction and distrust. Why work with a firm that you can’t trust to understand your business, treat you with respect, and charge fairly for its services? Staffing agencies are often seen as extensions of a company’s brand; you certainly want to trust the firm representing you. That requires a focus on relationship-building rather than on a transactional approach. Find a staffing firm that treats people like people and not numbers, and you’ll have found a firm that you can build trust with.

Remember these best practices

Working with a staffing firm can be a great benefit to your business. With large talent pools, specialized recruiters, and the ability to handle complicated benefits and payroll, working with the right firm can be a cost-efficient way to hire for in-demand positions at your company. When you partner effectively with a staffing firm, and implement these best practices, it can be a huge benefit to your business and bottom line. When your company is working with a staffing firm, help them help you and your business.

Interested in working with people who want to build a great business relationship? Reach out to us at ATR.

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The post The Best Ways to Partner with a Staffing Firm appeared first on ATR International.

It is listening to us, it is defining us, it is identifying us and it is collecting data around the world to drive insights into the future of business and our society. What used to be a relatively unexciting piece of technology (machine learning has been around since the 1980s) has evolved into a juggernaut of a technological paradigm that is working hand-in-hand with AI to make our lives easier.

 Of course, with the dawn and resurgence of new and old technologies, comes a new source of anxiety for everyday people and employees. Many wonder if AI and Machine Learning will ultimately lead to the replacement of the Staffing industry for regular employees by robots instead.

Fortunately for those of us working in recruitment; Machine Learning, and subsequently Artificial Intelligence, is set to bring a whole new level of efficiency and productivity to the world of staffing. They will help us do our job better; they won’t replace us.

An Overview of Machine Learning

Machine Learning (ML) is somewhat of a buzzword that either brings great excitement, or great confusion, depending on how much you know about it. Conceptually, Machine Learning is feeding data repetitively to a computer, so that computer will eventually be able to draw conclusions from the data it is processing. These conclusions can come in such forms as pattern-matching or identification of certain characteristics in photos.

For instance, if you take a picture of Half Dome in Yosemite and feed that photo into an Amazon Web Services application known as Rekognition, the script upon completion will present you with a tabulated list of keywords or trends that the computer noticed in the picture. With a picture of Half Dome, the conclusions would be in the form of percentages and predictions of what that picture is made up of.

It might point out that 50% of the picture is a “mountain” and 20% of the picture is a “valley” while 20% of the picture could be “evergreen trees” and finally 10% of the picture could be a “river”. AWS Rekognition is able to come to these conclusions because of the massive amount of data that is fed into it on a daily basis. Every time the Rekognition ML-algorithm sees something that looks like a mountain, it will classify it as a “mountain,” and vice versa. Thus, the machine has “learned” what a mountain is.

Utilizing Machine Learning in Recruiting

Through statistical analysis and prediction, a machine can greatly enhance a recruiter’s ability to find the right candidates for a role. One example of Machine Learning making its way into the Staffing world is the Google Cloud Jobs API. The Cloud Jobs API helps staffing firms, job search websites and recruiter’s with finding candidates through its use of an ML-algorithm to sort, predict, analyze and suggest candidates for roles based on a specified set of criteria.

Google’s algorithm matches and then ranks candidates on job titles, skills, and seniority while helping recruiters filter through industry and company-related buzzwords that can often hinder the job search process. The API collects data over time relating to the jobs that it analyzes and feeds its findings into different categories that are standardized with words based on what the role is actually doing.  

For example, you may have a company that has a position listed for an Application Systems Analyst 4, or a Systems Architect 6, with a bunch of vague words describing what the role is doing. Job seekers and recruiters often have a hard time deciphering what a position does and what skills and experience a candidate should have based on the vague wording these descriptions have. The Cloud Jobs API recognizes this fact and translates these vague words into what it believes the position is actually doing.

Thus, the ML-algorithm is able to reclassify and determine what the job is actually looking for and what the candidate would ultimately be doing. Instead of an Application Systems Analyst 4, the algorithm may classify that job as a “Data Scientist with extensive Python, Pandas and Scikit experience”. In a way, the algorithm is taking these broad and vague descriptions and translating them into a description that is more detailed and far easier to understand. The API also includes integration with other Google-based services like Geolocation to determine proximity and location for job seekers to job search results.

Dice and Careerbuilder are both utilizing Google Cloud Jobs API for enhancement of the job search process. Proof of its power: Careerbuilder found that after they integrated the API into their framework, within 48 hours they were able to build a prototype that delivered improved search results that were more accurate in comparison to its existing algorithm. The CEO of Jibe, Joe Essenfeld, even proclaimed that “With the launch of Google Cloud Jobs API, Google machine learning will become the standard for career-based websites.” So far, the Google Cloud Jobs API is able to accurately classify information based on 30 general job categories, over 1000 occupational families and over 250,000 specific job titles.

Where does the Staffing Industry go from here?

With the inroads machine learning is now making into the staffing industry, we are expecting to see a big increase in investment for machine learning based work models and algorithms. There is even a chance for the rise of one, widely adopted recruitment platform or Applicant Tracking System that is optimized for machine learning. At the core of this new platform, automation will be a key factor in its operation. With current technology, many platforms still require the recruiters to do a lot of heavy lifting, such as reading through resumes, sourcing, screening and matching candidates to the right roles as well as scheduling interviews with hiring managers.

In the near future, this may shift to an automation-based workflow integrated with machine learning algorithms which help improve the efficiency of this sourcing process, essentially eliminating the most tedious and frustrating aspects of current Applicant Tracking Systems. Recruiters can breathe easy as these algorithms are not designed to replace them; they are simply designed to assist in the more tedious parts of their jobs. While the machine does the heavy lifting, recruiters will be free to focus on the more productive and fulfilling aspects of their work such as building strong relationships with both clients and candidates.

Machine Learning is a fascinating and ever-growing field that is set to play a major part in the future of recruitment. With full integration into a company’s workplace, machine learning is capable of freeing up huge amounts of time for recruiters by learning how to sort through and manage the most repetitive and tedious aspects of the staffing industry.  In the future, we certainly expect to see more and more machine learning integrating itself into our everyday work lives.

Are you a Machine Learning Engineer? Interested in working with some of Fintech and the Tech industries hottest companies? Send us your resume and we would love to work with you!

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At a time when each open IT position in a company represents an outright battle to find and hire a great tech pro, it’s easy to think that the best approach is to act quickly and bypass anything that seems like it might slow you down. In many cases, this may mean that departmental managers and executives are involved but may fail to take Human Resources into account. Fairly or not, HR is sometimes seen as a hindrance rather than a help, especially when hiring specialized talent like technical or IT workers. However, for those recruiting top tech talent, it’s necessary to understand the significant impact the HR department can have on hiring success or failure.

It All Begins with HR

The HR department is the public face of talent acquisition for most organizations. HR reps or recruiters are the ones posting job openings and reaching out to potential candidates. This is their job and they are generally well trained and know more about recruiting and hiring than the average department head. As applications and resumes come in, these same individuals are the first to review candidates, determining if they are qualified enough to continue through the recruiting process. Screening candidates is just one valuable service that HR recruiters can provide, saving the hiring manager time and effort. For those candidates who make it past the initial screening stage, HR corresponds with them, conducts preliminary phone interviews, and schedules further interviews with hiring managers. Again, all time savers.

When things go to plan, HR vets candidates and provides hiring managers with the cream of the crop, saving them from having to address a huge number of applicants. Do they know as much as you might about IT? Probably not. But if you partner with them, and give them the information that they need, their expertise and yours can combine to be powerful. When HR is not included from the start, great candidates could be turned away and unqualified ones could stick around, taking up valuable company time.

Avoiding Hiring Process Bottlenecks

Not only does HR own the initial quality control function for hiring new talent, it is also responsible for keeping things moving at a brisk pace. Today’s tech pros are in strong demand, and a slow hiring process will fail to recruit them. The organizations that are able to quickly move from initial contact to interview to offer are the ones that have the best chances of hiring great candidates. Unfortunately, this is an area where many organizations struggle. IT departments that try to take on the task themselves, don’t work closely with HR, or fail to give them the information they need to be effective contribute to the problem. You may know IT but you likely aren’t as well trained at recruiting, screening, vetting and hiring people. You are also busy with your primary job, and this can create slowdowns as surely as an HR recruiter without the right information will.

Speedbumps in the screening or hiring processes are not solely the fault of the HR department. The biggest slowdowns stem from a single reason: a lack of information. Sometimes an HR rep or recruiter is only given a sparse job description to help them determine which candidates are appropriate for an open role. As a result, they either risk selecting the wrong candidates or are forced to slow down the process to clarify things with a hiring manager. Nearly 25% of candidates lose interest in a role after just one week of no contact. Any internal confusion invites delays that can easily push a candidate into accepting a competitor’s offer. A team approach where both hiring department and HR work together produces the best results. It is the best way to ensure that the process moves forward quickly but effectively from start to finish.

Improving Communication Between Departments

Luckily, a lack of information can be remedied by placing an emphasis on the communication between HR and hiring managers from the outset of the hiring process. Before a job description is even created, there must be a consensus on precisely which qualities are sought in a candidate and what steps must be taken. After all, an HR rep or recruiter doesn’t need to have technical expertise in Java in order to recruit a developer, but they do need to know exactly what makes an applicant worthy of an interview. To that end, there are a number of questions that should be considered from the beginning:

• What is the ideal candidate’s technical skillset?
• Are you one of the 66% of organizations who plan to train new workers? If so, what is the bare minimum skillset required for further consideration?
• Are there any adjacent technical skills, certifications, or degrees not listed in the job description to consider?
• Is a background check, reference check, skills testing, or portfolio review necessary at any point in the process?
• Which qualities make a candidate a strong cultural fit with both the organization and the department in question?
• Who must interview candidates? What are their schedules, and can interviews be combined or scheduled back to back to expedite the process?
• Who must sign off on an offer? Can a compensation range be approved prior to interviews?
• What data can be tracked and analyzed to continuously improve the recruiting process? What technology can be leveraged to help?

HR’s Important Role in Recruiting Top Tech Talent

With everyone on the same page from the beginning, HR’s role can be a productive one that helps identify and deliver the right crop of candidates for an open position. Working with your HR department can produce great results and help keep a hiring manager focused on their primary job and not wasting time doing something someone else is better trained to do. For additional inspiration, public examples such as the University of California, Riverside’s detailed nine-step hiring process can provide a great outline for organizations competing for in-demand tech pros. In the end, taking a few extra hours to clarify strategy early on will foster a hiring process that is stronger, drastically shorter, and more professional.

At ATR, we pride ourselves on quickly delivering the right tech talent. Contact us today to see our process in action.

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