How can Hireserve ATS help university in-house recruitment teams?
On this page, we’re going to explore all elements of Higher Education hiring and the role that an Applicant Tracking System, like Hireserve ATS, can play in supporting HR and Recruitment teams.
You’ll find links to relevant blog posts, case studies, resources and features in focus.
With over 20 years in the recruitment software space and experience working with dozens of Higher Education providers, we know university recruitment like the back of our (very safe) hands.
So how can we help you?
Let’s start with the beginning of your journey as a university or college HR & Recruitment team, and why you might need this page in the first place: Your pain points.
“…The University is providing a superb recruitment experience, supporting the need to attract the best candidates and drive the ambitious recruitment programme as the University expands.”
Higher Education’s pain points
University hiring pain points and challenges
To start with, many of you will have unique needs or processes depending on your size, facilities, location and staff and student intake.
As such, it’s essential that when you look for an Applicant Tracking System, you seek out one with a high level of flexibility. Really, you need talent acquisition software that you can configure to meet (and enhance) your processes – not the other way round!
So let’s now move on to those specific pain points (and how an ATS can help).
If you’re an in-house recruiter at a thriving university or post-16 education centre or college, we know that your time is short, and your workload is high. Some of your key challenges might be:
Handling multiple reference requests
With different referees required for academic and operational roles. When managed manually (or when using an e-recruitment system not fit for purpose), this can incur swathes of emails, sending reminders, phone calls and more.
What can help? Look for a tool like our automated reference requests feature. You can trigger automatic references, configure different reference types and generate reminders and more.
Managing pre-employment checks
Alongside your referencing process, it’s likely you’re going to have to collect a wide range of documentation and evidence of Right to Work, academic qualifications, DBS and safeguarding certification and checks… the list goes on.
Again, with such a diverse range of vacancies, you will probably need to complete different pre-employment and background checks for different jobs. Without the right tools in place, this can become a highly manual and admin-heavy task, taking serious manpower to request, record and track pre-employment checks.
What can help? Look for an Applicant Tracking System that includes a pre-employment checks module. This will ensure all your new starter and onboarding data can be held securely within the system.
You can also configure different workflows for each of your vacancies, assign actions to internal stakeholders and trigger automatic reminders and tasks at each step of the candidate journey.
Hiring for a highly diverse range of roles across all areas of the institution
This can be challenging to manage without the right technology because each application will require you to collect specific information – a one-size fits all approach really will be challenging. On top of this, if you’re bogged down in administration, you may not have the opportunity to focus on those niche or hard-to-fill jobs; which may leave some positions open for longer periods of time.
What can help? Bespoke application forms and ‘Job Specific Questions’ could come in handy here.
You need to place the right talent to uphold your reputation
From academic roles to facilities management staff, you’re conscious that you need exceptional employees in all areas of your organisation.
But you may face challenges in terms of competition with other HE providers, teaching talent shortages in certain subject areas, or even the challenges of relying on a local talent pool.
What can help? A professionally branded careers site will be essential for attracting talent and promoting your current vacancies. It will also help to convey your institution’s teaching, learning and research culture to potential employees, as well as how they can contribute to the student experience. Crucially, this information can help to differentiate you from others in your space – who may be competing for similar talent!
What’s more, reducing your recruitment admin and saving time in general may help free up the capacity you need to focus on niche jobs and run specific hiring campaigns.
Applicant Tracking Systems should also provide talent pooling functionality to ensure you can build pools of suitable talent ready for the right opportunity.
Multiple stakeholders can be a challenge, including Hiring Managers
Who may or may not be enthusiastically involved in your hiring journey!
What can help? We have a feeling a dedicated Hiring Manager Portal may be a valuable feature to address this challenge.
“[With Hireserve ATS], the University is providing a superb recruitment experience, supporting the need to attract the best candidates and drive the ambitious recruitment programme as the University expands.”
Are you a university, post-16 education provider or college looking for a new ATS?
If so, we might have just what you’re after!
Choosing an ATS Guide
If you’re a Higher Education institution, we’ve created this resource to help guide you through the ATS selection process.
Topics include:
Pricing structures and what to look out for
How to evaluate customer care and support
Tips to assess a supplier’s approach to information security
Guidance around Applicant Tracking Systems and Data Protection
…and more
Get your Choosing an ATS Guide now.
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The complete ATS Buyer’s Toolkit
Are you still building your ATS business case? Or about to, but not sure where to start?
The complete ATS Buyer’s Toolkit has a range of resources and templates to help you build an effective ATS business case. The kit includes:
- Interactive ROI calculator
- Stakeholder information template
- Handy ATS demo checklist
- Implementation planner
- And more…everything you need to help you present a compelling case for a new Applicant Tracking System
ATS Implementation Guide
If you’re considering a new ATS for your higher education institution, the prospect of implementation may not be an inviting one.
In this guide, our aim is to address some of the fears around talent acquisition software implementation, and to focus on the practical ways you can prepare for your upcoming project.
“We picked Hireserve because of their customer approach; their customer service skills are very good. I feel that they rival many of the bigger players in the market, and not just rival them, exceed the expectations.”
We think it’s essential that you’re working with an expert from day one. Your ATS needs to be implemented with flexibility and precision to meet your requirements, not the other way round.
With Hireserve, you’ll be supported by someone who understands your industry and knows Higher Education recruitment software inside out.
Want to see what Hireserve ATS can do for your University?
Book a demo
Hireserve ATS is trusted by
Why Hireserve?
Why do clients in the higher education sector trust and use Hireserve ATS?
Trusted for over 20 years.
Hireserve is a leading provider of recruitment software, trusted by in-house recruitment teams across the world.
Our award winning customer care initiatives, dedicated team of specialists, approach to information security and unique understanding of academic and operational staff recruitment makes us a safe pair of hands for your higher education sector ATS needs.
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“The Hireserve team have been consistently extremely helpful. Their support has been nothing less than exceptional”
