A Candidate Relationship Management system (CRM) is a software tool designed to manage and nurture relationships with potential candidates – even before they apply for a job. Not to be confused with Customer Relationship Management systems (used by sales and marketing teams), a CRM in recruitment builds relationships with ‘passive’ candidates. That includes people not currently seeking employment and those who missed out on a previous appointment.

With the cost of filling vacancies rising sharply, the need to build talent pools and implement proactive engagement has become critical. This is even more true when you’re operating in skills-short environments.

Candidate relationship management in modern human resource management is the practice of nurturing top talent and building genuine relationships. The idea is to create a pipeline of skilled candidates to improve the quality of hires and reduce your time-to-fill in years to come.

The most important step is finding the CRM that’s right for you and your business development.

What is a CRM and what does it do?

A Candidate Relationship Management system (CRM) is an intelligence database that stores your information on past candidates and quality talent you’d like to find a position for. 

A CRM helps recruiters manage all potential candidates, track interactions, and automate regular communication. It also ensures the efficient handling of resume data, centralising information and keeping details up-to-date. 

It’s designed to help you build, manage, and nurture relationships with both active and passive candidates in talent acquisition. A CRM engages potential candidates even before they apply, ensuring a pipeline of qualified talent for future hires.

Key functions of a CRM include:

Talent pool management: 

Access and engagement with specific groups of candidates when relevant positions open up. Organising and segmenting candidates into talent pools based on skills, experience, and potential fit for future roles. 

Automated communication: 

Facilitating personalised communication with automated emails, messages and updates, keeping candidates informed about new opportunities and company news.

Recruitment marketing: 

Creating and distributing content such as job postings, newsletters, and company updates, building a strong presence for the brand with potential employees.

Analytics and reporting: 

Providing insights into candidate engagement, such as open rates and response times, allowing you to refine strategies and improve engagement practice.

By integrating these functions, a CRM lets you get ahead in talent acquisition, helping to fill roles with the best candidates quickly and efficiently.

A CRM can be applied as a standalone application or integrated into an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), which is the broader software platform for managing hiring.

Why use a CRM system in recruiting

If you’re spending an inordinate amount of time hiring to fill vacancies, or you’re in a highly competitive recruitment space – or you’re just finding it hard to get cut through with your posts – proactive hiring can make all the difference.

In HR and talent acquisition, sourcing quality candidates before you experience high levels of hiring demand is vital. 

By doing hard tasks ahead of time, you’re more likely to have a strong list of candidates the moment a role becomes vacant. And if you already have a clear view of the skills available, you’ll better understand what qualities you may need to source externally. 

That’s where a well-managed CRM comes into play: preventing ‘panic’ placements and costly wrong hires simply because you had to fill a position quickly. 

A CRM replaces all those spreadsheets, notes and Word documents tucked away on private devices and servers, centralising recruitment data in a secure (usually cloud-based) location. There’s no risk of losing useful candidate data and you can build your company brand whilst maintaining good relationships with potential hires.

The difference between a CRM and an ATS

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a software platform that is used to manage the progress of candidates through the hiring process. Recruiters and talent acquisition specialists use it to: 

• post job openings
• assess applications, and 
• track the progression of candidates – from first engagement right through to hiring and onboarding. 

ATS software automates and streamlines hiring tasks like sorting resumes, arranging interviews, and storing candidate data. It makes it easier for recruitment specialists to coordinate hiring decisions. A candidate relationship management (CRM) is an application (often provided within an ATS) that is specifically designed for managing your talent pool.

What to look for in a CRM

Your CRM should contain:

• Email and messaging capabilities
• A talent database with real time updates
• Powerful search functionality
• Landing page builders for touchpoint management
• The ability to post relevant job openings to potential candidates directly
• Data analytics and smart insights capabilities
• Integration with recruiting and marketing tools, including social media 
• Direct data flow between candidate engagement and job application processing. Security concerns are minimised, and coordination of hiring processes is vastly improved.

Choose the best recruitment CRM for your needs

When you adopt an ATS with a native Candidate Relationship Management System like JobAdder, you’re guaranteed a seamless integration. Data synchronisation eliminates the risk of errors, and you’ll enjoy a unified platform for better collaboration – so it’s no trouble to switch between current hiring tasks and proactive management of your talent pool.
To make more placements, grow your database, and reduce your time-to-fill, book a free demo with JobAdder today.