With millions of job seekers returning to the workforce in the wake of COVID-19, finding the right candidates means wading through piles of resumes and sifting through dozens upon dozens of irrelevant, unqualified applicants. Therefore, staffing firms are looking for ways to optimize their sourcing and hire faster. 

One online recruitment platform poised to help staffers overcome these challenges is iHire. We recently spoke with iHire’s VP of Employer Sales, Jason Hayes, to catch up on the company’s ever-expanding sourcing solutions, continued business growth, and outlook for the staffing industry. 

EMInfo: Tell us more about iHire. How do you fit into the staffing and recruitment marketplace?

JH: iHire is a recruitment marketing platform with 57 industry-focused talent communities, including iHireChefs, iHireTechnology, and iHireDental, to name just a few. Our difference lies in our industry-specific approach – by narrowing their search to candidates within a specific sector, staffing firms can source qualified talent faster than they would when using a large, general job board. 

Yes, this approach can yield fewer candidates, but we’re believers in the mantra, “quality over quantity,” in recruiting. You may receive three or four applicants for a job posted on iHire, but those candidates are likely to be unique, high-quality, career-driven professionals who meet your requisites. 

As far as the marketplace goes, staffing firms like to think of iHire as another powerful tool in their recruiting toolboxes. However, we don’t necessarily replace the use of other job boards. We come into play when firms want to ensure they’re finding all available qualified talent – there is minimal overlap with candidates on iHire and candidates on other job boards.

EMInfo: What makes candidates on iHire so unique?

JH: Because we’re industry-specific, our job seekers tend to be committed to pursuing a particular type of career. They find their “home” in one of our communities and return to us every time they need to look for work. In fact, we conducted a study back in 2019 that showed 71% of our members don’t use some of the large, general job boards. Today, we have over 14 million members across our 57 industries, and more than 3 million searchable resumes in our database.

EMInfo: What solutions and services do you offer for staffing firms? 

JH: Our suite of recruitment marketing solutions is ideal for staffing firms and direct employers alike. We offer subscription-based job postings (Job Slots) that allow users to swap ads in and out as their hiring needs change, as well as automated postings (Job Wrap) that capture multiple jobs from an XML feed or career site URL and post them to the appropriate talent communities. All job postings come with branded email alerts, automatic search engine refreshes every 15 days, additional exposure on partner sites, a free company profile, and more.

Our Resume Search solution is also a favorite amongst staffing organizations, as users can search, comment on, organize, tag, and filter candidates. The biggest advantage of our Resume Search is that it allows for unlimited resume views. So, instead of purchasing views of potentially unqualified candidates, users can first look at the job seeker’s work history and then decide if they want to unlock that candidate’s contact information. (Plus, we integrate seamlessly with many top applicant tracking systems – another feature of importance to most staffing firms.)

EMInfo: What’s new at iHire?

JH: We just introduced candidate messaging tools and templates so that recruiters can directly connect with prospective hires right within out platform. This is one way we’re helping address the “resume black hole” – where hiring personnel do not respond to applicants. By simplifying candidate communication, we can help staffing firms maintain a positive candidate experience and save time. 

More recently, we acquired WorkInSports, a leading employment hub of the sports industry. WorkInSports is now officially our 57^th industry-focused community, and we’re excited to connect sports-minded talent with our growing customer base of hiring organizations. 

EMInfo: What challenges do you see the staffing industry facing throughout the remainder of the year? How is iHire poised to help them address those challenges?

JH: Even pre-COVID, staffing firms struggled to find qualified talent. This challenge has become more prominent due to the influx of applicants as laid-off professionals return to the workforce. Many job seekers are even making complete career changes because of COVID’s devastating effect on their industry (culinary, hospitality, etc.), while others are delaying or coming out of retirement due to the financial impact of the pandemic. 

With a broader talent pool, staffing firms can rely on iHire to cut through the noise and zero in on candidates that meet their clients’ hiring needs – saving them time and resources in the process. Our flexible job postings, Resume Search, messaging tools, ATS integrations, and email alerts with matching candidates are all designed for quicker, more efficient sourcing.   

To learn more about iHire’s staffing solutions, visit iHire