The UK employs over 6.3 million engineers – that’s one in every five jobs. And if you’re recruiting engineers, then you’re probably all too aware how fierce the competition is for top talent.
Currently around 25% of all job board vacancies in the UK are for engineering roles – and that’s not likely to change any time soon. With a lack of skilled talent and the growth of AI and ‘green’ focused industries, demand for engineering talent far outweighs supply.
To secure the best candidates in this competitive marketplace HR teams need to be fleet of foot. Fast decision making prevents firms from missing out on the best candidates. But securing the right talent for your business is about much more than securing the first qualified candidate that comes along – it’s about considering skills and cultural fit too. And that takes time.
Hiring platforms accelerate the recruitment process without sacrificing the quality or fairness of hiring decisions. Interview scheduling management features, collaborative working tools and simple integration with existing software and pre-employment checks streamline your recruitment workflows – speeding up time to hire and decreasing cost per hire.
In this blog we’ll cover:
- The case for smarter, faster recruitment workflows
- What are the benefits of using a hiring platform over a manual process in engineering recruitment?
- How ATS-integrated assessments speed up technical screening
- Streamlining interviews with smart scheduling tools
- Structured scoring for fair, skills-based decision making
- Collaborative tools for faster, data-led decisions.
The Case for Smarter, Faster Recruitment Workflows
In order to secure top talent, engineering firms need to move fast. But that’s not always easy when you’re hiring for specialist engineering roles. Compliance, assessing technical capabilities and reference checks all take time. Making the right hire first time is arguably more important than a rapid hiring process.
Losing out on top talent isn’t just about having to re-advertise a role. The impact goes way beyond your hiring budget. Delays in filling roles impact project deadlines, organisational outputs and deliverables too. They can also leave understaffed teams feeling overwhelmed, which can have a knock-on effect on attrition rates.
Why slow hiring is a problem
Top engineers often receive multiple job offers. Slow or disorganised hiring can signal a lack of professionalism and leave candidates with a negative impression of the organisation as a whole. Even if applicants stay the course, it will undoubtedly affect acceptance rates. Who wants to work for a firm that are uncommunicative? A swift, efficient and responsive hiring experience is key for making a great first impression on your candidates and starting to build a relationship with them. And that positive impression isn’t lost on those who don’t succeed either – every positive interaction helps grow your employer brand.
What are the benefits of using a hiring platform over a manual process in engineering recruitment?
An ATS hiring process streamlines and accelerates recruitment whilst freeing up your hiring team to focus on more strategic work. Using a dedicated hiring platform, such as an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) supports:
- Responsive candidate communications – Regular scheduled emails acknowledge applications and keep talent updated and engaged with the process
- Shortlisting candidates – smart software sorts applicants against necessary or desired qualifications, experience and even skills
- Interview scheduling – interview management tools give you oversight of all scheduled interviews, while self-service tools let your candidates to choose interview slots that work for them.
- Automated pre-employment checks – simple integration with mandatory verification such as DBS or Right-to-Work speeds up compliance checks
- Centralising all candidate records and documentation – HR and hiring teams have oversight of the status of all active role vacancies, candidate records and access to shared templates and hiring documents
How do ATS-integrated assessments speed up technical screening?
Superior ATS software will effortlessly integrate assessments into your hiring workflows, for example, engineering roles might assess CAD proficiency or problem-solving skills. This replaces time-consuming manual checks by the hiring team, helping them quickly focus on the candidates with the skillsets that best suit the role vacancy.
Alongside technical assessments, many ATS now use AI powered features which offer smart candidate summaries– including a percentage match to role description – to further expedite shortlisting.
From integrated assessments to pre-employment compliance checks, this range of ATS features reduce time spent on early-stage evaluation, without compromising on quality. They provide objective, data-led evaluations which mitigate bias and maintain hiring momentum.
Streamlining interviews with smart scheduling tools
ATS interview scheduling tools are invaluable for speeding up the hiring process. They eliminate the endless back and forth emails that consume so much of a hiring teams’ time.
Shared online calendars let hiring managers share their available time slots and candidates invited to interview are then able to pick a slot that’s convenient for them. This ‘self-serve’ system syncs calendars across teams, speeding up the invitation process considerably.
Many ATS hiring systems also offer a dedicated portal for Hiring Managers, allowing them to not only schedule interview slots, but also share scores with colleagues, provide direct feedback to candidates and track the progress of their vacancies from job ad to job offer. This facilitates internal communications and speeds up decision making.
How do structured interview templates help improve the quality of hires in technical roles?
Hiring software also works as a central repository for all recruitment documentation. By storing all your documents and templates in one place, teams can be certain everyone is able to access the correct or most up to date version of any hiring document.
Easy to use templates enable teams to set up structured, role-specific interview templates on your ATS which interview panellists then us for each interview. This improves fairness and mitigates bias by ensuring each candidate is asked the same set of questions and judged by the same measures.
Structured scoring for fair, skills-based decisions
Aligning interview scores and feedback can be a challenge for any organisation. Hiring platforms provide a centralised space for structured scoring and for internal collaboration.
Built in scorecards help to standardise evaluations across departments. Helping interview panels to compare candidates by scoring against consistent criteria, from soft skills or role fit, through to engineering competencies such as critical thinking or technical proficiencies. A good ATS quickly becomes indispensable for tracking interview scores and feedback, supporting informed hiring decisions.
Collaborative tools for faster, data-led decisions
Clarity and speed are crucial when hiring in the engineering sector. Accelerating the hiring process, without compromising on quality, requires great internal collaboration and data-led decision making.
Collaborative hiring tools, like applicant tracking software, help streamline communications between HR teams and Hiring Managers, making sure no one is left in the dark.
Shared scorecards and centralised feedback make it easy for hiring panels to assess candidates side-by-side. Task ownership and real-time alerts reduce bottlenecks and keep the process moving. Personalised ATS dashboards give Hiring Managers and HR teams clear visibility of candidate progress and enable effortless internal collaboration – for faster decision making and fewer delays or miscommunications.
How can Reach ATS help technical teams make faster, data-informed hiring decisions?
Reach ATS is fully customisable recruitment software powered by AI, it’s been designed to speed up and sharpen your hiring process. Smart shortlisting tools use AI generated summaries to highlight your best matches, while interview scheduling tools and dedicated hiring manager portal keep hiring teams aligned, whether they’re in a different department, building or country.
Our powerful analytics provide long-term hiring efficiency by spotting skills gaps before they occur, tracking which hiring platforms perform best. Optimising your workforce recruitment strategy for long-term hiring success.
If you’d like to find out more about how Reach ATS can accelerate hiring for your engineering firm, then Reach out and book a demo today.
Notes:
Employment data obtained from: https://www.engineeringuk.com/research-and-insights/industry-and-workforce/