Is your candidate database telling you what you actually need to know?

Most recruitment agencies have built substantial candidate databases over time. Thousands of workers, CVs, qualifications and previous placements can all sit within an ATS.

But the size of a database does not necessarily tell you how useful it is when a new requirement lands.

The more important question is: how much do you actually know about those candidates today?

For temporary recruitment, some of the information that matters most can change quickly. A candidate who was available last week may now be working. Someone who previously travelled 30 miles for work may no longer want to. Qualifications can expire and people move in and out of the job market.

That can leave recruiters with plenty of candidate records, but much less certainty about who is genuinely relevant and available.

Look beyond the headline number

Knowing you have 50,000 candidates on your database sounds impressive, but it is worth looking deeper.

How many have engaged with your agency recently? How many are relevant to the trades and locations you are recruiting for? How complete is the information held against them?

Agencies should consider the quality and relevance of the candidate pool they already have, not just the headline number.

Understand what stays current and what does not

Not all candidate information ages at the same rate.

Employment history, core skills and some qualifications may remain useful for a long time. Availability, contact details, location, transport and willingness to travel can change much more quickly.

Recognising that difference helps recruiters understand which information they can rely on and which may need checking again.

Make it easy to narrow the search

Before contacting a candidate, what does a recruiter really need to know?

Within construction, that might include trade, location, relevant cards such as CSCS, qualifications, transport, experience and current availability.

If key information is missing or difficult to search, recruiters can spend time working through candidates who were unlikely to be suitable in the first place.

A useful exercise is to agree the criteria that determine whether someone is worth approaching, then assess how easily recruiters can find that information.

Look at where recruiter time is being lost

Take three or four recent vacancies and work backwards.

How many candidates did you contact before finding someone suitable? How many were already working? How many were too far away, missing the right qualification or no longer interested?

This highlights the distinction between finding candidate records and finding candidates you can realistically place.

It can also identify where recruiters are spending time confirming basic information rather than speaking to suitable workers.

From candidate records to live candidate intelligence

An ATS will continue to play an important role in recruitment, but it does not always provide the most up to date picture of what is happening in the candidate market.

That is where WorkTool can sit alongside a construction recruitment agency’s existing systems and recruitment channels.

Construction workers using WorkTool keep their own information up to date through the app, including their trade, location, CSCS card and qualifications, transport and current availability. Agencies can then search the WorkTool candidate community using that information to identify relevant workers more quickly.

This gives agencies access to a more live layer of candidate intelligence, helping recruiters get closer to answering the question that matters when a client requirement arrives:

Who is suitable, and who is actually available for work right now?