Love at first sight with the perfect candidate thanks to recruitment matching

What if we told you that the concept of matching isn't exclusive to dating sites?

Technologies for bringing together two profiles that seem to match are of great interest in the world of work, especially when it comes to triggering love at first sight between a company and a job candidate 💘. This is known as recruitment matching.

Powered by artificial intelligence, this process makes it easier for organizations to unearth the rare pearl - the one with exactly the skills they're looking for- from among the mass of CVs received. Interesting, isn't it?

What is recruitment matching? Why is it essential for companies? What tools should be deployed to implement it?

Here's how. 🤔💡

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What is recruitment matching?

Definition of matching in recruitment

The word matching is often used to describe an affinity between two elements.

Matching in recruitment therefore defines a process consisting of identifying the most interesting candidates based on their conformity with precise, predefined criteria. The systems used then assign a score to each of them, to help recruiters establish an initial shortlist of talent before moving on to interviews.

Identifying the right profiles is generally based on the following components:

• technical skills
• soft skills,
• professional experience,
• level of education,
• geographic location,
• other specific criteria such as possession of a particular driving license.

CV matching is supported by technology, in particular software (ATS and HRIS) augmented by artificial intelligence.

💡 To wit: what's affinity matching all about? This notion, which we're hearing more and more about, refers to a method that goes beyond the traditional approach, since it's based on compatibility at the cultural and values level. Algorithms focus particularly on soft skills.

Use cases

Matching can be used for all types of recruitment, as it promises a significant gain in efficiency.

Nevertheless, HR and recruiters particularly appreciate it in the following two cases:

• ⌛ They need to hire new staff urgently. Matching technologies save precious time in sorting out applications. This speeds up the entire recruitment process.
  
  
• 🔍 They're looking for a very specific skill. There's no need to sift through dozens and dozens of CVs to find THE rare skill that's absolutely essential for the job.

What's the point of CV matching?

Benefits for the recruiter...

Companies derive three main benefits from CV matching in recruitment:

• Saving time. Thanks to automation tools, there's no need to go through CVs one by one. Saving time is therefore the main advantage of a recruitment matching system, especially if you have to deal with a large volume of applications.
  
  
• Reliability of matching. The human brain is neither infallible nor impartial. Algorithms are more effective at finding the perfect match... provided they are correctly parameterized.
  
  
• Writing better job offers. By analyzing the profiles in your talent pool, you'll know which wording is most used by candidates (for job titles, for example), and thus write clearer descriptions that rank better in search engines.

... and for the recruit!

As far as candidates are concerned, matching in recruitment also has many advantages.

• Less discrimination. The use of algorithms reduces discriminatory bias thanks to an objective assessment, uninfluenced by prejudices, even unconscious ones (age prejudice, for example).
  
  
• More opportunities. Matching expands candidates' horizons to positions they might not otherwise have considered. Indeed, once their data has been entered into a computer system, their profile can be matched with vacancies for which they did not initially apply.

The limits of matching in recruitment

And where does the human element fit into all this? 🤔

This is where many experts see the limits of matching in recruitment. And for good reason: this highly pragmatic technology doesn't always know how to highlight the more atypical profiles, those who don't fully match the predefined criteria (non-linear career paths, etc.). And yet, they often bring a great deal of value to a company!

What's more, some quality candidates may escape the algorithms' radar because they have omitted to mention certain skills, or because of a simple typing error in their CV.

That's why the matching tool should be used as a support in your recruitment process, but don't trust it 100%! Only you can apply this nuance, which technology currently lacks.

How to make an effective HR match? 4 best practices

Matching in recruitment requires the use of IT solutions, which deploy increasingly intelligent algorithms.

However, to fully exploit the capabilities of these platforms, certain best practices need to be followed. 👉

• ✅ Establish your sourcing strategy. It's essential to have a solid sourcing strategy, with the aim of attracting potential candidates and building the talent pool that will be used for matching.
  
  
• ✅ Define your selection criteria. You need to identify precisely which criteria will be used to sort through your CVs, then prioritize them. Which are absolutely essential to the job, and which are a bonus?
  💡 Don't hesitate to get in touch with the relevant departments to understand exactly what is expected, especially when recruiting a technical profile (IT recruitment, for example).
  
  
• ✅ Have quality data. Always work with structured, up-to-date data, to avoid matching errors due to obsolete or incorrect information.
  
  
• ✅ Maintain your talent pool. To improve your HR matching, maintain an active talent pool. This means maintaining relationships with potential candidates, even if they aren't hired, to encourage them to update their data.

Recruitment matching tools

They've been mentioned throughout this article, but what are the famous tools capable of matching in recruitment?

The two main technologies used are :

• ATS (Applicant Tracking System) software. These are recruitment management solutions that enable job offers to be advertised, and applications to be collected and processed in an organized fashion. It's only natural that they should include CV matching algorithms among their functions.
  
  
• HRIS (Human Resources Information Systems). These platforms centralize and automate HR management. More generalized, they comprise a number of building blocks (HR Core, time and activity management, GPEC, etc.), often including a module dedicated to recruitment.

🛠️ If you're looking for a specific example of software, let's take a look at :

• Softy: this ATS streamlines your entire recruitment process, by intelligently organizing your campaigns and applications within a single interface. Softy includes a matching algorithm to identify the profiles that best match your multiple criteria. The solution also optimizes all selection progress monitoring, with clear processing statuses.
  
  
• Zoho Recruit. This recruitment platform, designed for SMEs, automates the recruitment process from A to Z. Thanks to its database, you can centralize all CVs in one place. You then use advanced artificial intelligence functionalities to identify the most suitable candidates for the job. These analyze the content of applications, then rate and classify them by degree of correspondence with the job requirements.

See all software Recruiting

What can we learn from recruitment matching?

At a time when the digitization of recruitment is leading to increasing piles of CVs on HR desks, application matching is a game-changer. While it promises to save you precious time, above all it helps you to find the rare pearl, all the more so if you're looking for a very specific talent.

To take advantage of these benefits, you need to rely on the right technologies, specifically ATS and HRIS software.

But beware of relying solely on matching algorithms. There's nothing like a human brain to complete the selection process and ensure that you don't miss out on a profile that may be atypical, but is so promising!