Recruitment and talent acquisition is a critical function for all growing organisations, but it often involves numerous manual, repetitive tasks that can be both time-consuming and costly.
Many of these tasks can be automated these days, leading to significant improvements in efficiency and reductions in expenses and time spent per hire. An up-to-date modern recruitment software will enable talent teams to save significant time and focus more on tasks that matter and help guarantee a steady inflow a good quality candidates – like offering a great candidate experience, building a strong employer brand and offering a hiring experience that still feels positive and human.
We all know how overwhelming it can be to try and manage tens of different open positions, hundreds of candidates and hiring manager expectations simultaneously. This is where automation can help talent teams find success and modernise their recruitment processes.
This article looks at the differences between manual and automated recruitment processes and tasks, highlighting potential time and cost savings for organisations. We’ll look at how recruitment automation can contribute in improving the hiring experience for both candidates, hiring managers and candidates alike.
What is recruitment automation?
Recruitment automation typically refers to the use of software to simplify various recurring parts of the hiring process — reducing manual effort and improving existing workflows. In short, it helps recruiters do more, faster, with fewer repetitive tasks.
Key goals of recruitment automation:
- Save time (e.g. screening 100+ resumes in minutes)
- Reduce hiring costs
- Improve candidate experience
- Remove bias and human error
Benefits of automation in recruitment
Sometimes talent teams can hear push pack from CFO’s or CEO’s like “Do we really need another tool?” or “Will it actually help us save money?”. The good news is that implementing automation in recruitment processes offers benefits that can be quite easily measured:
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Time-to-Hire reduction: Automation can significantly lower your time to hire. If you know your current baseline number, you can expect to see a reduction of anywhere from 20-50% per open position, depending on the position you’re trying to fill and the recruitment channels you use.
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Cost reduction: Companies utilizing automation tools have reported up to a 50% reduction in recruitment costs.
Teamdash applicant tracking system makes automating recurring tasks easy. Best part? It can be fully customised to your needs and you always have a 360 overview of ongoing recruitment projects.
Common manual tasks vs automated process in recruitment
Many tasks that used to be managed manually can now all be fully or semi-automated. This doesn’t mean that AI or a software makes the recruitment decision for you – quite the contrary- it means that you as the recruiter can spend much more time of candidates that are actually qualified for the position while also being considerate and respectful towards all applicants.
Talent teams will rely on automation and AI in a recruitment software more and more as companies all over the world focus on efficiency to prepare and survive economic volatility and the ever-changing job market.
Below is a comparison of typical manual recruitment tasks and the advantages gained through automation:
| Recruitment Task | Typical Manual Process | Comparable Automated Process | Potential Time Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job Posting | Posting individually on multiple job boards | One-click posting to multiple platforms | 30–60 min per job |
| Resume Screening | Manually reviewing each CV | AI-powered or keyword-based screening | 2–4 hours per 100 CVs |
| Candidate Communication | Sending individual emails for updates & interview invites | Automated emails & scheduling | 10–20 min per candidate |
| Interview Scheduling | Back-and-forth emails to find suitable times | Self-scheduling via automated calendar links | 15–30 min per candidate |
| Candidate Assessments | Sending and reviewing tests manually | Auto-sent tests with instant scoring | 30 min per candidate |
| Feedback & Rejection Emails | Writing & sending each response manually | Automated personalized responses | 5–10 min per candidate |
| Hiring Decision Coordination | Collecting feedback via email or meetings | Scorecards and automated reminders | 1–2 hours per role |
| Offer Letter & Onboarding Docs | Creating and sending manually | Auto-generated offers and e-signature integration | 30–60 min per hire |
Teamdash applicant tracking system allows talent teams to automate time consuming manual tasks like interview scheduling, candidate feedback, hiring manager communication and much more.
Time saved per 100 candidates
Let’s look at what we could potentially expect to save per 100 candidates on most common recruitment tasks (your specific recruitment tasks, process and stages may vary):
| Recruitment Task | Manual Process | Automated Process | Time Saved per Candidate | Time Saved
per 100 Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resume Screening | 10 min | 1 min | 9 min | 15 hrs |
| Pre-Qualification (Filtering) | 12 min | 1.5 min | 10.5 min | 17.5 hrs |
| Interview Scheduling | 20 min | 2 min | 18 min | 30 hrs |
| Follow-Ups & Updates | 15 min | 1.5 min | 13.5 min | 22.5 hrs |
| Data Entry | 12 min | 1.2 min | 10.8 min | 18 hrs |
| Reference Checks | 30 min | 5 min | 25 min | 41.6 hrs |
| GDPR & Data Handling | 10 min | 1.5 min | 8.5 min | 14.1 hrs |
Key Takeaways:
- On each manual task, you can expect to save 10+ hours of your time per 100 candidates
- On tasks related to candidate and hiring manager communication, you can expect to save over 50h+ alone!
- If you are not currently looking to automate all recruitment tasks, you will see significant time savings on automating just specific parts of your current process.
Costs saved per 100 candidates
Let’s now look at the potential cost savings for the same project based on the time savings established in the table above and an 25€/h hourly rate for a senior recruiter.
The hourly rates obviously vary based on seniority, country and experience. You can calculate your own cost savings taking into account your own hourly rate.
| Task | Time Saved per 100 candidates | Cost Saved (€25/hr) |
|---|---|---|
| Resume Screening | 15 hrs | €375 |
| Pre-Qualification (Filtering) | 17.5 hrs | €437.50 |
| Interview Scheduling | 30 hrs | €750 |
| Follow-Ups & Updates | 22.5 hrs | €562.50 |
| Data Entry | 18 hrs | €450 |
| Reference Checks | 41.6 hrs | €1,040 |
| GDPR & Data Handling | 14.1 hrs | €352.50 |
Total savings per 100 candidates:
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Total Time Saved: 158.2 hours
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Total Cost Saved: €3,967.50
Obviously the numbers will vary based on your location, experience and existing processes, but it’s quite clear that recruitment automation can offer quite significant opportunities to cut costs while also improving your overall results.
Interested to see how automation and AI can benefit the recruitment processes in your organisation?
Get a free demo of Teamdash Recruitment Software:
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Why Teamdash?
Focused on customisability and offering an outstanding experience for recruiters, candidates and hiring managers – Teamdash is an award-winning recruitment software that provides you with the optimal tool to build great teams fast.
Easy to use, rich with automations and AI functionalities; Teamdash is an award-winning tool that truly understands what you need your ATS to do. Our customers see real ROI.
