The power of the internal database for recruiters

Stephen Blackmore

In-house databases set recruiters apart in a market where online sources of candidates are readily available. Stephen Blackmore explains

There is no doubt that the use of online recruitment sources appears to be unavoidable, as proven by LinkedIn passing its 200 million user mark – including 11 million people from the UK. 

However, while LinkedIn and Job boards provide a very helpful source of information, they are unable to provide the value added service obtainable through outsourcing to an agency. If recruitment professionals solely rely upon online sources, why should a customer engage with them if they are just using the same sources as everyone else? Clever search skills aside, a recruiter who is certain they’ve found their ideal candidate using sources that are available to everyone, can also be certain the same candidate has been found by several other people.

Yet a recruiter has to do something their client cannot do, and here is where the internal database becomes a key success factor, a resource that every recruitment agency should have and which every recruiter should be able to exploit to the fullest extent. The in-house database offers much more than just a candidate’s CV and contact details. It can also include comments, notes and the history of contact between the individual and the agency.

If a consultant has spoken with a candidate there could be notes describing that interaction: there might be critical information here as to the candidate’s long term aspirations, availability, attitude to opportunities and past record of applications. This level of information enables the recruiter to offer the client greater value than online sources. This is more than matching CVs to job specs, more even than identifying ‘passive’ candidates: this is identifying a good match from the most valuable and reliable candidate source possible, your in-house database.

If a recruitment consultant understands and experiences how the technology supports their work they will continuously use it, adding to and updating candidate records as part of their everyday work. So, give a database excellent functionality and it will repay you many times over.

A good database enables an agency to develop a candidate pool, to be closer to the community it serves and therefore to deliver more value to its clients. Importantly for the agency, that value is held in the database so as consultants move on and new starters join, the value is still there – a tangible, ongoing talent resource.

A fully functional in-house database is critical for recruiters who want to demonstrate a unique level of service to clients, or who aspire to delivering a global service that out-paces competition from other agencies, RPOs and in-house recruitment teams. Not only this, but if the recruitment industry is to progress globally in the face of the onward march of online candidate sources, the continued use of and investment in recruitment dedicated databases is imperative. 

Stephen Blackmore is head of sales – Europe at DaXtra