Dive Brief:

• Job seekers like using smartphone apps, virtual job fairs and employers' webchats during the hiring process, but more than one quarter said in-person interviews were their favored interaction with a potential new employer, new research from ManpowerGroup Solutions found. The global survey of 18,000 people showed that candidates want a tech-driven job search, but with a personalized approach.
• To get the best talent, Kate Donovan, ManpowerGroup Solutions​' senior VP and global RPO president, said in a statement that employers should leverage tech tools, such as predictive algorithms and contextual re-targeting, to create personalized ads based on candidates' browsing history, career interests and the articles they read.
• Personalizing ads leads to a hiring process that's more efficient, accurate and a better candidate experience, Donovan said.

Dive Insight:

According to ManpowerGroup Solutions data, nearly half of employers struggle with filling jobs. With many companies competing for job seekers' attention in a market skewed in workers' favor, employers are finding they must tap into the same strategies savvy marketers use to snag the candidates they hope to hire.

Among those strategies, the use of top-of-the-line algorithms to personalize the candidate experience has garnered a lot of attention. Finding that careful balance between a tech-enabled, highly digital experience and a high-touch, human-oriented experience is among employers' current top recruiting challenges. But employers who can make applicants feel as though they're getting personalized, one-on-one treatment will have an edge over competitors, various experts have said.

Avoiding tactics that create a bad recruiting experience for job seekers is crucial. More employers are looking to reduce time-to-hire both to fill positions faster and to reduce the chance that candidates are stolen from under their noses, and a big part of that is improving responsiveness on the employer side, Josh Tolan, CEO of Spark Hire, previously told HR Dive. Keeping user experience in mind is key; overly complicated job applications also turn off job seekers, according to a 2017 Randstad Staffing benchmark study.

Bad recruiting experiences for job seekers have consequences for employers. Job hunts today include visiting rating sites to find out how current or former employers view companies. Just one in four potential employees would apply for a job at a poorly rated company, according to a 2017 CareerArc poll, giving employers ample reason to take a second look at all of their employee-facing processes.