Let's get nerdy. Us recruiters have never had more technology at our disposal to do do our job in the most efficient way.
There are fancy new ATS of course, and Talent CRMs and other enterprise tools, but also there are thousands of personal tools at your fingertips to automate and improve your job like browser extensions, web scrapers and email finders.
Also, the barrier for entry to create something of your own has been drastically lowered with tools like ChatGPT and it's analogs.
It's thrilling, but also confusing and intimidating. Where the hell do you even start building a personal RecTech stack?
Well if you have followed my content for any length of time you know my personal mission is to empower recruiters with data. So that's what I want to do here.
Give you a few options of varying degrees of complexity and value to empower yourselves with these new tools.
Let's get cracking!
Let's start with services that mush together apps into workflows. If you don't use these, definitely give them a go. they are no code and the pricing structure is minuscule for the individual contributor,
No-Code Automation Tools
Automating workflows without writing code is an awesome way to enhance your productivity. Here are three tools to get you started:
1.Zapier
Zapier is one of the most popular no-code platforms out there.
Its easy to use and has a bajillion integrations (over 4,000 apps).
Its great for straightforward automations like moving candidate data from Google Forms to an ATS or sending automatic follow-up emails.
UI is lovely, seems to be the current go-to for recruiters who want to automate stuff without worrying about technical complexities.
2. Make.com
Getting really popular, mainly due to it's aggressive social media marketing.
It's super flexible and has a rich feature set, like advanced data manipulation, visual routing, and support for HTTP requests for those random connections.
It's perfect if you’re comfortable with a steeper learning curve and need more complex automations.
It's got a free plan and is priced 'per operation'. For an individual, you will get by on the free plan no bother.
Because the visualisation tool and workflows are really easy to use, it’s an excellent option for automating tasks like parsing candidate applications or managing applicant data across multiple tools.
3. Relay.app
New kid on the block in the automation space. Relay focuses on incorporating AI into your workflows.
It supports “human in the loop” automations, making it super for recruiters who want to blend automation with manual intervention (e.g. triggering outreach sequences but requiring approval before sending).
Not as many integrations as Zapier or Make so make sure it can connect to all your tools before you invest time in it.
It's got a decent free plan so no harm in giving it a crack.
Standalone Scraping Tools & Browser Extensions
Scraping tools let us pull data from various sources automatically, making sourcing candidates way way easier.
Here are three top tools you can use for scraping, no coding required:
1. Web Scraper (Chrome Extension)
Highly customisable browser extension for scraping websites.
Ideal for extracting job applicant information from LinkedIn profiles or pulling data from public job boards.
You can create scraping templates directly from the browser, even if you have no technical background.
2. ParseHub
Spell this one right or you'll get a call from HR.
ParseHub is a visual data extraction tool that uses machine learning to recognise patterns on a web page.
It works really well for tasks like pulling resumes or profiles from multi-page job boards or scraping applicant details from less structured websites. In the past, the more standard scrapers would struggle with these.
3. Data Miner
A Chrome extension with pre-built scraping recipes for common websites, including LinkedIn.
It’s perfect of you want to scrape profiles or contact details in bulk with minimal setup.
3. Writing Your Own Scraper Using Python
For those willing to get hands-on, building your own scraper using Python offers unmatched flexibility.
Here’s a simple breakdown of the process:
Step 1: Set up Python Environment
Install Python on your local machine along with libraries like BeautifulSoup and Requests for web scraping, and Pandas for handling the data.
Step 2: Write the Scraper
Using Python, you can write a script to extract data from web pages. For example, you can scrape job applicant profiles, resumes, or contact information from public directories or niche job boards.
Advantages
Full control over the scraping process.
You can customise scripts for any data structure or specific website.
you avoid reliance on third-party platforms.
Its pretty much free.
Disadvantages
Steeper learning curve if you’re not familiar with coding.
Maintenance is required as websites update their structure.
If you are new to coding, you can always use tools like ChatGPT to help generate Python code snippets. that's what I do.
You can ask it to create templates for your scrapers or troubleshoot issues.
Sounds daunting, but I promise that with a bit of perseverance, you can build something functional in one evening.
It's also fun, free and you get to learn a new skill!
Overall, I recommend you start with your process and work from there.
Set yourself a specific goal that would make you life easier and only THEN start to build something that will automate your workflows.
If you don't have a goal in mind, it will be impossible to build something functional.
Here is a video of some of the stuff I've been doing recently to illustrate :
Recruiter nerds, Have at it!!!!
Luke Update
I've been working from Tuscany all September which has been lovely, if a little tricky.
What this means is the book has come along at a fair clip. I was hoping to have the whole thing done by the time I'm back in Scotland, but that was overambitious.
I'm planning for it to be finished by the time I go to speak at the OneReq RecOps Conference in Chicago on the 24-25th October. Any Chicagoans wanna come hangout give me a shout.
Once the book is done ill be recording a video course based on the material in the book.
Here is a photo of my office to make you jealous...
Well... that's issue twenty! If you have any questions about it, want to dig into coding, or any feedback on this issue of The Data Driven Recruiter, grab me on LinkedIn for a chat.
I'll see you next week!