A fresh perspective on Google Hire

On the 19th of July it felt like I was 8 hours too late for the hype of Google Hire, the latest release of Google to disrupt the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) market — for managing, interviewing and hiring candidates.
Google Hire was born from traditional ATS having “poorly integrated or no integration with the productivity tools in G Suite”.
As a BDM of Invoxy it’s my job to be on top of new technology in the recruitment industry, that’s why I dedicated time to research, attended a 5am NZ time webinar and used my knowledge of current technology to evaluate what this means for the industry.
Here’s an unofficial view of the good and bad of Google Hire.
Where it knocks it out of the park:
Integration
The nature in which it fits straight into your inbox is beautiful. It’s unprecedented integration with G-suite has made a product that is beyond intuitive and easy to use. Also all emails get attached to the candidate profile, providing a powerful CRM solutions for all those backwards and forwards.
Simplicity
Much like all of their apps like Google Calendar, Gmail and Google docs; Google knows how to make products that are intuitive to the end user. Google Hire is no different — with its clean dashboard that fits within user patterns.
As I watched the demo the parsing tool of CV’s was quick, accurate and useful — a real win for busy recruitment teams.
Organisation
As a categorically Type A personality the ease of scheduling interviews and rooms appeals to me immensely — within Google Hire it’s easy to see another user’s calendar, extend meetings and book the appropriate room. This is a task that causes real havoc and pain to recruiters so I can see this being a game changer for (even those out there that are more Type B).
Extra for experts — Two new beta features!
Search in candidate database
Benefit: You can see the last point of contact of that candidate, whether they were rejected or hired as well as the date stamp.
The Gmail add on
Benefit: In Gmail, this add on allows you to search your Hire database for contact information, or if that contact does not exist make the contact in Google hire straight from your inbox.
Where it misses the mark:
A Human Touch
Thanks to Google Hire, you can easily email and organise meetings within a few clicks. What Google hire doesn’t understand is the human side of recruitment, the phone calls, the coffee’s, the texts back and forward to a candidate.
A recruitment process is not limited to a calendar invite for an interview — it’s a fostered relationship through a life changing event in a person’s life. That candidate experience is something that cannot enhanced through using Google hire.
Placement Management
The process still requires a hiring team — as stated in their own support material, once you’ve successfully hired a candidate it is then expected to be “passed onto the hiring team”. The point of recruitment is to simplify the complexity of hiring, simply handing a candidate off to a hiring team misses the point of recruiting, to look after your candidate from interest to successful placement.
The Recruitment industry isn’t ready
Many agencies still use Microsoft 365. Google shouldn’t underestimate the maturity of the market. Legacy systems that recruiters love and have spent a lot of money to customise won’t be thrown away anytime soon.
Overview
Overall it’s an incredible intuitive tool using all the apps we live and breathe each day — whether it shakes up the traditional ATS market is in question.
It’s light on the features recruiters need everyday to place their candidates and track their progress like onboarding, placement management and ultimately lacks the human touch which is the ultimate appeal of the recruitment industry itself.
Further reading:
https://support.google.com/hire/topic/7321109?hl=en&ref_topic=7321021,7320868,
http://recruitingdaily.com/google-hire-recruiting/
https://support.google.com/hire/answer/7448597?hl=en&ref_topic=7431829
https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/18/15988376/google-hire-tool-businesses-job-candidate-tracking
http://fortune.com/2017/07/18/google-hire-recruitment-app/
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Invoxy is the best placement management software for recruitment companies . Everything you need to manage contractors and temps, after you’ve made the placement.
