Many companies have already begun hiring seasonal employees, yet there are still thousands of positions waiting to be filled. Data has revealed that over 12 major companies expect to hire 700,000 seasonal employees this year…in the US alone!

In order to beat out the competition by making tons placements leading up to the holidays, there is one critical tool you need - the right staffing software. With it, finding qualified seasonal talent doesn’t have to be difficult. Here are 3 ways you can leverage your ATS system to efficiently source and place leading candidates that are interested in seasonal employment:

1. Write THESE Job Posts and Share Them to the Right Job Boards

Opportunities for seasonal employment are abundant this year, so you’ve got to grab the attention of candidates fast. In order to stand out from your recruiting competitors, it’s critical that you write engaging job ads. Step one is sharing the details applicants want to know…this seems obvious, but it’s so often poorly executed.  

Starting with the job title - make sure you actually specify that the job opportunity is seasonal. This will help your post appear in search results for candidates that are looking for seasonal opportunities on job boards. Next, be sure that you include pertinent details without writing a super lengthy post. Focus simply on providing the following details:

• A brief summary of the company
• A brief summary about the job opportunity
• The role’s most important required tasks and responsibilities
• The work schedule
• The pay rate
• The needed qualifications/licenses, if required

According to American Staffing Association’s survey, 1 out of 5 participants said that scheduling flexibility is a major reason why they choose temporary work. Given this, be sure to emphasize the days and hours that candidates are expected to work so they have all the important information they need on hand. Once you’re done writing and formatting your job posting, distribute it to multiple job boards at once using your staffing software.

Beyond speed and efficiency, posting via your staffing software also allows you to track where your top applicants are coming from. Given the increasing costs associated with job boards, including Indeed’s pending changes, it’s more important than ever to know which sources are working best for your business. Data acquired through your staffing software will allow you to make results-driven decisions around where time and money is best spent.

2. Tap into your Existing Talent Gold Mine

You’d be surprised to discover how often the right candidate for a seasonal role is waiting for you in your database. Before spending hours on external sourcing, review your current talent pool for matches to your open jobs. The right staffing software should give you clear and consistent search functionality that will allow you to find candidates by skills, location, experience, qualifications, your notes, and more.

In certain ATS systems with integrated timesheets, you can also search for candidates who are available to work during very specific time periods. Simply enter the start and end times for positions you want to fill, and qualified candidates who aren’t currently placed will appear in your search results. With this staffing software feature, you can quickly and easily identify who is available for seasonal employment.

3. Beat the Competition with a Market Leading User-Experience

Indeed’s data showed that 78% of surveyed Millennials looked for jobs on their phones as of 2016. Gen Xers weren’t far behind, as 73% of them searched for jobs on their phones. A mobile-friendly website and job application form is especially important for hourly employees, since they don’t spend much of their workday at a desktop computer.

Since many people search and apply for jobs online, it only makes sense to make this process seamless for candidates. To do this, make sure that your job application form is mobile-friendly. This means that your job application site should be well-designed for mobile phones, and it should allow candidates to upload their resumes from their phones.

The team behind your staffing software will be able to provide detailed insight into offering a leading candidate experience, as its API integration should be designed to support modern mobile functionality – if it’s not, it’s time to look for a new staffing software.

Try to keep the application short. Survey findings have shown that 70% of job seekers want the application to be less than five pages, and 83% of them want to answer fewer than 15 questions. Don’t have the time to redesign and update your own website? If the staffing software you use is partnered with major job boards such as Indeed, your jobs are automatically mobile-optimized through their sites.

With so many clients and candidates to manage on a daily basis, your ATS system is the most important staffing tool for staying organized and finding qualified candidates fast —especially during this holiday season.