One of the best moments ever of the Oscars, was a 1984 acceptance speech given by actress Sally Field when she said, “The first time I didn’t feel it, but this time I feel it—and I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!” The point was, even though she was a famous actress, winning this second Oscar allowed her to feel liked and validated for her work. Everyone wants to feel loved and accepted. It only takes one bad recruiter to make for a bad candidate experience, and there is nothing branding, tweeting or liking can do to change that until now. Herefish is not a candidate engagement tool. It is a candidate-nurturing tool. Yes, there is a difference. Candidate engagement tools get candidates into the process – candidate nurturing helps the candidates feel that you like them you REALLY like them. They also add a service, acting as your content marketing managers.
Candidate Engagement VS. Candidate Nurturing
So that I am clear, Herefish is a platform that offers a service that nurtures candidates. Reviewing Herefish was tough only because I had nothing really to measure it against. There are no other Candidate Nurturing tools. Period. There are automation and communication tools, but there are no other companies that offer a combination of job postings, candidate nurturing and content marking all into one. The process of candidate nurturing is taken completely out of your hands and given to recruiting marketing experts who will then make sure the job of nurturing candidates is getting done and done well.
Content Rich Career Site and Targeted Content Marketing
I don’t even think they should call it “career site.” Career site infers career page, and this is totally not that. Here is a link to their demo page http://nemo.careerbits.com You will notice, it appears to be more of a micro-site than a career page although, it does list open positions – but only the jobs that are listed are formatted for the candidates you want to nurture. For an example, if someone applied for an accounting job in the past, then only list the accounting jobs currently open. The “career” site is a stand-alone site. If articles are shared, or someone just stumbles across your career page, they can sign up to get updates. This way, you can begin to build a pipeline of passive candidates just by sharing relevant information.
Instead of sending a typical “thanks for applying” email, Herefish sends a completely mobile ready, employer-branded magazine type email articles, lists, and buzz-worthy content. Why not just send information relating to searching for jobs? Because some people who have applied in the past is not looking for a job but appreciates good content.
Visitor Tracking and Reporting
Once the recipient of the email clicks on an article or a job post, their activity is tracked. You will be able to see what they clicked on, how long they stayed on the site and the articles that were of most interest. From there you can get detailed reporting information that will help you decide on how and where you market your open positions and get a pulse on what your potential candidates needs are.
Convert Passive Visitors into Active Candidates
Once a candidate clicks on the job openings, your recruiter is alerted and can turn a visitor into a candidate. Instead of “cold” communication, these candidates already know about you and the company you represent. They have a feeling of what your business values and go into the candidate experience feeling cared for.
Increase Your Applicant Pipeline
Herefish works with you to extract the data from your existing candidate database or ATS of the candidates that you want to target. After deciding a candidate will not be a good fit, instead of ignoring them, They will nurture them. They will work with you to look at your database and decide which candidates to nurture, what messages to send out and when. They will even write the content for you! Once you choose to nurture your candidates, nothing is needed on your part. Herefish handles all the details on their end with people, not just robots.
What Makes Herefish Great
You can send out little notes about your open positions and Happy Thanksgiving emails, but that sort of communication makes it all about you. The paradigm shift embraced here is making it about the candidate. Herefish wants you to open a dialogue with your candidates. What we usually refer to, as a company page is a site that looks awfully similar to a blog or news page.
This method allows you not just to engage with potential candidates. It enables you to talk to people who may not be actively job seeking at all. Herefish recognizes that people are in various stages to their job search. CareerBuilder, published a survey by Harris Interactive (Nov. 6 to Dec. 2, 2013) and found that “21 percent of full-time employees plan to change jobs in 2014, the largest amount in the post-recession era and up from 17 percent in 2013.” While this was a significant amount based on previous survey’s, to you and I it means that 79% are not looking to change. The point is to catch people who when they eventually do want to seek a new position, they think of you first. The posts they receive is tailored not just to send articles about how to find a new job. It also will inform them about how to do their job better. It is because of this model; they can claim 60 – 70% click through on their emails.
More About the Company:
The brains behind Herefish are Jason Heilman and Travis Arnold. They met when they both worked at an Applicant Tracking System (ATS.) While watching candidates reactively recruit, a light bulb went off. What if they already had the candidate in the system but didn’t realize it? The problem with the standard ATS is that they had an automation function but only for emails, not content. They have over 20 years of combined experience and wanted to make a difference in the recruiting world. Click here to learn more about Jason and Travis.
Herefish is a Game Changer
I hate “spamanator” robot emails. I think everyone does. If you are sending something that is of use, you are helping me, not just filling my inbox with crap. I remember when a friend applied for some jobs at a local retail store. He received an email stating that they received his application. He took an online test. Passed and was asked in for an in-person interview with HR and another test. The HR manager said it was the highest answers on the test she had ever seen. He waited for two weeks for feedback. He received no calls, no emails. The next thing you know, he receives five rejection emails. They looked like this:
Subject: Your Application for Position X
Thanks for your interest in joining our team. At this time, we are considering other candidates for the following position 56421017BR.
We encourage you to visit www.abccompany.com/careers again and take advantage of our search tool. It will help you find other opportunities that best match your unique qualifications.
Thanks again.
He got this email five times. They didn’t even customize it to say his name. Needless to say, he did feel encouraged to visit their website to try again. The Herefish methodology allows candidates to feel like they are important; the company culture is a nurturing one and that the company wants to help them with their career and everyday life. In my mind, Herefish has found the right mixture of emails, employer branding, marketing and nurturing that the industry has been missing for a long time.
How do I get it?
Go to www.herefish.com/contact or give them a call at 314.399.9302.
About the Author: Jackye Clayton is a talented recruiter and recognized people expert who puts the Human in Human Resources. 
An international speaker and trainer, she has traveled worldwide sharing her unique gifts in sourcing, recruiting and job coaching. She offers various dynamic presentations on numerous topics related to diversity recruiting and sourcing, leadership development, inclusionary culture development, talent management and more. Her in-depth experience in working with recruiting teams at top Fortune and Inc 500 clients and their employees has allowed her to create customized programs to coach, train and recruit top talent and inspire others to greatness. Follow Jackye on Twitter @JackyeClayton and @RecruitingTools or connect with her on LinkedIn.
By Jackye Clayton
Jackye is an acclaimed thought leader and inspirational speaker on recruiting and DEIB topics. She brings years of experience recruiting across a variety of industries including tech, HR, legal, and finance. In her role as VP of Talent Acquisition and DEIB, she leads all related work at Textio, provides critical expertise to customers, and serves as a leading voice in the products Textio creates for the broader ecosystem. Jackye has been named one of the 9 Powerful Women in Business You Should Know by SDHR Consulting, one of the 15 Women in HR Tech to Follow by VidCruiter, and is on the Top 100 list of Human Resources Influencers by Human Resource Executive Magazine.
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