Rooster Jobs debuts to help Sri Lankan businesses steer recruitment during COVID-19

• A recruitment platform built to help businesses navigate the ‘new normal’ in the pandemic-struck economy

Rooster Jobs is a free of charge end-to-end recruitment platform and Applicant Tracking System (ATS) designed to help businesses source suitable candidates. 

The platform https://business.rooster.jobs/ was launched recently with the motive to assist businesses navigate hiring efficiency amidst the turbulent environment created by COVID-19. Within a short span of time, Rooster has acquired over 1,000 candidate visits per day while 150 companies have employed Rooster to streamline their hiring process. 

In addition to being an ATS, the services rendered by Rooster are candidate management, recruitment automation, recruitment analytics, automated candidate updates, career page integration and live synchronisation while many more features are being added regularly.

The platform understands the need to establish an efficient, easy-to-use hiring structure within the local business community. Rooster has also extended its services to help fulfil this need by collaborating with several companies in order to train HR teams and provide free ads on multiple job boards during its introductory period which runs till 21 April 2021.

“We wanted to create a platform that has the capability to truly improve the way businesses hire people as we ourselves realised how inefficient some hiring practices can be,” says Rooster Jobs Co-Founder Bhanuka Harischandra. “Having interviewed hundreds of candidates over the years, we have understood that manually maintaining spreadsheets, parsing through CVs and individually calling applicants consume a lot of time and resources. Rooster was created to help the Sri Lankan business community embrace efficient and collaborative hiring while also refining and improving the candidate experience. We aim to improve both ends of the spectrum.”

The hiring process observed by most companies in Sri Lanka currently involves running advertisements on various job portals, an assortment of spreadsheets and several one-to-one interviews that cost a lot of time and effort. Traditional recruitment procedures often lack structure and proper organisation. In order to shift from traditional HR practices, organisations need to incorporate an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). 

An ATS is a database management system that helps hiring managers and recruiters to organise and sort candidate CVs. They can incorporate filters, search for applicants through keyword searches or pick candidates based on the compatibility between the resume and job description through the system. Many ATSs also go beyond basic applicant tracking and offer advanced features such as video screening, live syndication and recruitment workflow integration. This process not only helps better organise the hiring process, but it also reduces in-person interactions, which is an ideal solution to maintain social distancing.

“We mapped the candidate journey at Rooster and designed the platform in a way that would keep each candidate informed in every step of the way. We have added features that notify applicants on where they stand in the hiring process and automated updates to alert them when they’ve made it to the next step or have been rejected,” Harischandra further added.

ATS is a common technology deployed by 99% of the Fortune 500 companies to help recruit in a smarter way. But most Applicant Tracking Systems are rather expensive with popular products like Greenhouse.io setting starting prices between $ 6,000 and $ 25,000. Rooster, with its innovative hiring tools comes in as an affordable alternative to facilitate the recruitment process.

COVID-19 has undeniably changed the social landscape and protocols like social distancing have created a need for companies to reevaluate their stance on hiring procedures. Now more than ever, businesses need to limit face-to-face interviews, reduce costs of hiring and implement better candidate screening to ensure great recruits. Hiring the right employees could also mean that companies are equipped with the right people to help navigate the difficult times ahead effectively.