MAC Hires Qualified Talent for Quality Client Care With iHire’s Industry-Focused Recruiting Solutions

The full story:

Background

Minnesota Autism Center (MAC) is a non-profit organization that provides therapeutic services to children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Since 1996, MAC has served more than 350 clients across the State of Minnesota.

MAC’s center-based and in-home services utilize several therapeutic modalities based on the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy to develop individualized treatment plans and group learning experiences. Therapeutic services are delivered in a 1:1 ratio or group learning setting with a team of mental health professionals.

Challenges

After reducing staff due to COVID-19, MAC reopened its doors in August 2020 with a gap to fill in its team. With clients from all over the world and a waiting list for assessments, MAC had no time to waste in the hiring process. However, finding behavioral therapists meant ensuring candidates possess specific qualifications and meet Minnesota’s requirements for mental health professionals. For example, at minimum, therapists must possess a bachelor’s degree in one of the behavioral sciences or related fields from an accredited college or university, and have logged 2,000 hours of supervised experience delivering mental health services.

Along with seeking candidates with the right experience and credentials, MAC sought therapists who are passionate about their careers. Hiring passionate individuals not only ensures high-quality client care, but also improves employee retention, allowing MAC to keep staff aboard and engaged longer term.

Solutions

In need of qualified, career-driven professionals, MAC decided to take an industry-specific approach to recruiting to fill its behavioral therapist roles. With 57 industry-focused communities, including iHireMentalHealth and iHireSocialServices, and a unique talent pool, iHire was the right addition to MAC’s recruitment toolbox.

Working closely with iHire’s dedicated Customer Success team, MAC opted to promote its behavioral therapist positions through iHire’s Job Slots – flexible, interchangeable job postings. With Job Slots, MAC could recruit therapists for multiple locations at once and swap in new postings as they filled positions. The non-profit began with a 1-Slot subscription (posting one job at a time), but soon upgraded to a 5-Slot subscription upon recognizing how quickly they were attracting high-quality candidates.

MAC’s Job Slots subscription also included two helpful tools to drive more qualified candidates to their job ads: branded email job alerts sent to relevant talent and a company profile showcasing its employer brand (e.g., employee benefits, office locations, videos/photos). Potential hires visiting MAC’s profile can join their talent network with the click of a button to be considered for future job openings.

Additionally, MAC subscribed to iHire’s Resume Search – a database of 3.4 million resumes searchable by industry, job title, skills, location, relocation preferences, education level, last activity, and more. By setting up customized search alerts, MAC receives email and dashboard notifications every time a matching candidate is added to the resume database.

If a job seeker enter MAC’s talent pool by submitting an application, through the company profile, or via Resume Search, the non-profit can use iHire’s intuitive candidate management tools to sort, tag, and comment on prospects and even organize them according to the credentials they possess. When a candidate is no longer in the running for a position or is not quite what they need at the time, MAC can add them to their “pipeline” folder to consider them for future roles.

Results

Within the first two months of recruiting with iHire’s industry-specific platform, MAC hired 15 quality employees and counting. The “quality over quantity” approach to recruiting paid off, as 1 in every 2.4 applicants were hired. With fewer resumes to sift through, MAC could hire and onboard staff quicker and more efficiently. Further, MAC hired 25% faster than the industry average – its jobs remained open for an average of 22 days, while postings are typically open for 30 days, if not longer.

“Being successful with the right audience is big for us,” said Meghan Fletcher, Recruiter/HR Specialist with MAC. “With a bigger platform like Indeed, it’s harder to find those qualified applicants. I’d rather have 10 qualified applicants over 50 who are unqualified all day long – it’s quality over quantity with iHire.”

MAC has found that iHire’s candidates are passionate about their work, which is just what the organization needed. “We’ve had some great conversations with professionals, even some we didn’t hire. They’re excited about the positions and this industry,” Fletcher concluded. “Our recruiting goal is also about retention. When candidates have passion, we’re able to retain our people.”

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