By Adam Vortherms

Technology plays a vital role in virtually everything in today's world. As such, when utilizing technology properly (meaning as part of your recruiting or job seeking strategy, but not as your entire strategy) the benefits to both hiring managers and talents sales professionals are numerous. Here's a look at three of the greatest benefits hiring managers and sales superstars alike can capitalize on, through using technology to fill sales positions, or to find a new sales job.

Online Applications

Companies who are looking to attract top sales reps or sales managers need to have an online presence which welcomes top sellers at any time. The best way for any company to do this is by having a "careers" page or tab on their website, which "sells" the company to top sales talent, by providing an overview of company culture, benefits, etc.

In addition, this page should make it easy for potential candidates to directly contact the hiring manager, and/or provide an opportunity to apply online for a position. Given the convenience this provides to job seekers, it is not surprising that companies that provide career information on their website, typically find themselves with a larger pool of potential hires than those who do not.

Truly savvy companies are beginning to include a video link in their online applications, whereby potential candidates are asked sample interview questions, and asked to record short answers to include along with their resume or CV. The objective in requesting these types of short video interviews along with resumes is to familiarize hiring managers with not only names, but faces of those seeking a position. The benefit to candidates in this situation is clear as they have the opportunity to showcase their knowledge, strengths, and skills applicable to the position.

Social Media 

More and more, sophisticated sales companies and their respective hiring managers are interested in potential candidates' social media pages. The reason is simple. Social media pages may not tell the whole story of who someone is, but they can shed good insight into who a specific candidate is, beyond their resume or CV.

For example, candidates who have lengthy career histories included on social media pages, or who maintain professional online personas, are liable to get stronger consideration for an interview, than those who have nothing about their career, or worse who have provocative, discriminatory, or otherwise unflattering content on their social media pages.

Similarly, the social media pages of a sales company can provide a bit of a glimpse into how that specific company is regarded by others. Savvy sales job seekers will always look to read reviews, check to see how popular a company's pages are, and often read comments about a company before deciding to submit a resume or CV. Sales job seekers are also likely to visit sites where they can read reviews from employees, such as those available at Yelp!, Glassdoor.com, and the Better Business Bureau.

Video Interviews 

Preliminary video interviews make sense for hiring managers considering candidates outside their local region for a couple of reasons. First, by offering video interviews, you're liable to be able to schedule your interviews with top talent outside of your immediate area much faster than you would if you were to rely on in-person interviews exclusively. That's because the talented sales professionals you're looking to attract are likely to be busy people, which can result in delays in interviewing. By offering video interviews to candidates you're actively seeking to attract, you provide greater flexibility for these in-demand sales candidates.

The second reason smart sales companies are utilizing preliminary video interviews to attract top talent is precisely because they do allow for access to a much larger pool of candidates. Rather than only appealing to candidates who can easily make the drive to your office, or chosen interview venue, by offering to conduct video interviews, hiring managers immediately have access to far more potential hires.

Video interviews benefit sales job seekers as well. The opportunity to be interviewed from your home will save you time in traveling to interviews, and money spent traveling to interviews. If you're offered an opportunity to partake in a video interview, it is always smart to say yes.

It's important to note, that although technology is indeed helpful to both hiring managers and sales candidates alike, that doesn't mean that the company or candidate should rely exclusively on technology to ensure they've found the best candidate or the best company to join. Hiring managers still need to perform background checks and reference checks, and should always bring clients into the office before extending an offer, to ensure that the sales candidate meshes well with other members of the team. Sales candidates also need to insist on visiting the office in person, to get a true sense of the company culture, and to meet those you'll be working alongside.

In order to make the most of your recruiting or job seeking strategy, it's smart to engage the services of a highly regarded sales recruiting company. Grapevine Targeting Sales Recruiting specializes in finding the most experienced and successful sales professionals and is committed to delivering high performance, top quality sales reps and sales managers.

Adam Vortherms is a recruiting manager at Grapevine - Targeted Sales Recruiting. Visit www.brixrecruiting.com, call 952.856.2371 or email adam@brixrecruiting.com.