There’s no doubt that COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the recruitment industry. Indeed, a recent study of 100 UK businesses by CV-Library reveals that 83.1% of organisations had to make changes to their hiring process during the pandemic.
While restrictions are lifting and many businesses are looking to hire again, coronavirus has far from disappeared. This means that many recruitment professionals will need to continue to tweak their recruitment methods in order to attract top talent in the coming months.
Sourcing candidates
It’s a sad reality that many workers have been made redundant due to COVID-19 and that number will only grow as the furlough scheme comes to an end in October.
With so many individuals looking for work, it’s vital to consider job seekers with transferable skills from different industries; or applicants who can work-remotely on a full-time basis. This will make it much easier to find viable candidates, even if there is a shortage of talent in the desired sector.
Advertising your jobs
Alongside this, it’s important to think carefully about what to promote in your job postings; especially if you want to attract top talent.
Indeed, when considering a new job, salary (73.8%), location (66.9%), job security (27.7%) and flexible working hours (27.3%) are most important to professionals right now.
Following this, 20.5% care about development opportunities, 20.3% about the company’s culture and 12.3% about the ability to work from home. As such, be sure to prioritise the most popular selling points of the position in every job advert you draft.
Screening applicants
With such a large influx of applicants, some industries are attracting as many as 100 candidates per vacancy. This means it’s vital that recruiters are able to thoroughly screen all applicants and identify the cream of the crop.
The best way to do this is by using the right tools. Look at how you can maximise your Applicant Tracking System, if you use one; and also consider asking provoking screening questions as part of your job adverts.
Conducting interviews
There’s no doubt that interviews have been one of the biggest challenges for hiring professionals during coronavirus. In fact, our suggests that 87% of recruiters have introduced video interviews where face-to-face meetings haven’t been possible.
While these meetings may be online, it’s vital that you continue to treat them like normal interviews. This means interviewers need to be well prepared with thoughtful questions, as well as being willing to hold several rounds of interviews if necessary.
Remember, the interview might be virtual but the position you’re looking to fill is very real; and it’s important that you find someone who is the right fit.
Communicating with professionals
Given the situation, it’s no surprise that, according to our research, 75.3% of professionals feel stressed about finding a new role during the pandemic. As a recruiter, it’s good practice to make the job-hunting process as painless as possible.
A great way to do this is by building a good rapport with candidates through frequent communication. Even if you need to deliver bad news, it’s better that you’re as honest as you can be and offer updates as often as you can. This gives candidates more control over the situation and enables them to make decisions based on the facts.
Onboarding new employees
When you’ve finally found the right person for the job, it’s important that you onboard them properly. This means you need to keep the new employee engaged with the role before they start; especially if they have a longer notice period. It can be as simple as an email from their manager or sending a new starter pack to their home; every little helps.
What’s more, it’s vital that you ensure every new employee has access to the tools and resources they need to succeed from day one. If they need access to a certain programme, be sure to have it all set up by their first day. If you don’t, it sets the candidate and you up for failure in the long term.
Hiring during a pandemic
It’s clear that hiring during a pandemic presents a number of issues for recruiters across the globe. However, with the right approach these challenges can be dealt with quickly and easily. To read more on how to hire during a pandemic, check out CV-Library’s latest whitepaper, hiring during a pandemic: How to future-proof your recruitment efforts.
