Companies have used technology to conduct virtual interviews for a decade or more. With COVID-19 changing the work world, we are seeing the interview process, candidate onboarding, and new employee engagement go virtual in the last month. If your organization has been doing virtual interviewing sporadically, it is time to invest in the technology that will keep your recruiting and hiring processes going today and possibly as the preferred method to the more traditional process.
Charles Hipps of OLEEO recently shared the results of a recent informal poll of 70 Talent Acquisition leaders on the effect of COVID-19 on their recruiting:
- 25% said COVID-19 had not impacted recruiting plans
- 61% said it had slowed their pace of recruiting
- 14% said they had paused recruiting
As social distancing becomes the norm, the multi-visit interview process is out. Now we are seeing recruitment “job fairs” via webinars, assessments and training, signing of hiring paperwork, and employee onboarding and introduction to the team – all conducted virtually.
Where to Find Candidates?
With unemployment quickly climbing, you would think that the candidate pool would be filled with job seekers. That might not be true, especially if candidates are unable to either work from home or perform a job in the public. Or, your typical criteria for a position is altered due to the current pandemic.
The first place to look is to tap into your current talent network, including current and past employees, friends, and family. Also, consider candidates who weren’t a perfect fit in the past whose skills are in line with your current needs.
One key aspect of virtual hiring and work-from-home practices is to ensure that the candidates you are interviewing will adapt easily to this new norm. Recruiting Daily advises to make the virtual interview process as comfortable as possible, advise candidates to be appropriately dressed and not to read from scripted answers, watch body language and vocal inflection, as well as non-verbal cues. Some companies are developing pre-interview questions that the candidate answers by recording, and then submit a video. This is just one way to automate the screening process before conducting the online interview.
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein
Hipps noted that “In today’s highly changeable economic environment, it’s time to rethink or even forget traditional recruiting tactics, and to adapt new techniques to turn difficulty into opportunity. This is a defining moment for talent acquisition teams.”
Our recruiting experts are available to assist you in all your hiring needs. Calls us today to discuss how to adapt your processes to hire the candidates that will fit well in this new normal.