Ever since the COVID-19 virus arrived on the scene more than two years ago, there has been a tremendous amount of uncertainty—pretty much everywhere. And that certainly includes the employment marketplace and the job market.
A lot transpired during those 24 months, including lockdowns and travel restrictions and what is possibly the biggest talent shortage in our nation’s history. In fact, recent conditions have even produced a new catchphrase, “The Great Resignation,” as an unprecedented number of people are deciding to quit their jobs in search of greener pastures and a brighter future. (Not the cleverest catchphrase, but it still beats “The Great Recession” in terms of economic impact.)
Online recruiting solutions in today’s uncertain world
So when we talk about recruiting tips, solutions, and strategies in the current landscape of today’s world, we understand that flexibility should be a prerequisite. After all, the COVID-19 pandemic is still a thing (albeit to a lesser extent now).e uncertainty. That being said, when it comes to recruiting solutions and strategies, the pandemic has changed some things (probably permanently), but other things remain unaffected, largely because recruiting involves people, and at the end of the day, people are . . . still people. [Insert Depeche Mode song here.]
The main thing that the pandemic has affected is where people work. Remote work or virtual work is more prevalent now than it has ever been. Since the world is still engulfed in a pandemic, this will continue to be the case for the near future, and since the COVID-19 virus may eventually become endemic, it could continue to be the case far into the future. However, even if the virus just magically disappeared from the face of the Earth, it is unlikely that the number of people working from home would return to pre-pandemic levels.
The pandemic has created a fundamental shift in the employment marketplace. Although the market may have been trending in that direction already, the pandemic accelerated its pace.
With all of this in mind, below are recruiting solutions and strategies in the current landscape of today’s world.
Recruiting solutions: your existing candidate database
This has been a strategy for as long as people have been recruiting each other, although at one time, they used rolodexes and filing cabinets. But now that conditions have changed in the marketplace—and continue to change—this is an opportune time to review the candidates in your recruiting database. Whereas they might not have been a fit before, perhaps now they would be.
This is especially the case now that remote work has become more commonplace. Before the pandemic, you might dismiss candidates who preferred working from home and/or only had remote experience. But now? Those candidates are worthy of a second look.
Recruiting solutions: sourcing top job candidates
This is yet another time-honored recruiting strategy, one with which professional recruiters and executive search consultants are familiar. However, the same logic applies here. Job candidates with more experience working from home may now have an edge over other candidates.
It’s one thing to think that you can flourish working remotely, and it’s another thing to know that you can. Employers who are hiring to fill virtual positions can not afford to gamble on somebody who has a “gut feeling” that they can perform at high levels while in a remote environment.
Recruiting and hiring for soft skills has also become more prevalent, especially in those industries in which job candidates would be working closely with other people. Remote work presents its own unique set of communication challenges, and candidates with polished soft skills are more likely to meet those challenges and overcome them.
This is where membership in a recruiting network can help. If you’re not able to find suitable candidates in your own database or through regular sourcing methods, drawing upon the candidate database of another recruiter is a viable solution. Top Echelon Network is such a network.
With more than 500 member agencies in the United States and Canada, Top Echelon members share job orders and candidates with one another for the purpose of pooling their resources to make split placements. As an example, Top Echelon’s Network Candidates sourcing tool contains more than six (6) million resumes of top job candidates from nearly every industry and niche.
Click here for more information about Top Echelon Network membership.
Online hiring with a recruitment CRM
These days, recruiting success is all about the candidates. There is a shortage of them, especially top candidates. As we’ve already stated, finding and sourcing them is a top priority. One way in which to do this is through a powerful recruitment CRM that provides you with the ability to post open positions on various job boards around the Internet. Regardless of whether you can use these job candidates immediately or in the future, there’s no downside to continually growing your database.
However, the best recruiting CRMs don’t stop with just one-click job posting. They offer a number of other tools and additional functionality that allow you to maximize your communication and stay in close contact with both your clients and candidates. These tools include scheduling phone calls, emails, and interviews, as well as email marketing functionality for staying “top of mind.” But wait, there’s more! With a top recruitment CRM, you’re also able to log notes and activities within the software.
All of these features work together to help you increase your production and streamline your day-to-day workflow.
Online recruiting and virtual hiring with Top Echelon’s ATS
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “If recruiting is all about the candidates, then what about applicant tracking?” Or to put it another way, “candidate tracking.” I’m glad you asked!
Top Echelon’s applicant tracking system allows users to track and manage their candidates all the way through the recruiting and hiring process. The last thing you want to do, after expending energy and effort getting top candidates into the process, is to see them drop out in the middle of it. That’s why our ATS allows users to keep track of not only their work history and background, but also their activity and communication.
The first and most important step with an applicant tracking system is getting information into the software. Top Echelon’s ATS provides a number of ways in which a user can accomplish this, including the resume parsing of resumes, email parsing of resumes, and spreadsheet imports. Of course, after adding the information, the next important step is searching through that information and finding the data that you need, when you need it. Our applicant system excels in that area, with powerful search and find functionality that can save you time when you need it most.
Click here to learn more about Top Echelon’s ATS for enhancing the recruiting and hiring process!