Hiring and Recruiting in a Virtual World
As the world changes to become more virtual, the challenges of recruiting and retaining talent change as well.
It can be a challenge to navigate the hiring and onboarding process when you can’t talk to your colleagues (much less the applicants!) face-to-face; despite moving away from having teams on-site most companies haven’t moved away from needing to add to those teams.
Employers all over the globe are finding that they need to adapt their recruiting process to be successful at finding and retaining talent. Not sure what that means? We’ve put together a short guide to make hiring virtually painless.
First, prioritize your hiring needs
Focus on positions that can easily transition to working remotely/virtually. When deciding which roles fall into this category consider:
1. Necessity (how much do you need this role filled)
2. Function (what does this role accomplish)
3. Work arrangement (does this job require any special equipment, access, or security) This could help give you time to understand how to transition the other roles that might not have it so easy while still finding new talent for other areas.
4. Location (will this job be permanently or temporarily remote)
Once you have the job posted, keep communicating with your applicants
Maintaining transparency with candidates can go a long way. If you’re putting a pause on hiring, let them know. If you’re going with another candidate, tell them! They will remember and appreciate companies that take the time to reach out, especially in these tough times, which helps build trust & will ensure that applicants return for future opportunities.
Be open to interviewing via video
Many people prefer a face-to-face meeting, but it’s important to acknowledge that right now that may not be the safest choice. Interviewing people through a video call can still be just as effective as an in-person meeting, especially if you’re hiring a permanently remote employee. Get to know what your candidates are like when they are in a remote environment – that’s how you’ll interact with them for the foreseeable future anyway.
Don’t have access to video conferencing platforms? There are many free or inexpensive software options that you can use. When deciding between them, make sure you are familiar with their privacy settings, time, and attendance limitations.
Want to skip having to train someone on how to work remotely? Look for candidates who have experience with virtual/remote environments
Candidates who have worked in a remote capacity only need to adjust to their new role and onboarding process – they don’t need to get used to not being in an office every day as well. Look for candidates who have worked with virtual business platforms or who have past positions that required them to work from home. Remember – most recent graduates have been doing their final semester remotely and are already familiar with a virtual work environment.
Not convinced? Reach out to your local recruiting agency – like Katapult!
If trying to adjust every aspect of your recruiting process just isn’t in the immediate plan, Katapult is still actively recruiting and talking to dozens of candidates each week. We can take the pressure off of searching and send you some great talent as soon as you need them. Interested? Let us know!
