Stay ahead of these virtual recruiting challenges

January 12, 2021

 

iCIMS Staff

4 min read

Virtual recruiting went from nice-to-have to need-to-have in response to lockdown measures in 2020. In 2021, talent teams have a sea of innovative recruitment software to transform their existing virtual processes into long-term strategies.

State of virtual recruiting > Considerations and what to prepare for:

• The shift to more permanent work from home arrangements will have 1 in 4 Americans working remotely in 2021
• A quarter of all applications are from out-of-state applicants
• Flexible remote policies are on the table for 57% of employers after 2020
• 79% of companies use video as their preferred communication tool

It’s a perfect time to pause, reflect, and strategize what’s next for virtual recruiting.

The HR industry collectively rose to the challenge of taking a process where human interaction is critical and quickly bringing it behind two screens with the same authenticity. Imagine what we’re capable of when there’s more time to plan.

To bring virtual hiring to 2021 standards, you’ll want to understand and anticipate areas of opportunity.

Virtual recruiting challenges and how to stay ahead:

Challenge: It’s tough to stay compliant when business and legal requirements vary on a state-by-state basis.

Stay ahead: View robust hiring analytics from multiple recruiting tools in one system.

When your team must spin up reports quickly for various requirements across the world, the key to doing it without stress is access to information across your entire HR tech stack. A platform that integrates all of your recruitment software solutions from video interviewing software to onboarding provides that transparency into the full talent lifecycle. The result is flexible and straightforward reporting.

Challenge: It takes more to engage candidates who have higher expectations for virtual interactions because of social distancing.

Stay ahead: Engaging and scalable outreach throughout the hiring process secures your high-performing hires.

Recruiting chatbots are populating most modern career sites to create high-touch experiences. These smart assistants automatically respond to FAQs to keep curious career site visitors informed and interested. Interview self-scheduling and text messages can also bring modern engagement to play.

When you free up recruiter time earlier in the process, you not only reach more talent with no added effort, but you free up time for meaningful relationship-building.

Challenge: The already dreaded candidate black hole feels even more isolating without in-person validation.

Stay ahead: Regularly check in with candidates without extra work on your side.

The speed of your outreach can be the difference between total anxiety and a promising prospect. Timely responses are especially important if you’re dealing with different time zones where a delayed answer is more likely.

Text recruiting software allows recruiters to automate quick updates by time zone, share reminders, and answer questions. Did I mention that message open rates increase from 20% with an email to 98% with text recruiting software? That’s a 78% decreased risk of losing a candidate to a competing employer simply because of a missed email update. It also shows that you value your candidates’ time, which goes a long way in a virtual process.

Challenge: There are new skillsets emerging in importance that are tougher to screen for without an in-person meeting.

Stay ahead: Turn to video to get to know your talent.

After a year like 2020, we’re forced to develop new soft skills as humans and professionals. Specifically, in areas like social influence, resilience, active learning, and stress tolerance—there’s a lot to consider when you make a new hire.

Each role has a certain baseline of requirements, but you also want to know how a new hire can contribute complementary skills to fill gaps within a broader team. That’s where video interviews play a crucial role. Modern functionality makes it easier to create a more structured interview process, improve feedback and reporting, and operate within your ATS workflow.

Challenge: Candidates struggle to know if your culture is right for them when they can’t experience it in person.

Stay ahead: Show what excites employees in an authentic way.

The power of video is not just for interviewing. It’s a view into the real, human moments that connect a candidate to your employees. Whether that be a panel of diverse interviewers throughout the screening process or employees from all over the business on your career site, a video that is not overly edited and produced will show the most authentic version of your company.

Challenge: The timing of your offer letter can be the reason you lose talent in competitive markets.

Stay ahead: Create an offer process that kicks off as soon as you make your verbal offer.

With automated offer management, you give your team the competitive edge and complete the hiring process with the same personalized feel that it started with.

When you consider the varying terms and clauses required by location, a library of pre-approved language makes speed one less thing to worry about. Add an e-signature capability and your company’s branding to eliminate any hesitation on, “Yes!”.

Here’s your go-to link for a downloadable guide on all things virtual hiring.