The pandemic has significantly influenced the style and the way of working. Due to restrictions in movement and the sanitary regime, the importance of remote work and recruitment has increased significantly. The market has opened up to flexible forms of hiring and conducting processes related to human resources management. And now, despite the gradual lifting of some of the restrictions, the trend of online communication continues.
The new reality influenced the expectations of candidates and the attitude of employers. In the report “Rynek Pracy Specjalistów 2021/Specialist Job Market 2021” we can read that at the end of last year, remote recruitment concerned about 39% of active job advertisements published on the pracuj.pl portal. This number grows from year to year.
The same report shows that the industry in which the most recruitment activity was observed on the portal in 2021 was the IT industry, and IT specialists were in second place among the most recruited people. Especially for this group of professionals, it is worth conducting remote recruitment, both due to the difficulties related to the coronavirus pandemic and their position on the labor market (the so-called “employee market”).
How do candidates react to remote recruitment?
The eRecruiter survey shows the growing sympathy of candidates towards remote recruitment.
The vast majority of the surveyed specialists participated in online recruitment only (58%). Only 29% of employees in specialist positions encountered direct recruitment, in which each stage was conducted “live”.
As many as 78% of respondents (both candidates for physical work and specialists) react to online recruitment either decisively or rather positively. Candidates appreciate above all the time savings, the possibility of meeting employers from different locations and the possibility of participating in more recruitments at the same time.
How to conduct remote recruitment?
Conducting the process remotely may reduce the possibilities of competency testing and negatively affect communication. The biggest challenges indicated by the employers (eRecruiter Report):
- getting to know the candidate only during a remote process,
- overcoming technical problems,
- providing information on the atmosphere and culture in the company.
How to recruit online so as not to disappoint the candidates and at the same time overcome the biggest challenges?
Here are some of the most important steps in a remote recruitment process.
1. Take care of communication with the candidate
When planning remote recruitment, inform about it at the stage of posting a job advertisement or provide the candidates with such information right after the application. It is worth preparing the candidate for the online meeting. You can write them an e-mail with instructions explaining how to join the interview, remind them to check the internet connection, and if you want to make a video call with the webcam turned on – be sure to inform the candidate in advance.
2. Prepare for the meeting
Each recruitment meeting requires the preparation of a recruiter. The very manner of conducting the interview does not have to differ significantly from the face-to-face meeting. If you are new to conducting online interviews, be sure to keep these basic points in mind:
- take care of a professional look, also in the background – check the area covered by the camera range and make sure that the background is calm so as not to distract the interlocutor,
- choose the right place for a conversation – it must be quiet, well-lit and tidy,
- take care of your own comfort – if you are planning a long meeting or several conversations in a row, prepare yourself a drink and possibly something to eat,
- before the conversation, check the internet connection and the webcam,
- have the candidate’s documents with you, e.g. their CV.
3. Choose proven tools
Choose the tools you know well. This will make it easier for you to conduct the meeting and react quickly in the event of technical problems. When choosing applications for job interviews, also take into account the candidate’s convenience. Ideally, the decision should be made on a program that can be accessible and that will not require installing plug-ins or applications on a private computer. You can use, for example, Microsoft Teams, available as part of the Microsoft 365, Zoom or Google Meet packages.
If you want to use solutions dedicated to conducting recruitment interviews, you can install Spark Hire or VidCruiter. Thanks to them, you will be able to carry out a recruitment task in which, for example, you will ask the candidate to record the solution at any time. However, remember to test them first.
4. Don’t forget about feedback
In remote recruitment, as well as in direct processes, it is extremely important to provide the candidate with feedback. Not only in terms of accepting or rejecting their application, but also detailed information about the reasons for such a decision by the employer.
Remember to make an appointment with the candidate for a specific date of the feedback meeting, or at least inform them about the length of the decision-making process.
5. Do the onboarding
New employees often face problems in the first days of work. They report difficulties with the availability of colleagues who could help them find their way in the new reality, and work takes longer for them due to the lack of basic knowledge about the organization.
Remote employment also entails new challenges. Especially in terms of getting to know other team members and implementing them in joint projects. That is why it is worth spending more time on online onboarding, and starting to plan the entire process earlier, before the new employee starts working. We wrote more about online onboarding in the article “Top 5 tips for remote onboarding“.
If you are focused on an efficient recruitment process (also remotely), contact us. We will help you hire the best qualified IT specialists!