Not only are job seekers more flexible in selecting where to work, but they also have access on-demand to career opportunities via any number of job boards and communities, social media channels, or other online resources.
Employers have a headache with the unfilled jobs in their millions.
Even with all the digital recruitment tools available, it’s more complex than you might think.
Finding qualified candidates is more complex, complicated, and time-consuming. What is holding back hiring, despite record-low unemployment rates and the well-known skills gap?
Following are some challenges on digital recruitment, along with some suggestions for how to address each challenge.
The Challenge: Too many applicants who aren’t qualified or irrelevant
Companies need more qualified applicants or relevant applications. Mismatch applications found in responses echo the claims of a growing skills gap. They also raise a few questions: Are employers setting unreasonable candidate expectations? Are the job requirements in the job advertisements precise?
A closer examination sometimes reveals another culprit. Employers who cited ineligible or unqualified applicants as their biggest challenge prefer posting job ads on general job boards. These platforms can reach a broad audience, but are they the best recruiting method?
The Solution: Quality over Quantity
Avoid the chaos and limit your search by using niche or industry-specific job boards. If you are looking for software developers, place your job ad on a job board that targets tech professionals.
This approach will allow you to receive fewer applicants and result in higher-quality candidates. It will save you time, cut costs, and allow you more time for other valuable tasks. An AI-powered resume screening tool, which automates the process and reduces the number of unqualified applicants, is a great option.
The challenge: A lack of talent in the local area
Employers need help finding qualified talent within their local area. Employers need to be more flexible and adjust their expectations to find skilled talent, even though this can partially be attributed to a shortage.
The Solution: Be Flexible
It will help if you search outside your local area for talent in today’s competitive job market. You can attract qualified candidates by hiring a distributed team. It will help you to attract people who might otherwise miss your job ad because of geographical reasons. If this is impossible, you can brush up on your Boolean search skills and generate highly relevant results using an online resume search engine.
If local talent is not available,
Expand your geographic horizon.
The Challenge: Fewer applicants
One of the top concern is the lack of applicants. Some companies consider as number one online recruiting problem is a lackluster number of applicants. It is another sign of the talent shortfall resulting from tight labor markets. However, it also indicates that HR managers may benefit from expanding their recruitment toolsets.
The solution: Diversify resources
Although the old saying “Quality over Quantity” is still valid, you will not find the ideal candidate if you look in the wrong places. Diversifying your recruitment toolbox will increase your chances of landing your unicorn.
Each resource can be used to test for different candidate personas.
You can decide where to advertise once you have identified the most effective sources for recruiting specific candidates. Social media works well for finding entry-level talent, while niche job boards are more effective at bringing in career-minded, seasoned candidates.
The Challenge: Ghosting
Another biggest challenge in online recruitment was candidates who don’t turn up for interviews or don’t reply to communications.
It is not surprising as the current market allows job seekers greater freedom to choose which opportunities they want to pursue. The applicants feel that sending a hiring manager a voicemail or skipping an interview has minimal consequences. Employers will find candidate ghosting frustrating and wasteful. It can also slow down the hiring process.
The Solution: Communicate clearly, and often
Your best recruitment marketing strategies will help you attract suitable candidates and support them throughout the hiring process. You can engage them with helpful content about your company, open positions, workplace culture, career advice, and other information. Candidates will respond more quickly if you are friendly, approachable, and helpful.
Your candidates should be treated professionally and made to feel valued.
They will be valued and reciprocated in the same manner.
The Challenge: Sub-par Job ads
Certain employers stated they have the most difficulty writing ads that get responses. Employers no longer rely on the local newspaper’s five-line “help needed” ad to attract candidates. Today’s sophisticated job boards and recruitment tools use candidate-matching algorithms, proactively connecting top talent with employers.
However, it will be easier for the right candidate to find you with detailed descriptions and carefully chosen keywords.
The Solution: Create more detailed job descriptions
To increase your chances of being found on a job board, search engine, or another online tool, include as much information as possible about the position you will be applying.
Also, your ad should highlight the benefits of working at your company. What are your unique benefits? How is your workplace? These details can help market your company to potential on-the-fence candidates and increase your overall recruitment marketing efforts.
Final
These are only a few examples of the problems. However, one thing is sure: finding qualified, relevant, and responsive candidates has become frustratingly time-consuming and uphill.
A surplus of job opportunities can positively affect economic and business growth, but it is also overwhelming for already busy HR professionals.
You can ease some pressure by expanding your sourcing tools, focusing more on quality applicants than quantity, refreshing job ads, and communicating with candidates at each stage.
Many advanced digital tools and technologies are available to us – it is time for our recruiting strategies to catch up.
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