A prevalent misconception that most people have about recruiters is that there isn’t much to do. They consolidate the responsibilities of recruiters into one brief phrase – ‘hiring and firing’. However, this is far from the truth.

Recruiting is no easy job! When it comes to recruiting, there are no good experiences or bad experiences, just learning experiences. The field of recruitment is replete with challenges, so much so that as soon as you pass one tide, another one awaits you.

What Makes Recruitment Challenging?

Posting a job description and hoping that it will be filled automatically is now a thing of the past. Today, recruiters are expected to actively participate in the process, rather than just writing job descriptions.

This is because of the ever-changing needs of the job market that ultimately puts talented candidates at the top of the equation. Candidates enjoy the upper hand by selecting the organization they want to work for. This means that you no longer get to pick the talent, but ‘talent picks you’!

This has created an atmosphere of intense competition. There is a growing need for recruiters to adopt innovative strategies in order to attract the right talent.

Top Challenges Recruiters Face While Doing Their Job… 

Below are the top challenges all recruiters face today. After all, as recruiters, you need to buck up and “live in the now” to be able to take up challenges and quickly resolve them:

#1. Sourcing the Right Talent

Finding the right fit for the job in hand is no easy feat! Nevertheless, it certainly is rewarding when you manage to find the perfect match, isn’t it? 

In a healthy economy, employers are more than willing to expand and hire new talent. However, the challenge lies in finding enough quality candidates. For industries that require special skills and niche expertise, it becomes harder.

To top it, once you find the right candidate, they might not even be available on the job market when you finally decide to hire them. Delay in the hiring process can deter recruitment and make you lose out on top talent if you don’t keep them informed.

Solution: Build a strong employer brand. This will enable you to start building the demand for the top talent, instead of chasing them.

Another great solution is to devise an effective employee referral program. Word of mouth plays a huge role in finding the right fit for the job and what better than your own employees promoting your search.

#2. Engaging Qualified Candidates

In a candidate-driven market, it is tougher to find the right talent. Once you find qualified candidates, it is even difficult to hold onto them. This is because the best candidates have multiple offers at once.

Not just active candidates but passive candidates also seem to have multiple offers since there is a growing demand for skilled professionals.

The problem as stated by the VP of Talent at Academia is,

“If a passive candidate decides to chat with me, and they decide to interview, a very high percentage (nearly 100 per cent now) will also ping their friends who’ve been asking them to interview at their new startup, or will ping that other recruiter they like”.

Solution: Make the whole process, right from the initial conversation to interviews, pleasant for the candidates. When a candidate has to choose from multiple offers, often the interview process is a strong deciding factor.

When scheduling multiple rounds of interviews, ensure to stay in touch with the candidate. Also, it helps a great deal to have an employee from senior leadership to have a brief conversation with the most sought-after candidate. This will evoke the trust and interest of the candidate in your job offer.

#3. Hiring Managers Don’t Cooperate

The search for the right candidate is a collaborative process. It starts with the hiring managers sharing the requirements of a particular role with the recruiter. At times hiring managers don’t feel it’s important to share information or feedback with the recruiters.

On the other hand, some are even unclear about what they want and thus fail to communicate. 

Solution: The key to having a strong relationship with the hiring manager is communication and collaboration. Talk to the hiring manager before embarking on your search so that both parties are clear about the expectations. Also, seek feedback from the hiring manager and involve him/her in the process to make any readjustments.

#4. Building a Strong Employer Brand

A resilient employer brand is important to attract quality candidates and engage them. Organisations that invest in employer branding are three times more likely to make a quality hire.

However, this is a continuous and collective effort that requires you to put more effort. From ensuring to deliver a positive candidate experience to promoting your organisational culture on social media, building an employer brand is not a simple, one-time process.

Solution: Check online reviews – the good, the bad, and the ugly – and reply courteously. Build a strong social media presence, constantly publishing stories about your workplace and co-workers. Above all, be a good employer and it will automatically show.

#5. The Pressure to Fill Open Positions

Vacant positions cost money and delay operations. So, there is a nagging need for hiring teams to hire as fast as possible. Yet, depending on the type of role, hiring can take several months. From finding quality candidates to reaching a consensus on hiring a candidate, you might struggle to fill the gap sooner.

Solution: Hiring should not be done hastily with all that pressure since a bad hire could cost double the money. Therefore, evaluate your hiring process and streamline the stages for an efficient and quick process.

Use an Applicant Tracking System to automate your recruitment process. Look at the right places to fill candidate pipelines.

At times, it is not necessary to wait for a position to be open. You can always screen for top quality talent and be ready. For recruiters, targeting passive candidates who already have a job is a great way to meet their needs and yours!

#6. Stiff Competition in the Job Market

The number of job openings is greater than the number of active unemployed job-seekers. Even if you add in passive candidates who are not really seeking new roles, the demand is still high.

In addition, recruiters find themselves in a market in which they have to look for five different types of generations with different expectations. The millennials especially seek more involvement with a consumer-like recruiting experience. 

As a result, recruiters need to know how to shift gears in order to be successful with candidates from each generation.

Solution: Understand your candidates and their different expectations so that you are able to create a win-win situation for the employer and employee. For instance, millennials possess significantly different characteristics than baby boomers or Gen-X. .

In order to satiate the expectations of millennials, provide millennial-friendly benefits like flexible working hours, training and mentoring opportunities, etc.

#7. Utilizing Data-Driven Recruitment

With Big Data and Analytics coming into play, recruiters struggle to sort through and harness data collected from multiple platforms. Yet, there is a growing need for recruiters to find and assess top talent using data from disparate systems.

Collecting and processing data can be a cumbersome process. Hiring teams need an efficient way to track, compile, and organize data in order to decipher trends and insight.

Solution: HR professionals should work with data analytics experts to understand various data points and how to harness them. Using applications like Google Analytics or other analytical software can help to extract insightful reports and organize data efficiently.

This will not just aid the recruiting process but also help you understand how you can improve your hiring process and make more informed decisions.

#8. Recruiting Fairly and Being Open to Diversity

Diversity – all companies desire it, but only a few understand how to get it right. Diversity hires are not something that can be accomplished within a set timeline. 

It takes years to achieve diversity in the workplace, but for that you need to have an inclusion plan in place. Especially in the tech sector, recruiters find it difficult to get enough candidates from ethnic minorities, women, and other backgrounds.

Solution: Recruiters should use targeting tactics in order to appeal to diverse sections. Find out where jobseekers from certain groups are predominantly active. Relay messages through social media platforms that resonate with them. Testimonials from others in their group who have been working can often be effective for the same.

#9. True Culture and Company Fit for Both the Company and the Candidate

Finding candidates who have a genuine interest to work for the company is very difficult. Of course, you will be able to find qualified candidates, but a rather elusive goal is to find candidates who actually “want” your specific job.

The candidate will be a better match if they have a genuine interest in the culture, mission, and products or services of your company. A big challenge is to create a company culture that attracts and retains the best talent.

Solution: Create a culture and business that people are really excited to work for. This way, you will not lose people and word will spread about what a great workplace your company is. 

You can try to reward people with higher pay and perks. But, ultimately people will leave the job if their manager is toxic or because the company’s culture isn’t acceptable.

The goal is to provide an authentic work environment that will help you not just attract talent but also retain them in the long term. Now, that’s what we call two goals in one shot! 

The Best Practices to Overcome Common Challenges Faced By Recruiters

With the current focus on candidates, there is a major shift in the recruiting paradigm. Recruitment is not a defined box anymore – it shares space with marketing, branding, building a bright organizational culture and forging a connection with employees.

Here are some tips to incorporate some best practices into your recruitment strategy:

• The Importance of Inbound Recruiting – Inbound recruiting is a strategy where you proactively and continually attract candidates with a mission to become their next employer.
• Building the Best Candidate Experience – It is the overall perception of your company’s recruitment process. This is important because candidates who feel positive about your company are more likely to accept your offer, reapply in the future and refer others to your company.
• Create a Talent Pool – This refers to a database of top candidates including sourced candidates, candidates who have applied for a position, referred candidates and more. Maintaining such a database will come in handy for your current and future needs.
• Social Recruiting – Leverage the power of social media networks and websites to find, attract and hire talent. 49% of Employers who use social media found improvement in candidate quality.
• Use Recruitment Automation Tools – Have a uniform automated system to streamline the various stages of the recruitment process, making it faster and more efficient. From Applicant Tracking System to Recruitment Marketing Software invest in a good tool to lessen your burden.
• Collaborative Hiring – In order to improve the quality of new hires, all departments need to work together to find and hire the right talent. HR should tie up with relevant departments and always be aligned with the overall business strategy to move the business in the right direction with the right people. 

Super-Charge your Recruitment Efforts

Challenges are inevitable in the field of recruitment. The important thing is to accept these challenges and face them head-on with intelligent solutions. The best way to meet these challenges is to break off the status quo, be creative and adapt to the changing trends in the market. Happy Recruiting!