Recruiting in a downturn: It’s not rocket science

With so many available candidates, Recruitment must be easy.

Right?

We have all seen the unfortunate fallout from COVID and the number of people entering the market through redundancy.

Some great candidates, immediately available and highly motivated to get into a new role.

So why is everything taking so long?

I have daily conversations with available candidates and they all know that the market is tough, but the one thing that continues to surprise me is how they report candidate experience is so poor.

It’s not that they are bitter because they are not getting interviews for every job, more that even when they apply direct, they follow up and still it’s taking weeks to get feedback if at all.

You then factor in, the interview process and it’s months to move through the cycle. Surely we can all do better than this?

I caught up with one my mates the other day, who also happens to be a Senior HR guy and he summed it up quite nicely.

“If I was hiring now I’d be getting £60k roles done in little over two weeks.

I’d be saying to my Recruiter (internal or external) ‘you must be able to find good candidates, I’ll give you a week to find your best, book them in for zoom calls in 5 days

I’ll talk to them and we will get the second stage booked in the week after’.

It’s not rocket science. Easier than ever.

I’d be getting managers in rooms making decisions.

1. You’ve got a good cv

2. Meet them ASAP

3. Make a decision

4. Hire or feedback a no

It’s that easy”

I can’t help but agree. What’s the hold-up?

Your direct response is likely to give you some great options for your shortlist and so all you then have to do is get out into the market and cover off your network and your direct approaches.

Once you’ve done that, it’s a case of book them in and get on with it. You don’t need 7 stage processes, you just need to have a good chat with them, then move them to a formal stage.

After you’ve completed that, you will have the info to make your decision and if you need a final stage for senior stakeholder sign off then it can still be done in a few weeks.

What’s the point in running an advert with a close date 5 weeks away? If people are actively looking for opportunities, then they will see it in week 1/2 and have plenty of time to craft an application as they are not working.

Clearly, you don’t want to rely on just advert response and so you want your Recruiter to be complimenting this with networking/direct approach to ensure the best shortlist.

If you don’t have the time or skill internally then that’s why you engage a specialist external recruiter.

If we are all genuine in our support of those who have lost their jobs, then we need to stop dicking about and get on with it.

If you haven’t got sign off or the time to manage your assignment properly, then wait until you have or hire someone to do it for you. It’s unfair giving false hope to jobseekers and doesn’t shine a great light on your brand either.

As my mate said, it’s not rocket science.