Hiring in a crowded market is hard.
I've gotten a number of messages over the last few weeks from Employers with the same question, "Why is it so hard to hire when the market is flooded with candidates? We thought this would be so easy!"
This so true, and happens every time the market shifts and there's lots of layoffs. Here are a few reasons why and some ideas on how to help make it a better experience for your team and your candidates.
Why is this happening?
When the market gets flooded with people you go from having two groups of inbound applicants, Unemployed and Interested in your role to three groups of applicants, Unemployed (which is a much bigger pool now), interested candidates, nervous employees at downsizing companies.
Your unemployed applicant pool is much bigger and in a market like this significantly more nervous so people are applying to jobs they are either not qualified for, or “too qualified” for (that idea is a whole other post!).
You’re not using professionals when running your searches. Most individuals do not know how to run an effective search and in a market like this not working with professionals can cost you a ton of time and money. If you have a recruitment team use then, let them guide you, build a hiring strategy and follow it. If you don’t have that support in house call us (or a recruiter you trust).
Candidates are in a lot more processes today then they were six months ago, a professional knows how to handle these situations.
How you can help
Make your job postings short and sweet - layout what this person is expected to accomplish and what your must haves are for coming into the role. Be transparent on salaries and if your ATS allows add some questions (optional) to allow people to stand out if they want to.
Finding diamonds in the rough is really hard with this volume of candidates do your best to give them an outlet to stand out.
Invest in a good ATS - It sounds counter intuitive when you're trying to tighten your belt but this market really needs a good ATS to maintain quality and reduce time to hire.
Determine what matters. When inbound is very high you need some type of qualifiers to help dig through the volume. Make those qualifiers standard across.
For example, if you put in a few application questions (these should be reasonable and give you 3-4 lines max of insight into someones professional train of thought) you can decide that you’re only reviewing applicants who take the time to answer. It will allow the truly interested candidates to stand out. It will force you however to potentially disqualify someone who looks awesome on paper but put no effort in…
Make your process equitable and efficient
Equitable - keep the same qualifiers and interview questions for everyone, you’ll be in a much better position to hire the right person who can help you build and avoid the “similar to me” bias.
Efficiency - Structured hiring allows things to move quickly without anyone feeling rushed or skipping steps. A solid process should be 10 business days from Phone Screen to Offer. Don’t move people through when you know they aren’t your person, it’s a waste of time for everyone and money for you.
Don’t turn compensation into a game
Go in with your best offer. Stop this chaotic negotiations games. It’s a competitive market, it’s unlikely that you’re the only company that wants this person. Make your best offer your first and final offer. If you’ve been transparent on compensation since phone call number one this should not be an issue.