3 Challenges a Recruiter faces today and how to overcome them

With everything that’s going on in the world these days, our approach to everything is changing. We’re seeing a drastic shift in our personal and professional life alike – be it our goals, priorities, functioning, or even our problems. 

This holds true for recruiters as well. When the hiring activity froze worldwide because of the coronavirus – lockdown, social distancing necessity, and the fear that the pandemic caused – it limited recruiters from their typical responsibilities. 

It was expected that the hiring freeze will eventually thaw out. Now that the companies have begun hiring again, we can see how the whole recruitment procedure has undergone a digital transformation. 

Bumps on the recruitment road have taken new shapes. Let’s look at 3 of the hardest challenges a recruiter faces today and how to rise above them.

1. Winning the war for talent – few qualified candidates in the sea of applications

Many employees have been laid off in 2020, and that has led to high unemployment rates. And these individuals are trying to get a job even when their profile and skill sets do not match those required for that vacancy. 

What this scenario means is that for every job posting, recruiters are getting hundreds of applications, out of which only a few are truly qualified for that position. These qualified peeps are in high demand as every company is looking for employees that can help it recover from the economic shock. These candidates have a lot of choices and every company that wants them will use clever tactics to acquire them.

There’s a lot of noise in the job market. What can you do to be heard by that talented candidate?

You need to encourage your employees to participate in employee referrals to land qualified candidates. Think of it this way, the candidates are more likely to trust their friends than any recruiter. Right?

2. Many complain of poor Candidate Experience

More and more job seekers are complaining of poor candidate experience. Nobody likes to be ghosted. These candidates speak out about their experience to their friends and online communities – many of them even form a negative perception about the brand and stop purchasing goods or services from that employer.

To put it briefly, by not nourishing your candidate relationship, you risk losing a top candidate and a customer – revenue. How can you ensure an improved candidate’s experience?

You can start by asking current employees about their experience and jot down the factors that can be improved. Even though the number of candidates has increased making it hard for recruiters to manage candidate relationships, little effort such as a follow-up call or email can make a huge impact.  After all candidate engagement leads to long-term success.

3. Assessing the skills of so many candidates can be tricky

As we pointed out above, more and more people are applying for any every job vacancy. Moreover, the whole process is now conducted virtually. This has also led to trouble in assessing the skills of the candidate. 

What you can do to overcome this challenge is to focus more on tools and techniques such as AI-powered video interviews with face-scanning algorithms or online cognitive ability tests – general aptitude tests. The aim of using these tools should be to shorten the list of candidates for interview to a qualified group.

Despite all the uncertainty in the world today, one thing that is definite is that employees are a company’s most valuable asset. And hiring good candidates today is more important than ever.

Now that you are aware of some of the challenges that a recruiter faces in hiring the right candidates, how do you plan to help out?

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Ishani Singh

Ishani works as Manager – Social Media & Strategy Big Ideas HR Consulting Pvt. Ltd. and also as a Freelance Digital Marketer. She has a knack for problem-solving and also enjoys writing. She loves to share her views and knowledge with the readers by the medium of her blogs.  

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