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Why is recruiting so tough?

If you had to name one thing as your biggest hiring headache, what would it be? It’s true that your answers might vary depending on the size of the company you work with or whether you’re hiring a teacher, graphic designer of HR Advisor. But, most recruiters would gravitate to a few common recruiting challenges.

Here are some common recruiting challenges we hear about most often, and some possible solutions to overcome them to make your hiring more effective:

Attracting the right candidates

If you’ve ever tried to discover the right candidate in a pool full of unqualified talent, you’ll know that your options are limited. You’ll choose the best person you can find at the time—not the best fit for the job. But it’s not always about the number of candidates who apply; the best way to hire the right people is often from a smaller pipeline of more qualified talent.

Tip: Be clear about the requirements in your job ads and give a concise view of the role, the same applies if you’re using an agency. Give a clear job specification, include your person spec, your key requirements and things that are at the top of your list, make it clear what you really want to see on a persons application or CV.

Engaging qualified candidates

Good candidates are often contacted regularly by recruiters, making it harder for your own email to stand out. In addition, candidates with hard-to-find skills are often considering several job offers at the same time. You need to put extra effort into persuading passive candidates to choose your company over your competitors.

Tip: Before contacting a passive candidate, research what motivates them and what makes them happy in their job. With this knowledge, personalise your approach to describe what you can offer them instead of what they can do for your company.

Hire fast but well

Hiring teams want to hire as fast as possible, because vacant positions cost money and can delay your business. Yet, depending on your industry, making a hire can take several months putting pressure on recruiters and frustrating hiring teams. A long time to hire may be a by product of a shortage of qualified candidates. The hiring process may be too long!

Tip 1: Look at your hiring process and ask yourself: are all the hiring stages really required? Are we looking in the right places to fill our candidate pipelines? Do we communicate quickly with candidates, agencies and each other?

Tip 2: Sometimes long time to hire is natural when you’re hiring for hard-to-fill roles. Explain that to the hiring teams and set expectations early on. Let them know what a realistic timeline is and highlight the importance of hiring carefully for roles where a bad hire could cost a lot of money.

Building a strong employer brand

A good employer brand helps you attract and engage better candidates. Companies that invest in employer branding are three times more likely to make a quality hire.

Tip: Always reply to online reviews – bad and good.

Ensure a good candidate experience

Candidate experience isn’t only important for employer branding, but it’s also a factor when your best candidates are evaluating your job offers. The way you treat candidates during the hiring process mirrors the way you’ll treat them after hiring. If they had a bad experience, they’re less likely to accept.

Tip 1: Set expectations for communication: tell candidates when they should expect to hear from you, don’t leave them in the dark.

Tip 2: Coordinate well with candidates. If you’re scheduling an in-person interview, give them all necessary information (like who to ask for and what to bring). Explain what they should expect from the interview and what the next steps are.

Recruit fairly

Many companies struggle to attract and hire diverse candidates and unconscious biases are often the reason. Apart from your legal obligations to provide equal opportunities, hiring objectively is good for business because it helps you hire the best person for the job without stereotypes interfering. This will result in an inclusive workplace showing potential candidates that you’re a meritocracy and allowing you to benefit from diversity’s positive effects.

Creating an efficient recruiting process

Hiring teams need to communicate fast, evaluate candidates easily and know what’s going on every step of the way. Recruiters are tasked with coordinating all this communication and it’s not always a breeze. Especially if recruiters’ relationship with hiring managers is strained. Remember that administrative tasks (like scheduling interviews) often take away valuable time that recruiters could have used in coordinating the hiring process and ensuring good candidate experience.