Recruitment During COVID-19: 5 Best Strategies to Find Top Candidates During the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic poses many challenges for recruiters and hiring managers on finding top candidates. The “new normal” shifts the traditional recruitment process into digitization as it adjusts the usual approach to create a safe environment for both recruiters and applicants to avoid the health risks of COVID-19. 

These challenges pushed companies to innovate their recruitment process by creating new strategies and utilizing digital platforms for their next hire. 

When looking for top candidates during the pandemic, here are five best strategies you can keep in mind. 

#1: Optimize The Visibility of Your Job Postings

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to stay at home, having only the internet and social media platforms to connect to the outside world. Optimizing online platforms for your job posting will put your recruitment process at an advantage. 

Here are a few ways you can optimize your job postings:

• Keep them updated. The pandemic surged the unemployment rate, causing more and more people to look for available jobs. Showing that your company is actively hiring during the pandemic will attract ideal candidates that may fit the position your company is trying to fill.
• Utilize job posting platforms. Popular websites like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Kalibrr are great platforms to advertise your job postings as they have a big pool of users seeking for their next job. Social media apps such as Facebook and Twitter are also useful tools to enhance your job posting visibility. 
• Inform your candidates properly. Your job posting should contain all the necessary information the applicant may want to know about, especially regarding work-from-home arrangements your company has incorporated to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Link your job posting to your company website. Candidates are eager to find out more information about your company. Linking your company website and social media pages will provide them further information. 

#2: Refine Your Ideal Candidate Profile

Refining your ideal candidate profile will increase your chances of finding top candidates during the COVID-19 pandemic as it provides a clear idea of what your company is looking for. An ideal candidate profile must contain information such as key skills, length of experience, job duties and responsibilities, and expectations from the candidate. 

Incorporating these aspects into your job posting provides candidates an idea about your company and its expectations. Among these aspects are:

• Job duties and responsibilities. Potential candidates primarily want to know what they are getting into before anything else. Defining the job description and responsibilities gives them an idea of what they need to contribute to the company. 
• Required hard and soft skills. Identifying hard skills (technical knowledge and training) and soft skills (personality traits) filters the kind of applicant your company is looking for, providing applicants an idea of what is required of the position.
• Company identity and environment. Although a candidate may be ideal in terms of professional background, they may fall short when it comes to personality. You can include the mission and vision, attitudes and behaviors, and overall niche of your company to attract candidates that will fit in better to your company culture.
• Company expectations. Other than their skill sets, professional background, and personality traits, setting and listing realistic expectations on their output and working hours will provide the candidate an idea with what to expect from your company.

Taking time to develop your ideal candidate profile will make the sourcing and screening process faster. These factors will also help your candidates determine for themselves whether they are fit for the job or not, reducing your time to have to assess and filter their applications.

#3: Utilize Digital Applications in Your Interview Process

Videoconferencing applications like Zoom and Google Meet are applications you can use to interview candidates. Now that face-to-face interviews are temporarily restricted due to social distancing and quarantine protocols, making use of these platforms will optimize your recruitment process and ensure the safety of both staff and candidates. 

The advantage of using videoconferencing tools is seeing the candidate and having a sense of how they interact with you, much like they would in person. There are also several applications with superior AI algorithms that analyze data from online aptitude tests, psychometric tests, and exams to help you narrow down your search.

Whichever platform suits your recruitment process, using technology to your advantage will increase the probability of finding top candidates during the pandemic.

#4: Create a Filtration System for Candidates

It is true when they say that “two heads are better than one.” Having a filtration system incorporated in your sourcing process will help you further assess your ideal candidates. 

Your process can be as follows:

1. Pre-Screening
2. Screening
3. Virtual Interview
4. Hiring Manager Approval
5. Job Offer
6. Onboarding

This process enables recruiters and hiring managers to sift out ideal candidates as they progress through each stage of the process, assessing their professional background, skill sets, and personality traits to determine if they are the ideal hire for your company. 

#5: Showcase Your Company’s Performance During the Pandemic

Inform your candidates about the performance of your company during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the rising unemployment rate in the Philippines, candidates will want to work for a company that will secure employment during and even after the pandemic. 

Listing company initiatives and procedures to address the COVID-19 pandemic such as implementing work-from-home arrangements, providing shuttle services, and mandating the use of face masks and face shields, as well as the company’s plans about the COVID-19 pandemic, will make your company attractive to top candidates. 

It also provides security for eager applicants while at the same time attracts more candidates with higher qualifications to apply for your job opening.

Reconstruct Your Recruitment Strategies

The COVID-19 pandemic challenges the traditional recruitment process, forcing companies to innovate and find ways to attract their ideal candidates. 

Taking these strategies into consideration will help your company’s long-term recruitment methods improve and evolve as the business world moves into digitization. 

Considering the option to outsource your recruitment process can also benefit your company. You can engage the services of a digital recruitment firm to get started. 

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