Candidate experience
June 7, 2021

Innovative approaches to hire better and faster in the digital world

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The author of this blog post is Petra Odak, CMO at Better Proposals, a simple yet incredibly powerful proposal software tool. Thanks for sharing your insights!

Finding, hiring, and retaining great talent has never been as challenging as it is today. Generation Z is just starting their professional careers.

Boomers are slowly retiring. Millennials are choosing their hobbies and passions over office jobs with strict hierarchies. At the same time, new recruitment tools are emerging left and right, and it’s not always easy to stay on top of it all.

With the rise of the gig economy, freelancers, and remote work, companies are starting to turn to more innovative hiring approaches. They no longer look for recruiters that will passively post job ads and spend their days making calls or sending emails.

The stakes are higher than ever, and traditional hiring and screening methods are no longer viable options. Companies need recruiters that will help them save time, reduce cost and hire great talent in the process.

Needless to say, it’s not always easy to figure out which recruitment methods fit which company the most. The good thing is, there are plenty of great examples that will help you get inspired. From TV ads to virtual reality, here are ten innovative ways to hire better and faster in the digital world.

Video interviews

This recruiting method may seem a bit more novel than others, but that doesn’t make it any less effective. It saves time and money and allows recruiters to benefit from a much larger talent pool. Some candidates struggle with writing CVs and may have a hard time selling themselves on paper. On the other hand, video profiling helps paint a better picture and narrow the candidates down more easily.

But what’s innovative about it?

As an important segment of the digital world, video technology is rapidly developing. In recruiting, more and more companies are working on developing face-scanning algorithms. That kind of technology can analyze the tiniest details of candidates’ responses. It includes monitoring eye movement, facial expressions, verbal responses, and non-verbal communication. Recruiters then use the collected data to find the most suitable candidate.

Text interviews

Texting may not sound innovative in itself, but it can be very effective as a recruitment strategy. We all know that the best way to reach out to your recruiting targets is to spread your message using the communication tools they use. Considering that people, in general, read 98% of received text messages, as opposed to 6% of emails, recruiters should definitely start taking advantage of it.

Text interviews are easy to schedule and follow up with, and can reduce stress to potential candidates. To speed things up a little, recruiters can program chatbots to perform an initial screening via text interviews.

Take advantage of the gig economy

With the gig economy on the rise, recruiters have to adjust their strategies and processes to this new way of working. Let’s say you need a copywriter or a graphic designer asap. It’s for a short-term project, and you would hate to hire someone you’re not sure what to do with once the project is over. So why not hire a gig worker?

Take advantage of freelancing platforms, find a person with specific skills, and add them to your talent pipeline. Who knows, it may turn into a long-term cooperation.

Experiment with social media

If you’re behind with using social media as a part of your online recruiting efforts, it’s time to get started. The possibilities are endless and go far beyond the usual platforms you might think of. Basically, hiring through Facebook or LinkedIn has become the norm. But what about alternative sites your recruiting targets are hanging out on? Some companies are already coming up with more interesting ways of connecting to candidates on social media.

Why not think outside the box and start using ads between Spotify songs to find suitable candidates? Or come up with something similar to McDonald’s, which used Snapchat to receive “snaplications” from their candidates. Dating apps are another popular hangout spot for younger generations of job seekers. Add them to your market research and discover a whole new world of unique hiring channels.

You don’t have to be an influencer to find new talent on social media. Simply be where your candidates already are.

Host a hiring party

Recruiting events are a well-known method for attracting new candidates. But, traditional job fairs often attract only active job seekers, while the passive ones are not likely to attend them.

So why not consider a modern-day job fair and host a hiring party? Choose a time and invite people to your office or any other location of choice. Encourage candidates to leave their resumés at home and just come and mingle with the crowd. Decorate your space, bring in some free food and evaluate your potential candidates as they socialize with your employees.

This creative recruiting strategy can help you improve diversity and inclusion. It will present your company in a less formal setting and show off your office culture. The best part is, it doesn’t have to happen in person. It can also take place online by organizing virtual events and “Ask me anything” sessions.

As seen on TV

We’ve all heard of recruitment advertising. Nowadays, that phrase is most commonly connected to paid ads on social media. Traditionally, it included newspapers and magazines, radio and TV, as well as outdoor advertising. But in today’s competitive talent market, recruiters are coming up with more creative strategies.

To reach the candidates they need, recruiters must place their messages where passive job seekers will see them too. And what better way than using a streaming platform or TV for launching employer branding ads? That might just be what you need to get the application number up!

Innovative recruitment software

New times bring new technologies.

The best way to enter the world of digital recruitment is by using recruitment software. It not only speeds up the process but adds considerable value to your existing systems. Our advice: search for the ones that go beyond automating the process. Shift your focus to those that can offer more features to contribute to your target outcome and results. Good recruitment software will save you from drowning in hiring paperwork and help you with juggling personal details, contracts, and candidate info in the process. In addition, a CRM (candidate relationship management) software will ensure timely and personalized candidate communication and allow you to create a segmentized talent pool. It will not only speed things up but help you grow the database, reduce admin work, increase hire quality, improve communication and your performance.

Another time-consuming chore in the recruitment process is finalizing contracts and agreements. Luckily, you can save time and bring your processes to a new level with proposal software tools, such as Better Proposals. It allows you to use digital signatures instead of chasing candidates to sign NDAs or contracts. Your candidates could sign all the paperwork instantly and from anywhere. Digital signature boxes can be integrated into the contract and entirely eliminate human error during form completion. It’s a great way to make your company look tech-savvy in front of candidates, clients, and current employees.

Virtual reality experiences

Even though it may not be available to every candidate, virtual reality deserves a spot in this article. In a world that finds remote work completely normal, VR can give your candidates a realistic, virtual tour of your working area.

Get on the leading edge of technology and provide your talent pool with a high level of realism and detail!

Open-ended job posts

While creating a job ad, most companies mention the usual: job title, needed experience, everyday tasks. But what if you exclude all that information?

If you’re recruiting for a bigger business or a creative environment, this may be precisely what you need. The idea behind leaving out the job title and other relevant info is to encourage hiring people above skills. If you have the resources to try this method out, use it to diversify your pipeline and potentially create new roles.

Sometimes the words and phrases we use can put off entire groups of candidates. Women, older people, minorities, or inexperienced candidates may feel excluded from your job ad. Open-ended job posts are the perfect solution. Try it out and keep your talent pool as large as possible.

Artificial intelligence

We’ve entered the world of artificial intelligence, and the fact it has found a role in the hiring process shouldn’t come as a surprise. Some may argue that it’s taking away the human element of hiring. On the other hand, everyone who’s ever found themselves covered in a pile of unread CVs is excited about new AI tools.

Artificial intelligence can reduce the time recruiters spend reviewing CVs and cover letters. It can send out job ads, sort out applications, and help hiring managers to make more informed decisions. The fact it can almost instantly contact and sort through thousands of candidates puts it at the top of our list of innovative approaches. HR managers can focus on current employees, while AI tools effectively sort through the data.

However, AI finds patterns based on human input. That means that it can adopt human prejudice as well. Be careful which data you’re feeding your tools and perform regular audits.

Final thoughts

We’re entering a new era in digital recruiting and creative, innovative approaches to hiring are no longer rare. Recruiting has never been as dynamic as it is today, so, to find the best candidates, you should consider some out-of-the-box solutions.

If you feel like your job openings are not getting traction, it might be time to start working on some more innovative strategies. They can make you stand out from the crowd and show your candidates you’re an exciting company to work for.

Use these ten tips to get inspired and create a strategy that will help you get in touch with your ideal hires.

After all, we all want to work with awesome people that will keep our companies going.

Good luck!

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