If it feels like the world’s gone virtual, that’s because it has. And the digital movement is ushering in the continued relevance of virtual hiring.
What does this mean for the future of candidate sourcing, interviewing, and onboarding? Quite honestly, it means that candidate communication (i.e., the way you identify, attract, and onboard talent) will change.
Job seekers want personalized, two-way communication. If you’re going to master virtual recruiting strategies, you have to give thought to the workflow.
Below are five ways we’ve seen virtual hiring change the recruiting landscape — and the positive ways our clients have managed to benefit from those changes.
- The talent pool is deeper. Virtual recruitment means you’re no longer restricted to targeting candidates from a geographic region. Your hiring options increase significantly, especially if you’re trying to fill remote positions.
A client of ours adopted a 100% virtual hiring process and began receiving applications from candidates all over the country. This move spread the client’s reach and scope immediately, increasing candidate quality along the way.
- The candidate experience improves. Applicants remember positive engagements with companies — regardless of whether they get the job. A modern recruiting process with automated solutions can yield a smoother candidate experience that applicants are eager to share with their peers.
An up-to-date tech stack streamlines communication, touchpoints, and workflow so the entire experience is customized to the candidate’s liking. That can mean notifications happen as frequently or infrequently as desired so that the candidate’s journey is smooth and straightforward.
To facilitate a completely online experience for one of our RPO clients, we centralized a dedicated recruitment team to screen, interview, and onboard all client applicants and new hires — all under the client’s brand. We also implemented video interviewing software to create structured and consistent interviews based on each role. This allowed us to better gauge candidates’ hard skills and cultural fit, resulting in stronger hires.
- The in-person needs are down to the essentials. Many of our clients, including one large online retailer, use virtual hiring to limit in-person activities. Candidates fill out a quick application (it takes about 5 minutes) that’s accessible from any device.
Then, they wait to be asked to take virtual assessments or engage in online interviews. The only time applicants need to be in person is for drug tests and I-9 submissions.
- The recruiting and onboarding processes are standardized. A huge benefit of virtual recruitment technology is that you can automate many practices and create standard operating procedures. We did that for a national client with various locations to reduce redundancies and remove inconsistencies.
As a result, the client reduced its time to fill vacancies and cemented a consistent brand experience for all incoming associates.
- The whole process is reimagined. Of course, virtual hiring only works when candidates have access to technology. To ensure anyone can apply, we’ve made it our mission to construct 24/7 Community Jobs Center recruiting offices in several key cities.
These sites allow candidates to apply and onboard at their convenience with a virtual recruiter’s help, providing reliable technology and removing barriers for candidates to apply for open positions.
Undertaking full-scale virtual onboarding processes may seem confusing or overwhelming at first. But when you choose a trusted partner already working in the digital sphere, you enjoy the benefits of working with a staffing agency that knows its way around the web.
Integrity Staffing Solutions is a full-service staffing agency and ranks in the top 2% of agencies across the country for quality service based on ClearlyRated’s “Best of Staffing” client survey. To learn more about Integrity or for help with your hiring needs, visit integritystaffing.com or call 833-446-1300.
