The Coronavirus outbreak has completely changed the world as we know it. Working in offices, visiting restaurants and meeting friends and family, among other things, is never going to be the same again.
Thus, it is not astonishing that COVID-19 has also changed how individuals search for jobs and how organizations search for new workers. While initially most of the organisations had laid off their existing employees and put a halt on their ongoing recruitment drives, the vacancies and opportunities have started to float again as the situation improves.
These days a large number of individuals are seeking digital aid to track down the ideal fit for them. Similarly organisations, too, are actively sourcing potential employees through various job boards and other similar platforms. Apart from these major alterations, there also are other aspects of the hiring process that have been disrupted, changed or rendered pointless permanently.
Today in this blog, we will try to list a few ways in which this pandemic is changing the corporate hiring process.
1. Highlighted the importance of having an efficient Talent Management System in place:
Since the pandemic has made all physical meetings and events a thing of the past, organisations have realised the importance of having a platform to source, screen and onboard employees without risking the safety of the parties involved. Talent Management Systems are the most efficient and reliable way to achieve this. A TMS helps you integrate all the steps of the hiring process like, job posting, screening the pool of applicants, performing assessments and finally placing an offer, which not only saves time but also eliminates the requirement of meeting in person.
Recruiters can easily review various TMSs available in the market by brands like, Acendre, etc and choose the one that is most suitable for their organisation.
2. Replaced in-person interviews with virtual meets and telephonic interviews:
With social distancing norms in existence, all processes of hiring including interviews have been shifted from physical settings to virtual settings. To ensure the safety of both the interviewer and the interviewee, organisations are now conducting interviews through digital platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, Webex, etc. Small-sized organisations that could not immediately adapt to this ‘virtual face-to-face‘ mode, switched over to conducting telephonic interviews.
Although we have become accustomed to this setting, the missing element of physical presence has also taken away the fun and excitement of sitting for an interview with it.
3. Removed all kinds of location barriers:
Previously, for face to face interviews, candidates had to go to a specific venue. Sometimes it even involved travelling from one city to another. Similar was the case with final joining. Some people also had to reject the final offer because of their inability to go and work at the offered location. However, with online interviews and work from home setting, all these barriers have been removed. Now neither the organisations nor the candidates have to think about the ‘location factor’ before accepting or rejecting an offer.
4. Changed the skill requirement of the recruiters:
Skill-based hiring was popular even in the pre-pandemic world but now it has become the need of the hour for recruiters. As they strive to do more with less, organisations are now seeking technologically literate candidates as well as specialists in more than just one operational area. Also, due to the complete digital transformation of all operational and non-operational areas, many existing jobs are becoming obsolete while new requirements are emerging. Thus, all job seekers need to keep a tab on the market and continuously upgrade and upskill themselves.
5. Drastically cut down the cost of hiring:
Since the whole of the recruitment and hiring processes are taking place virtually, expenses like rent of the venue, travel expenses of the interviewer, charges of offering snacks and other facilities to the candidates, etc have become 0. The only investment that hiring in covid 19 requires is in an efficient, reliable and user-friendly digital platform that ensures a great experience for both recruiter and recruitee.
Conclusion
The pandemic has surely changed the hiring process for each and every organisation. However, now is the time to look at all of its positive aspects and learn to move forward.
