The Hiring Process is Broken and How to Fix it

Talk to anyone trying to find a job, and you’ll hear the same old groans. “Job hunting is a black hole.” “This whole process is demoralizing.” “I feel like I’m spinning in circles.” It’s no secret that recruiting is broken. The current process leaves both parties – recruiters and candidates alike – exhausted. It’s time that companies make improvements or risk damaging their brand. Raise the bar for recruiters The barrier to entry to become a recruiter is surprisingly low. There are no special requirements to get into recruiting, and many people have just fallen into it. Considering the amount of influence the recruiting process has on a company’s brand, it’s strange that some organizations set the bar so low for those who are representing them. As HR’s sales function, the first contact that candidates have with a company is through recruiters. I’ve received plenty of emails from other recruiters that have left me wondering how a position that requires such strong communication attracts such weak communicators. Organizations need to step-up and evaluate talent acquisition as strictly as they would a salesperson, marketer, or HR rep. When hiring, ask yourself – do you really want this person representing your brand? Train and audit your interviewers While we’re raising the bar on recruiters, it also makes sense to improve the rest of the process that candidates are going to be going through. A poor candidate experience can really hurt you. The scariest thing for any HR pro or recruiter is a potential lawsuit. If you aren’t training your hiring teams, you are leaving yourself exposed to litigation and the possibility of losing great candidates from a poor interview process. Invest the time to dive into the hiring process, and ensure that illegal questions aren’t being asked. Sometimes you’d be surprised as to what people think is okay. Either way, it’s better to be surprised in training than when reading reviews on Glassdoor. At Glassdoor, we host interview training for all employees who have a hand in the interview process. We make sure it’s painfully clear what’s okay to ask, what’s not and how to structure a great interview. Practice transparency and honesty Recruiters have a bad reputation of selling snake oil to candidates and being deceiving during the negotiation process. These practices stem from a “close at all costs” mentality that will breed a resentful culture when these candidates are eventually hired. For example, there are plenty of stories floating around about junior software engineers expecting to be able to grow their development skills who are ultimately left in the dirt fixing menial bugs or doing glorified data entry work. When this person finishes a brief stint with your company, how can you expect anything other than a tarnished image and bad Glassdoor review? Have the decency to being truthful about the role even if isn’t sexy. If you can’t find yourself doing that, it might be time to rethink beyond just recruiting strategy. Define what success is One of the most frequent complaints from job seekers is when a position requires an absurd amount of experience and skills. You instantly lose credibility when asking for five years of experience in a technology that’s existed for about two. First, figure out what type of person you want to hire. Don’t just target job seekers who will be making a lateral move – look for potential. With all the time you spend finding people with the perfect level of experience, you could have already trained someone who is eager and willing to learn. The skills gap is a noticeable problem, so be open to hiring people who are able to demonstrate their skills without having earned their stripes in the workplace. Also, be open to programs that provide professional training to employees who are aspiring to be in a certain career path. Put on your marketing hat Today, recruitment and marketing are becoming one. Just as marketing managers brand, promote and advertise products and services to customers, recruiters need to sell an organization’s culture, mission and employer band (reputation) to job candidates who are considering working for the company. To amplify their efforts, recruiters can do themselves a real favor by engaging employees as their internal brand ambassadors, encouraging them to share their views on social networks and sites like Glassdoor. After all, who knows better what it’s like to work at a company than your current workforce? Think about tracking and ROI Just as successful modern marketers are data- and metrics-driven, modern recruiters need to get under the metrics hood and source KPIs like cost-per-application, cost-per-hire and time-to-hire. With the average US job vacancy taking 52 days to fill at a cost-per-hire of nearly $4,000, according to the latest Bersin by Deloitte research, even slight optimization can make a big difference in the war for talent. For example, do you know which job boards are delivering not just the most candidates but the best candidates at the best price to your organization? If you don’t, it’s time to implement some serious ROI tracking efforts then adjust your spend accordingly, doubling down on channels that truly deliver talent. Pay attention to social channels Ignorance isn’t bliss, especially when it costs you candidates. While you don’t need to be a Twitter expert throwing #hashtags #everywhere, you should be active in promoting yourself.  This doesn’t take much work and pays off big time in brand awareness. Take advantage of the free channels that job seekers are actually using. Would you follow random social media accounts if you were on the hunt for opportunities? Also, manage your image on Glassdoor where this information is already being shared. Employers are able to respond to reviews for free, which can make all the difference in ensuring the right candidates aren’t deterred from applying to your openings. It’s comfortable to ignore the reviews, but not smart if you’re serious about hiring and building your brand. There are no quick fixes While implementing these changes would be great, it will take time before everyone buys in.  Don’t wait for a problem to arise before you act – it’s a matter of when, not if, recruiting will be overhauled.