Best practices for every stage in the job recruitment process during Covid-19

COVID-19 has undoubtedly brought about fundamental changes in the ways in which we have traditionally approached recruiting. Job recruiting strategies have to be flexible and dynamic to ensure they fit with the current climate.

Here we’ve compiled a list of tips and solutions to help make your recruitment plans more befitting.

Job Advertising:

Communication is key! Being as clear as possible in the job description in terms of the role, expectations and tasks to be performed, will help build a good rapport and trust with job applicants. Include flexible working hours, childcare, health insurance and the possibility to work remotely to incentivize applicants.

Consistency and clarity in your recruitment offer should be achieved through cooperation between the HR, PR and marketing departments.

Processing Applications:

A clear application process should be defined by the HR department to ensure the timely and efficient processing of incoming applications.

Information should also be communicated to applicants promptly and succinctly and updates should be given regularly. These will help boost your status as an employer and score you points in the minds of prospective employees, building overall positive associations with your institution and brand.

Current employees should also be kept in the loop when recruiting new candidates; don’t forget to update team members and let them know who will be joining them and when.

Rakuna is a great one-stop shop for optimizing your recruiting needs. From automating interview scheduling, to digitizing the entire application process, Rakuna can help you to centralize your recruitment activities, boost candidate experience and build employer branding. 

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If you want to learn more about the risks and challenges for job recruitment during the 2020 pandemic, download our e-guide resource about recruitment during Covid-19.

➲ Download our e-guide "Recruitment during Covid-19" here

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Candidate pre-selection:

If your vacancy requires a pre-assessment of skills, ensure the test or interview can be done remotely. The software and hardware needs and constraints of the candidate also need to be taken into account; if your assessment requires a certain browser, speed of internet connection or other particular requirement, be sure to communicate this well in advance to the candidate so that they are adequately prepared.

Interviews:

The technological and software requirements of the interview and communication process should be factored into your budget. Investing in reliable technology and communications services will make the interview process hurdle-free, putting you and your candidate at ease and ensuring the efficiency of the process.

Be empathetic to the needs and questions of your candidate during this process. Remember, remote communication can be somewhat alienating so try to bridge the gap by being understanding and taking time to address the candidate’s queries.

Hiring Process:

Confirming and cross-checking references can be challenging; getting a hold of the referees via online communication requires planning and patience. Be sure to set up meeting times for video calls well in advance so everyone can be properly organized.

Also, the process should be able to be done entirely online. Not only is this solution safer, but it is cheaper and less time consuming for all parties involved.

Onboarding:

Despite the working from home set-up, the company culture should still remain. Efficient messaging, task management and communication systems are essential.

Google Hangouts and Slack are great messaging tools while Kronos, Oracle or Asana are excellent project and task management solutions. Making use of these are sure to enhance the communication and management experience for your team.

Remember to always include virus safety information to ensure the maintenance of good health of everyone.

 

During the upcoming months, we are releasing a series of articles on recruitment tips and advice during Covid-19. If you are interested in following this series, subscribe to our Newsletter. As a welcome gift you will receive our recruitment e-guide as well as exclusive access to special promotions for our subscribers. 

If you are interested in promoting jobs offered by your institution, please contact us at info@inomics.com. We will be happy to boost and support your job recruitment strategy during these tough times, plan and optimize your strategy for 2021, or support you filling in the last applicant quotas in 2020.