We know the uncertainty of 2020 has a lot of companies still dealing with hiring freezes, cutting budgets or hiring less than usual. The U.S. was able to add 1.8 million jobs in July, but overall jobs are still down nearly 13 million during the pandemic. The Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that unemployment rate fell to 10.2% in July but remains above the Great Recession high of 10% that was reached in October 2009.
While things are moving slow in talent acquisition there is still time to work on proactively building your talent pipeline. The first step is taking our Recruiting Strategy Assessment to see if your talent acquisition efforts are effective. Once you take the assessment check out our tips below to see how you can start to become more proactive during the pandemic.
In the last month, Circa has seen an increase in event postings, since the pandemic first began, on our Career Events and Job Fairs listings. The postings of career events and job fairs has been a variety of in-person by appointment only, online opportunities, and a mix of both. The nice thing about new virtual career events or job fairs is they can be done a variety of ways and can help remove geographical barriers. Please note that events are not always a one-size-fits-all and that you should evaluate your companies need and safety of others before planning one virtually or in-person.
We have listed some options below on different takes that companies are doing for virtual events and fairs:
If you have the time, review the disposition codes you are using especially the ones you have customized for your company. This way your can not only easily track where candidates are coming from but also when each individual is falling off during the process. This can help you to refine your pipeline as well as change things up once evaluating what is working and what isn’t when finding candidates. If you haven’t already read our two articles Counting the Right Numbers… or How to Stop Worrying and Love Disposition Codes Part 1 and Part 2 that focus on the important role that “disposition codes” play in the employer’s ability to perform its own meaningful adverse impact analyses and discuss tips and take a look at sample disposition codes that can help you manage your applicants appropriately.
Circa hosted a webinar on Transitioning to Virtual Hiring and On-Boarding, which provides some great tips for success. Virtual Interviews and On-Boarding focuses a lot on listening to feedback while also focusing on constant communication to keep talent interested and excited about starting a job even if it is all virtual for the time being. When you are genuine and authentic in your outreach, communicating to candidates what they want to know about your company, and ways you’re recruiting in the age of COVID-19, you can provide candidates with an inside look at your culture and an honest first impression of your company.
A recent report from Deloitte, found that Gen Z wants to create social impact and work for a meaningful company. Companies are turning their focus to concrete DEI plans as well as focusing on more programs for employees including employee resource groups, mentorship opportunities and more. Now is a great time to highlight these new additions and showcase them to future candidates who want to work for meaningful companies. If you need some help with your social media strategy check out our blog Leveraging Social Media for Recruitment Strategies for more information.
During the pandemic, women, Hispanics, African Americans, teenagers, those without high school diplomas and people with disabilities have been hit hard with unemployment (Washington Post). There are a couple of items that you can do to not only make sure that these groups can apply but reach out to them directly as well.
When looking at your open jobs or jobs that will be open evaluate the requirements and make sure they are 100% necessary. Also, with more workplaces going remote, look to see what jobs could potentially be more remote to help reach a wider net of candidates both locally and around the United States. Lastly, focus on recruiting a diverse talent pool. Circa’s outreach management system can provides your access to our network of 17,500+ community organizations to reach diverse candidates near you.
