Remote Recruitment – Tools, Best Practices, and Latest Trends

With an increase in companies and organizations working remotely, there has been a significant rise in remote recruitment. Naturally, this has created a change in the organizational structure and the means of communication between the recruitment team and hiring managers.

HR professionals and recruiters are trying to adjust to remote recruitment while ensuring that the efficiency of information flow among the team is maintained. In such a scenario, it is imperative to choose the right set of tools and follow the best practices that can aid in remote recruitment.

Unless you do so, you risk losing the best talents due to the sheer lack of adaptability from your end.

How to choose the right set of HR tools to use in 2020?

There are many recruitment tools available, and choosing one depends on the goal that you want to achieve using the tool.

The remote recruitment process involves sourcing the candidates, scheduling interviews, screening amp; interviewing candidates and hiring them.

Recruitment tools assist in all these areas and help in streamlining workflow.

Recruitment tools help in sourcing candidates, screening amp; assessing candidates, scheduling interviews, maintaining a database of candidates, engaging with the candidates, interviewing them across different platforms, sharing the candidate profiles with the hiring managers, and getting feedback from the candidates.

Use tools that help you with either all or some of the steps involved in the hiring process.

Here are some of the tools that recruiters use to streamline their hiring process.

Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

According to research by Capterra, almost 75% of recruiters and talent managers use recruitment software or ATS. Of those, 94% agree that using those software has improved their hiring process by reducing cost and fastening the entire hiring process.

• ATS is one of the most widely used recruitment tools and helps recruiters simplify their hiring process. Most ATS has these following features.

  -Advanced job sourcing and job board integration.
  -Saved candidate profiles and candidate databases for easy search.
  -Resume parsing and screening.
  -Interview scheduling, customized interview questions, and automated email replies.
  -Hiring metrics and insights.
  -Easy team collaboration.

  Some well-known ATS are- Taleo, Jobvite, Greenhouse Software, Homegrown, etc.

• Candidate Sourcing Software
  

  Candidate Sourcing Software assists recruiters in sourcing both active and passive candidates through the web. Recruiters can source high-value candidates without frantically searching across different platforms.

  Job aggregators, candidate sourcing platform, and AI sourcing tools are some common forms of Candidate Sourcing Software.

• Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) Software
  

  CRM Software is used by recruiters to improve candidate engagement and experience. According to a Glassdoor study, about 47 % of job applicants cited untimely responses and lack of information about job responsibilities as the primary causes of frustration.

  The importance of candidate engagement and experience has increased now, more than ever. Through CRM software, HR professionals can engage with candidates in a timely and personalized manner and build a good relationship with them.

• Some well known CRM software are – Smashfly, Avature, etc.

• Recruitment Marketing Software

  The significance of the employer brand has never been so important. A study by TalentNow highlights that, for 84% of job seekers, the employer’s reputation is an important factor, with 50% of candidates stating that they wouldn’t work for a company with a bad reputation even if the pay increases.

  Recruitment Marketing Software helps recruiters use marketing techniques to create brand awareness, generate interest towards your company, and attract top talent for open positions.

  Recruitment Marketing helps in employer branding, candidate engagement, CRM, candidate experience, and uses analytics for data-driven decisions.

• Video Interviewing Software

  With remote recruitment gaining momentum, Video Interviewing Software has also become an essential tool for the recruitment process.
  Video interviewing software enables recruiters to connect with candidates anywhere globally and enjoy a seamless interview experience powered with analytics.

  Well known video interviewing software are ConverIQ, Hire Vue, and Spark Hire.

• AI and automation Software

  In recent years, AI in recruitment has been tremendous growth and potential. AI for recruitment uses Artificial Intelligence to automate repetitive tasks and helps HR professionals streamline their entire workflow.

  AI software not only assists in reducing the bulk load of recruiters and hiring faster, but it also reduces human bias in recruitment, diversity hiring, facial expression analysis, personalized candidate engagement, and automated interview process.

  Some of the emerging AI tools for recruitment:

  -Arya- Automated sourcing of candidates.
  -X or Chatbot recruiting assistant that communicates with candidates across various platforms.
  -FreJunHR– Streamlines the entire interview process from scheduling to sending.
  -WhatsApp messages; auto-dialing to generating candidate analytics using AI.

How to communicate with recruiters working remotely?

When working remotely, communication is one of the most critical factors for ensuring accountability and information sharing among team members. This explicitly holds for recruiters who need to ensure that information flow between hiring managers (frejun) are maintained, and the hiring process is working smoothly.

Here are the tips for communicating effectively with recruiters working remotely.

1. Plan a remote communication policy with your team.
2. Choose the tools to use for communication.
3. Minimize emails and focus on automation.

Best practices for remote recruitment

Whether you are new to remote recruitment or have been recruiting remotely for a while, there are some best practices that you should follow to up your recruitment process. Here are some of the things remote recruiters should do daily for an efficient remote hiring process.

1. Maintain a standard recruitment process

   Since remote recruiters work from different locations, a centralized process is vital for proper information flow between recruiters, teams, and managers.

   Recruiters should follow a standard recruitment process through a well-documented recruitment policy. Among other things, the policy should include your mode of communication, meeting schedules, and tools amp; platform to be used for different levels of the recruitment process.

2. Use technology to assist you in the hiring process

   Hiring can be a daunting task when you are continually juggling from one step to another. But with assistance from digital tools and technology in every step of the hiring process from sourcing to remotely screening to interviewing to onboarding, you can significantly improve the speed and efficiency of your hiring process.

3. Maintain regular communication with teams

   Remote recruitment thrives in communication. To ensure that recruiters are sourcing the right candidates, recruiters should not only be clear about the job description but should also be clear about the company’s culture and the type of candidate that fills the culture.

   Hence, it is essential for recruiters to maintain regular communication with their teams and hiring managers.

4. Engage with candidates

   Engaged candidates are more likely to show up for the interview and have a good candidate experience. Remote recruiters should understand the popular digital channels their target profiles use to engage with them accordingly.

   Some of the ways to engage with candidates are through social media channels, emails, text messages, and phone calls.

5. Practice video interviewing often

   For remote recruitment, video interviewing is a core skill that will help recruiters and hiring managers to understand and evaluate the candidates better.

   Practice video interviewing every day to get comfortable with the process. Also, always double-check your network connection, software, and hardware before starting the interview.

   Always keep a plan B handy, in case there are some unexpected errors or glitches from either end.

6. Focus on building the employer brand

   According to a survey by Careerbuilder, 64% of candidates said they research a company online after finding a job offer, and 37% said they would move on to another job offer if they can’t find information on the company.

   Along with an updated company website, an active social media presence that highlights the company’s values and cultures significantly improves employer branding.

   Ways to build employer branding:-Use your company’s career page to highlight your company values and culture.
   -Use social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook to engage with your prospects.
   -Hold interactive sessions for students through podcasts, webinars, job-related quizzes, hold virtual career fairs, etc.

7. Use AI tools for smart hiring and streamlining

   A LinkedIn study states that 76% of recruiters believe that AI’s impact on recruiting will be significant. Using AI to assist in high volume repetitive tasks helps recruiters to focus on the more important steps of the recruitment process.

   Areas where you can use AI in recruitment:

   –Automate candidate sourcing
   -Automate scheduling calls
   -Rediscovering the required candidate from the database
   -Getting candidate insights through natural language processing and facial expression analysis.

Recruitment industry changes

Over the years, there have been significant changes in the recruitment industry, mostly owing to technological advancements.

1. The growing importance of company culture

   According to a Glassdoor survey, three in four adults consider a company’s culture before applying for a job and more than half of employees prioritize a company’s culture over salary.

   The trend by Glassdoor is an interesting trend that emphasizes the need for better employee engagement, building a clear mission statement, and focusing on a strong employer brand.

2. Job search through mobile

   The rise of smartphones for job search among different age groups has been phenomenal. A Glassdoor survey reveals that 58% of Glassdoor users search for jobs using their mobile phones.

   Hence, employers should focus on mobile-friendly applications to attract more talent and not frustrate them when applying for the job.

3. The increasing use of AI in recruitment

   AI in recruitment has been the talk of the town for quite some time now. And the trend is likely going to increase in 2020. And no, it is not here to replace humans. It is here to assist them.

   As John Jersin, vice president of LinkedIn Talent Solution says, “I certainly would not trust any AI system today to make a hiring decision on its own. The technology is just not ready yet.”

4. Read: Tapping into the human side of AI

5. Gaining prominence of soft skills

   The importance of soft skills in recruitment has been increasing with HR professionals selecting candidates based on the culture-fit. Candidates now are evaluated not just on their hard skills but also on their soft skills.

6. Diversity inclusive hiring

   Bias in recruiting in terms of culture and gender is likely to decrease as the focus on company culture and employer branding increases. According to a study by McKinsey, companies were likely to have 33% higher financial returns than their industry counterparts.

   Focusing on inclusive diversity hiring will not only shed a positive light on the company culture but also enhance the creativity and productivity of the organization.

7. Growing prominence of candidate experience amp; employer branding

   Research by Talent Adore states that, for 78% of job seekers, the candidate experience that they receive indicates how much the company values its employees.

   This is a very powerful message for companies to increase their focus on candidate experience and employer branding.

8. Use of Analytics in HR
   

   Data and analytics are driving HR decisions at every level. The use of various tools to streamline each stage in the recruitment process and subsequent use of metrics and data improves the decision-making process.

   With the rise of big data and analytics, HR managers are more likely to make informed decisions backed with data and analytics.

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