4 (Feel-good!) Recruitment Trends To Help You Through The Coronavirus Chaos

The current covid-19 situation has brought so much uncertainty and complexity to our daily business. Recruitment makes no exception to the rule. There are (yep!) some trends, though, which can truly help you get through the coronavirus situation of chaos, or at least help you stay on a positive note. Here they are:

Tip #1: Enhance your employer brand!

70% of the global workforce are passive candidates. Wow! 

And there is a good chance that the current coronavirus situation will lead to a further increase in the number of passive candidates in the near future.

Passive candidates aren’t actively looking for new positions, yet they’re open to the idea of a better opportunity. If you’re going to catch the eye of a passive candidate, then you’ll have to expand your recruiting strategy beyond generic job boards like Monster and Indeed — passive candidates won’t be there. Instead, focus on enhancing your employer brand and finetuning your EVP – just consider what a strong Glassdoor rating can do to shorten your recruitment time! (Employees’ Choice Award winner ambitions, anyone?).

So, invest time in strengthening (or preserving) your employer brand now and you’ll be ahead of the competition and ready to attract quality candidates once the crisis is over.

Not convinced yet? Let’s bring data in — 69% of active candidates are more likely to apply for a job at a company that manages its employer brand and has a presence on social media. Also – employer branding can perfectly complement and even boost your sourcing efforts – a win-win!

Tip #2: Strengthen your social media presence!

Even in the pre-coronavirus times, 48% of candidates used social media in the search for their most recent job (Jobvite).

As the world is bracing itself to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, people confined to their homes will be making much more frequent use of social networks to check in on friends and loved ones, keep up with news and maybe even share tips on scoring toilet paper. No wonder that social media ad spend is up 29%.

Everyone’s on social media more-than-ever-before. #Stayingsafe at home, social media gangs are rising up – the shouters, the mega sharers and those who just say ‘Italy’…

Bottom line – it is social media’s big moment! And the smart thing to do is to make use of this media channel as much as possible.

For you recruiters, social media channels are now a great place to target both active and passive candidates (yep, what we’ve just mentioned in the previous section). More than ever before! Chances are that your efforts on social media will bring you wider exposure and higher impressions, so now is a great time to strengthen your social media presence by communicating about your employer brand in an authentic way. How to do that?

Here are 7 recruitment life hacks for social media that you can kickstart today:

1. Keep potential candidates engaged – build a community
2. Use video to engage with passive candidates
3. Involve employees in sharing posts on social media
4. Join LinkedIn groups
5. Stay active on other social media – it is not only about Linkedin
6. Share quality content
7. Make use of social media advertising

Tip #3: Revise your media channel mix!

In these times of uncertainty one thing’s become certain – #socialdistancing is creating some #unity as well.

And here’s a great example — a number of media vendors have decided to help recruiters by extending the duration of a job posting – for free (e.g. 60 days instead of 30 days).

Amazing, right? We think so too!

With an average time of 42 days (Hirevue) to fill a position, this help is now more than welcome. So, go ahead and double-check with your media vendors if that’s the case for the channels you’re using. 

Want to brush up your knowledge on the right combination of media channels to target the right talent – check The 3 channels you need for a successful media mix infographic.

…we almost forgot to ask – Did you know you can advertise your jobs on Spotify, Business Insider and Tinder? 

Tip #4: Build your talent pool!

One of the recruiters’ top rules of thumb is – don’t let your candidates’ pipeline run dry – is still very much valid. Yes – even in the current situation of uncertainty. Here’s why:

You may have already introduced a hiring freeze, but this doesn’t mean that you should stop talking to candidates. Quite the opposite – now is a great moment to engage with potential candidates and keep building your talent pool. Although hard to predict when the crisis will be over and your business will once again be in high need of its greatest recourse – manpower. And, needless to say, starting to build your talent pool from scratch will set you to a poor start. 

To avoid this:
a) make sure you stay in touch with potential candidates:
People now actually have the time to pick up the phone and are available both online or via phone most of the time, so they’d be widely available for a chat.

b) add a message on your Career site:
A short message on your Career site is all you need to encourage potential candidates who might be interested, e.g. ‘We are always interested in hearing from you! Hiring may have slowed down a bit right now, but we’re eager to get to know you – and once this extraordinary situation is over, we’ll come back to you to continue our conversation’..

c) reach out to candidates in advanced stages of the process personally:
Candidates may not love the message, but they’ll be more likely to respect and understand it if the delivery is timely and thoughtful. They can connect via LinkedIn, keep an eye on your site, and rest assured candidates will remember the companies who have done right by them when that time comes. 

About us

VONQs Job Marketing eases your recruitment process by:

a) offering you access to all the channels you’d need to target active and passive candidates worldwide;
b) helping you select the right channels for their jobs
c) offering (upfront) insights in your ROI.

Interested in giving it a try? It’s an easy 1-2-3 and for-free set up!