The digital recruitment revolution is just beginning. In 2022-23, when switching to an online strategy seemed the most obvious thing to do, there was a transformation in some processes in the Talent Acquisition area . Could it be that, years after the boom , virtual R&S has remained?
The truth is that there is still a good way to go to complete all digital processes from recruiting to hiring candidates. A survey conducted in Brazil highlighted that only 53% of organizations have a 100% digital hiring process. Because?
Perhaps it is a matter of adaptation, because many professionals have not yet managed to understand the entire universe of virtual recruitment. From digital attraction and selection tools to online recruitment strategies, through virtual onboarding, new technologies and methods have emerged in this whirlwind of information, but the learning curve has not yet accelerated.
What is Digital Recruitment?
Don’t think that online recruitment consists only of posting vacancies in digital media. This is just a small part of the puzzle.
Digital recruiting uses a variety of online tools and strategies to support your R&S process from start to finish. This may include:
- post a job vacancy online in recruitment and selection software ;
- video interview;
- recruitment via cell phone;
- create and use online assessments and questionnaires;
- use social networks for recruitment;
- digital onboarding tools.
In a nutshell, digital recruiting is when you use technology and the online world to search, attract, analyze and ultimately hire candidates for your vacancies.
Now that you know that the online selection process is not just about posting jobs virtually, how about understanding the benefits of the digital R&S strategy?
What are the benefits of online recruitment?
According to a study by Glassdoor , 89% of candidates consider mobile devices vital to their job search, and 45% actively use them at least once a day in the search for new jobs.
What does that mean? That you can’t stay out of the transformation of the virtual selection process.
Judging by research conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) , most organizations already get the message. The study points out that in the next 10 years (or perhaps less), half of companies will adopt HR software that provides suggestions and insights based on machine learning and artificial intelligence.
How can smart online R&S platforms and other tools help the recruiter? Here are some of the advantages:
Break Down Geographic Barriers
Virtual recruiting allows organizations to broaden their talent pool. In practice, with the virtual selection process and remote work, employers can now even attract international talent.
Reduce Hiring Time
When recruiting, the main objective is to get the best candidate started in their new role as quickly as possible. Virtual recruiting can help with this by speeding up the overall recruiting process.
The process allows employers to screen and list a greater volume of candidates in a shorter amount of time. This is possible due to resources that make use of artificial intelligence and also that perform, in an automated way, tasks that were previously completely manual.
Greater Efficiency
Collecting and analyzing data on your own can be time consuming and even unreliable in certain situations, especially if it relies on human processes.
Fortunately, most recruiting tools will automatically collect analytics. With this kind of data, you can detect gaps and test solutions before they affect your time to hire and cost per recruit.
Gain Competitive Advantage
Most job seekers today are comfortable interacting online and probably expect at least part of their recruitment process to be online as well.
Virtual recruiting shows potential candidates that your organization is progressive and innovative, making your employer brand more attractive than others.
Better Experience For Candidates
Virtual recruiting greatly facilitates communication between the employer and potential candidates. A common complaint from candidates using traditional recruiting is that their questions go unanswered. Tools like virtual chat answer any questions or queries candidates may have about a job role in real time.
How does the recruitment process work?
By digitizing the recruitment process , you can easily transform otherwise manual procedures into faster actions. That way, your R&S process will gather more relevant information for decision making during the interview and hiring.
This also leaves more time for recruiters to work with the employer brand, and hiring managers can focus on their business-critical tasks.
For your organization to move from the physical to the digital process, it will need the following technologies:
- digital recruitment and selection software;
- candidate relationship management (CRM) platform;
- careers page;
- reference system;
- video interview platform;
- digital onboarding system.
How to build a digital recruitment strategy
Creating, developing and launching a digital recruitment strategy can give your company competitive advantages.
However, if you get the strategy wrong, you can end up increasing your workload and even tarnishing your organization’s employer brand.
Recently, a Brazilian unicorn startup decided to publicize the opening of new vacancies for women in the IT area in the mainstream press. It turns out that the organization had fired a number of employees, including women who worked in the information technology field.
Result: the announcement of vacancies was heavily criticized on social media and what was supposed to be something inclusive, affirmative vacancies for women, became a mockery.
Therefore, before making a decision, it is always good to look at the general context of the organization and improve your digital recruitment strategy. Here are some tips:
Produce Consistent Content
As in any business, good content is essential for sales – in this case, attracting talent. It is essential to post consistent content, with the right message for the candidates you want to reach.
In this part of the strategy, you will be able to share the company’s vision, mission and values, information about employees and what the organization’s culture looks like in practice.
Know Where To Advertise
Once you’ve got the content right, you’ll need to decide where to share the information. For this you will need to understand which digital channels your potential candidate interacts with, among them:
- job sites;
- your organization’s website or blog;
- social media channels;
- organization newsletter;
- ad murals;
- specialized media websites and blogs.
As already mentioned, it is crucial to first research the audience you are trying to reach, know what type of content most impacts them and where your audience is present. Thus, the disclosure of your company’s opportunities will reach the most adherent candidates.
Build A Strong Presence On Social Media
Social networks are great partners for the recruiter. Both younger generations and more experienced professionals are active on at least one social network.
But the idea of building a strong presence across multiple social media platforms – Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube etc. – is overwhelming. It could suck up all your time very easily. So, that’s why it’s essential to understand, once again, faithful to the candidate’s persona.
Use Digital Tools To Enhance The Candidate Experience
There are many tools out there that you can use to improve your candidate experience. The first thing you should do is apply for the role yourself.
It’s the only way to understand exactly what your candidates experience when they submit an application.
Take notes, seeing where things look “flat” or “slow.” You will also need to look into customization. You want to show your candidates from the start that they are respected and seen as individuals rather than “just another candidate”.
You can then use digital tools like personality tests and assessments to make the experience more personalized and memorable for each candidate.
Focus On The Employer Brand
Today, a company’s reputation matters more than ever. In fact, 86% of workers would not apply or continue to work at a company that has a bad reputation with former employees or the general public.
In other words, employer branding is how you market your company to candidates and current employees.
The more desired your employer brand, the more likely it is to attract top talent. Plus, a positive employer brand can also help you retain top talent.
