With nearly three-quarters of professionals confident that remote work is the new normal, it’s no surprise that companies are reimagining their IT recruitment techniques to reflect the virtualization of the workforce. Not only are HR departments rethinking how they search for talent, they’re also changing what they look for in applicants.
As the digital transformation influences everything from job postings to the interview process, the expectations of the modern workplace become even more apparent.
Here’s why you should jump on board.
What is the digital transformation surrounding recruitment?
As of 2017, 56% of companies were designing their HR programs to make use of emerging digital platforms and mobile tools. The drive behind that initiative became even strong in 2020 as more and more people switched to remote roles with little to no intention of switching back.
Whether you’re overseeing an in-house HR department or running a recruitment agency, using cutting-edge tech can help you increase your agility so you can adapt to the ever-changing needs of your company and/or its clients.
This digital transformation could be as simple as
- using interactive digital questionnaires to pre-screen candidates for suitable before they get too far into the interview process.
- Or, it could be as innovative as an IT staffing agency leveraging chatbots to engage new applicants and usher them further down the recruitment funnel — all without increasing the workload of actual human HR employees.
How is virtualization changing the recruitment process?
The increase in remote work opportunities has removed barriers like geographic location from many job openings, allowing candidates across the country to potentially join the Boston tech scene. As a result, the most frequent question should be around how your business is updating the interview process to capture the talent profiles?
Now Boston staffing agencies have both the daunting task and exciting opportunity to approach top talent regardless of where they live. With that opportunity comes a need for technology that effectively identifies the best candidates and helps qualify applicants as efficiently as possible. Updating your interview process accordingly to ensure talent profiles are appropriately captured will be vital in this new recruitment landscape.
The demand for modernization in talent acquisition goes beyond recruitment tech, too. Candidates restricted to virtual meetings and video-conference interviews won’t get the same in-person introduction to a company and its culture short-listed applicants may have gotten in the past.
- How has your business adjusted for this change?
- Are questions different than your standard in-person interviews that would account for capturing the right talent profile?
Accordingly, it’s important the employers step up their branding so candidates can connect with the company’s mission via digital means. Invites to employee happy hours or digital team-building exercises provide meaningful opportunities to connect with future colleagues while engaging marketing presentations featuring facility tours, interviews with C-level executives, and footage from volunteer efforts and client presentations give candidates a sense of place and purpose.
Best practices: using virtual tools to find top-tier candidates
One of the biggest trends in talent acquisition is to use virtual tools as a way to boost recruitment.
Organizations as diverse as General Mills, Jaguar, and the U.S. military have turned to virtual reality to immerse candidates in a branded experience.
Other companies have gamified the recruitment process, using coded puzzles to test skills such as applicants’ problem-solving abilities.
One of the biggest hurdles in recruitment is dealing with the sheer volume of applicants. Consider the following:
- Corporate HR departments receive an average of 250 resumes per job posting
- The average recruiter spends just 6 seconds reviewing each resume
- 50% of applicants apply for a job they’re not qualified for
Boston recruitment pros trying to muddle through an onslaught of applications can use AI to not only screen candidates for a specific job but also match candidates from one posting to another available position. It’s a chance to markedly increase capabilities without increasing labor costs or your staff’s existing workload.
The benefits of working with a staffing agency
Working with a recruitment firm, especially one that specializes in Boston IT companies, means your recruitment efforts are in expert hands.
- Agencies know how to properly outline the demands of a job and determine whether an applicant would make a suitable addition to your team.
- Recruiters also have an impressive pool of talent to draw from, meaning you can take advantage of their existing relationships to find talent you might never discover otherwise.
With virtualization vastly widening the candidate pool, it’s more crucial than ever to engage the help of professional recruiters. To make your talent search more efficient, reach out to one of our contract IT staffing experts today.
