What You Need to Know About Remote Recruitment

  Due to the COVID-19 crisis, remote recruitment has become increasingly common. And it’s here to stay, because digital recruitment offers all kinds of advantages. But how do you properly assess the person on the other side of the screen? In other words: how do you find the best candidate remotely? Those with office jobs have grown accustomed to working from home in recent years. But that doesn’t apply to all sectors: in healthcare, education, and the security industry, for example, working from home is often not an option. Healthcare professionals are needed in hospitals, nursing homes, and in the community; teachers are needed in the classroom; and security guards are needed at the locations where they’re hired. Although these professionals’ day-to-day work usually cannot be done remotely, recruiting new staff digitally is certainly possible. During the COVID-19 crisis, many organizations have already experimented extensively with this approach. And with success, because remote recruiting offers many advantages-even in these critical sectors.

Advantages

What are the benefits of digital recruitment? For starters, the recruitment process is much more efficient. Job interviews often involve at least three people-a manager or team leader, a recruiter, and, of course, the candidate. It’s easier to schedule a time when not everyone has to be in the same location. In addition, a job interview via Zoom or Teams saves all participants travel time. The interview itself is also often shorter and more to the point. As an employer, this allows you to interview more candidates in less time. A second advantage of remote recruitment is that you’re casting a wider net. With an online selection process, you also give candidates who live farther away the chance to apply. What’s more, you increase your chances of finding the right candidate. After all, as an HR manager, you know how difficult it is to find staff. That’s especially helpful in today’s tight labor market!

Fairer Assessments

Admittedly, digital job interviews often feel a bit more businesslike. The informal chit-chat before and after the official interview is shorter, simply because you’re not walking down the hall together or waiting for the elevator. But there are ways to address this. For example, start the conversation by telling the candidate a little about yourself, and take the time to put them at ease. You can explain how the interview will generally proceed. This way, the candidate will have a better idea of what to expect, which will make them feel more confident. A more “business-like” video call also has its advantages. More and more companies and organizations are using competency-based hiring: they assess candidates based on the skills they’re looking for in a role, rather than on the impression a candidate makes. This is easier with digital interviews, precisely because there’s less nonverbal communication. For example, only a small part of a person’s clothing is visible, and any personal chemistry you might have plays a lesser role. Prejudices-whether conscious or unconscious-therefore get in the way less during the selection process. That makes such a process fairer and more objective. Whether someone is a good fit for your organization depends on that person’s skills and competencies as well as your organizational culture. How do you, as professionals, typically work together, and does the candidate’s personality align with that? In digital recruitment, it’s important to try to make this as explicit as possible. You can also literally give candidates a sense of what it’s like to work for you. For example, with a short video about your company or organization in which colleagues talk about what they think of working there, what their day looks like, and what they believe are the defining characteristics of the organization’s culture.

Proper Preparation

Remote recruitment requires proper preparation from both parties, emphasizes recruitment expert Aaltje Vincent on a Dutch government website. Test your internet connection in advance and make sure you’re in a quiet place where people won’t just walk by or come in. Turn off your email program and other applications so the interview isn’t interrupted by distracting noises. And make sure you have a quiet background: a white wall is better than a cluttered bookshelf. Also, help candidates get started by emailing them in advance about the digital process. There’s a good chance they’ve never applied for a job this way before. So explain step-by-step how they can log in to the video meeting. Also give candidates the opportunity to test the technology beforehand. And tell them what to do if the connection drops-for example, provide the phone number of one of the participants so they can call someone. Some of these tips may sound a bit basic, but good preparation really is half the battle.

Collecting Objective Data

Want to screen candidates remotely even more effectively? Start the hiring process with a digital assessment. By having candidates complete such an assessment first, you can narrow down the field. You can then have more targeted conversations with the people who have the right competencies to work within your organization. A major advantage of assessments is that they provide objective data about a candidate. For example, you can measure how someone scores in terms of leadership qualities. In addition, assessments lead to greater diversity in the workplace, according to the daily newspaper NRC. “There’s no worse way to select someone than based on a resume and a job interview,” a recruitment specialist told the newspaper. “That tells you something about what someone has done, for how long, and for whom, but nothing about how well they performed their tasks or under what circumstances. Let alone whether it predicts how someone will perform a future assignment.”

Positive Candidate Experience

Assessments don’t just benefit you as an employer. They also contribute to a positive candidate experience. You’re signaling to a candidate that you genuinely want to get to know them and are willing to invest in that process. Have you found the right candidate? Then it’s time to meet in person. Your new employee can get to know you and your colleagues. And by then, you’ll be certain that this person isn’t just a good fit for your company-you’ll have concrete proof that it’s a great match. Digital assessments can be administered at various locations throughout the Netherlands. Candidates receive a warm welcome and personalized attention, so they feel completely at ease. Curious about the possibilities? Check out the Lamark or hrmforce websites and book an assessment right away.