One of the biggest challenges in recruiting candidates is that they are nearly always busy doing another job 5 days a week. This makes it not only hard to schedule time with them, but to allow them to have time to prepare for an interview. 

For the businesses that are actively hiring amidst the pandemic (and there are plenty of them doing so), COVID-19 has actually helped them to speed up their process in some cases. Talking to candidates is easier, because during their lunch break they are in their own home, and not commuting in the morning means a morning interview is possible.

Managing the entire process is more simple because of the sheer fact that you do not need to schedule everyone in the same room. This really causes delays and it does sometimes mean you cannot interview a candidate as efficiently as you might like to. By doing everything remotely, you can run the interview process more efficiently and smoothly and it’s possible that the candidate feels more relaxed because they are in their own surroundings.

However, visiting the office did makeup such a big part of the interview process, prior to COVID-19. The company can see the candidate engaging with other employees, and the candidate can get a true feel for the office and the people. It is also worth highlighting that some candidates might not feel comfortable joining a new company without meeting anyone in person. Thinking about how this could happen should a candidate want to meet someone, is really worthwhile. Consider where this could happen that is COVID safe, and also consider who is best placed to do this. An interview process is 50% you assessing the candidate and very much 50% the candidate assessing the company.

Finally, having something on your job specification around your company’s plans post COVID-19 and what they expect of their employees is key. Candidates will want to know this, and a company expecting everyone in the office or being inflexible won’t be appealing to everyone.

COVID-19 has definitely helped the efficiency of recruitment processes, and it’s potentially helped to lower two key metrics in hiring, time to hire and cost per hire. Consider what technology can enable the process to be as smooth as possible, and also consider what a candidate needs in lieu of the office visits, to feel comfortable with accepting the role, and map this out for everyone involved, from the start of the process.