Parts of the Recruiting Process that Should be Retired

Like it or not, technology is king in today’s world. With the advent of social media, smartphones, Amazon, and the like, people have access to products, services, and information when they want it. Recruiters might not initially make the connection between technology and filling a position. But, the reality is, if you’re using antiquated methods to evaluate candidates, you may be doing more harm than good. Today, quick and easy outreach methods like texting are much more valuable tools for an applicant tracking system. Others, including the three below, are falling by the wayside.

Cover Letters

To the relief of job seekers, many of whom spend hours writing them, cover letters are considered outdated. In surveys, nearly half of all applicants admit to not sending a cover letter for a job. More than a quarter of all recruiters say that a cover letter is no longer a key factor in hiring. Candidates and recruiters alike say that cover letters are essentially dead. Instead, candidates are swapping cover letters for abbreviated personal statements highlighting their accomplishments. Some also elaborate on the best parts of their resume with a short narrative. Others get even more creative by building websites and using visuals to help recruiters get to know them.

Screening Phone Calls

These days, research shows that the best way to make initial contact with candidates is through texting. At one point, screening phone calls was the first step that recruiters took for applicant tracking. They were a reliable way to determine whether or not a candidate had basic qualifications and relevant experience. However, texting is a much more reliable and successful way of reaching out to applicants. Through texting, recruiters can even send applicants documents and videos that help them to understand and connect with the company. Text conversations can also be recorded through a recruitment system and used at a later time. Screening calls are now considered a secondary step in the recruitment process. They are more valuable for allowing the recruiter and candidate to discuss more important matters in the job hiring process.

Panel Interviews

For some people, the formality and rapid-fire nature of group interviews can be daunting. Aside from the personal pressure, panel interviews are far more difficult to schedule, even with the automated assistance of recruiting software. Instead of trying to coordinate one-on-one interview time with an applicant, you’ll need to coordinate the schedules of multiple people. This quite often leads to lengthy delays in the applicant interview process, which can ultimately lead to you losing prospective hires. Some experts criticize panel interviews for bringing bias to the interviewing table. Furthermore, inviting multiple interviewers brings the unwanted opportunity for additional questions that are often irrelevant and unhelpful. Job assessments, “run-throughs,” and tests are more effective alternatives to panel interviews.

Recruiters constantly face pressure to hire the “right” candidate. But, along with matching the skills you’re seeking, hiring the right candidate requires the right approach, too. By eliminating outdated recruitment strategies, recruiters have a much better chance of successfully connecting with and recruiting the most qualified candidates for a position.