How The Biggest Recruitment Shift In A Lifetime Has Worked

Some of the TeamJobs team share their experience on how something that seemed so alien in 2019, now represents efficiency and a recruitment mainstay.

Employers offering candidates jobs without meeting them would have previously been inconceivable, Jaime Rana, senior consultant, understands this, “A recent placement took around twelve months to be completed. The international client had perhaps been more comfortable with hiring managers flying to meet the candidate face to face. It was what they had previously done. The role was recently accepted and everyone comfortable without anyone meeting up. This reticence to offering jobs remotely to accepting that it can be comfortable and effective has come full circle.”

Finding the best candidates without face-to-face meetings is the biggest change and also a challenge for recruiters. Michelle Mitchell, operations manager, shares feedback from candidates on how their experience has been. “One of the biggest obstacles candidates and also clients share with me is the ability to read the (virtual) room. Nonverbal communication is now on a whole new level. A virtual meeting of talking heads lacks the body language traits that we share, it can be very difficult. The power of touch with a handshake is taken away, but a way around this is to use our hands and gesture within the screen in front of us and even a straight posture.”

Sally Bennett, senior consultant, recognises job offers centred around video is going to be ‘standard procedure.’ Sally highlights, “When candidates are booked for an interview, even as restrictions start to be lowered and movement starts to find momentum, people have said to me, ‘do I have to go to site?’ As recruiters, we have become comfortable with this format, so it is up to us to put others at ease, particularly if a video interview is new to someone else. For most people taking out travel, means convenience, ease of arrangement and also being comfortable within their own space.”

Industry sectors and also people can adapt very quickly to new routines, but it needs to be managed carefully. Jaime says, “Going forward, more companies will become even more accomplished at the onboarding process and new employees feeling a part and embracing a company culture, without necessarily having had the opportunity to meet up with their new colleagues. It all comes down to working closely with candidates and clients so that everyone is suited and the mutual respect is established before they open Teams or Zoom.”

The video interview format and offering employment to someone you haven’t physically met would have been regarded as unsettling to people 18 or so months ago, today it represents the way forward. Mindset, as well as technology, has opened everyone’s eyes where the interview process can work efficiently, responsively and still encourage employers and candidates to make the right decisions. Everyone has learned at the same time, together.