Traditional hiring methods are broken for both candidates and companies, relying on outdated hiring decisions that are made almost exclusively from resumes. Focusing on what a person has done – not what they have the potential to do – creates blind spots and prevents businesses from hiring untapped talent. This type of “rearview recruiting” also frustrates candidates with a cold, manual, and opaque process that takes way too long, with little communication and no feedback.
In the recent HireVue Hiring Experience Report 2023, respondents overwhelmingly expressed discontent with the current hiring landscape. Points of frustration include a lack of feedback (40%), the constraint of resumes rather than assessments based on potential and skills (30%), the need for more streamlined processes (37%), and the prevalence of inaccurate job descriptions (31%).
Companies need to move beyond traditional practices and prioritize fairness and objectivity. By leveraging AI to evaluate candidates based on potential, skills, and interests, companies can replace guesswork with a nuanced understanding of each candidate.
When it comes to hiring, speeding up the process is paramount, but it has to be done effectively. An efficient screening and assessment process is crucial to identify the most qualified candidates quickly. Here are a few tactics that hiring managers can employ to optimize this process:
- Utilize Automation: To achieve fast yet effective hiring, leverage applicant tracking systems (ATS) and other automation tools to streamline the screening and assessment process. These tools can help in sorting and filtering applications based on predefined criteria, such as skills and qualifications, saving valuable time for hiring managers.
- Utilize Skills Assessments: Consider using online skill assessments and pre-employment evaluations for candidates efficiently and objectively. Assessments provide valuable insights into a candidate’s abilities, knowledge, and cultural fit, enabling hiring managers to make informed decisions more quickly.
- Develop Clear Evaluation Criteria: Define clear evaluation criteria based on the job requirements and desired skills—this ensures consistency in the screening and assessment process and enables hiring managers to make fair and objective comparisons amongst candidates. By establishing a scoring rubric, hiring managers can quickly identify the top candidates who meet the predefined criteria. This structured approach mitigates biases and allows for a more systematic and efficient evaluation of a high volume of applicants.
- Conduct Structured Interviews: Implement structured interview processes to assess candidates consistently and fairly. Start with realistic job previews, so candidates are clear about what the role entails. Next, develop a set of standardized interview questions that focus on specific competencies or skills relevant to the role. This helps compare candidates for the particular role and ensures that all candidates are evaluated based on the same criteria. Structured interviews help maintain consistency and reduce subjectivity, leading to more accurate assessments in high-volume recruiting.
- Utilize Video Interviews: Consider using video or panel interviews with the help of a Video Interview Platform to save time and accommodate a larger number of candidates.
Natalie Dopp is the Chief People Officer at HireVue.
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