November 29, 2022
The pandemic has brought labor and talent shortages to an all-time low. The lack of personnel is hampering the operations of many companies. And so, recruiters must adapt, rethinking the recruitment process. We asked them what has really changed in the way they conduct interviews.
Catherine Rioux, CHRP, President of Rioux HR Consultants, is blunt about it; in the field, she notes that companies are literally snatching up candidates.
We are witnessing a real war for talent. Several companies are competing with each other in terms of ingenuity and rolling out the red carpet to seduce candidates. Necessarily, this war for talent can be seen in the recruiting process and in the way interviews are conducted.
Recruiters and employers now “analyze” applications “very quickly,” she notes. In some circumstances, she adds, phone interviews can be conducted “within minutes of receiving” an interesting application.
New objective: create a link, as quickly as possible
Charlene Brahim, co-partner and CMO of HR firm Humanify, confirms that employers need to act quickly. She also notes that the way people connect has changed.
We’re doing a lot more video conferencing for pre-qualifications, whereas before we were 100% on the phone before the physical meeting.”
The interview itself has also changed.
At the beginning of the meeting, we focus on the candidate before bombarding them with requests for qualification. We try more to understand their motivations, interests, desires and projections to better align what we can offer in return and that would touch the areas of interest mentioned.”
Catherine Rioux confirms that interviews are now more like a “conversation”.
The tougher interviews are gone where you destabilize the person,” she says. Now, what we want above all is to make the candidate as comfortable as possible. We want to create a wow effect, but at the same time learn more about the person. So we have to be able to evaluate the candidate well, while maintaining an attitude that makes you want to work for us.
Charlène Brahim warns recruiters not to overdo it by selling a position that “doesn’t exist”.
You have to keep the right balance between seducing the candidate and painting an authentic picture of the position and the organization. We want to avoid at all costs selling the candidate a unicorn and having them leave after a few weeks, completely disillusioned by our false promise.”
Is too much being done?
René Beaulieu, a headhunter and trainer in behavioral interviewing techniques, believes that recruiters may be doing too much to attract talent.
Since the pandemic began, I don’t think there’s been much change – other than spending more, or even too much, time enticing candidates. The goal should still be the same: to try to predict a candidate’s future performance and compatibility with the position being offered.”
The headhunter reminds us that “candidates’ past behaviors are the best predictor of future behaviors.” And this, even in times of “labour shortage”. He is also disappointed that the fundamentals of recruitment are not taught in universities or colleges.
This is food for thought when it comes to reinventing the candidate experience.
