What’s The Hardest Part Of Full Cycle Recruiting?

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From the initial uncertainty of candidate commitment to the crucial task of maintaining engagement, seven seasoned professionals, including Recruiters and HR Managers, reveal the toughest hurdles in full-cycle recruiting.

  • Handling Candidate Commitment Uncertainty
  • Avoiding Recruiter’s Screen Time Strain
  • Solving Complexities of Final Interview Stages
  • Defining Role and Candidate Profile Precisely
  • Addressing the Challenges of Large-Scale Hiring
  • Identifying Ideal Candidates
  • Maintaining Candidate Engagement

Handling Candidate Commitment Uncertainty

When a candidate does not start after getting the offer, it is the hardest part of recruiting. It is really out of reach for a recruiter to keep the candidate engaged with the offer until they start.

Even if they promise to start, they could disappear at any time, even after all the onboarding and drug tests are complete and clear.

Avoiding Recruiter’s Screen Time Strain

Depending on what day of the week you ask me, it could be the emotional roller coaster that is recruiting. On other days, it would be organizing and prioritizing my workflow of calls, emails, follow-ups, etc., amid a landscape of constantly shifting priorities.

But lately, in all honesty, it has been staring at the computer screen too long without a break. My eyes are beyond fried, and if I could offer one piece of advice, I’d say remember your eyes for the assets they are and take care of them.

Use blue-light-filtering glasses or screen covers, eye drops, and just get up and walk around a couple of times a day to get your eyes off the screen. If you’re new to recruiting, trust me, do this, and your eyes will thank you down the road.

Solving Complexities Of Final Interview Stages

The final stage of the recruitment process is normally the hardest, at least when done well.

Arranging panel interviews, for example, is a logistical nightmare, particularly at senior levels. Finding a mutually acceptable time for the whole panel and the candidate is always challenging, as everyone is extremely busy.

Not only is this stage logistically challenging, but successful interviewing also requires considerable skill and training, and the better you are at interviewing, the more taxing the experience becomes.

Structuring interviews is also a major challenge, requiring careful thought and consideration on the questions, the competencies, the scoring, and the reporting. Although conversational interviews are easier to conduct, research clearly shows them to be less effective, justifying the effort involved in structuring interviews.

Defining Role And Candidate Profile Precisely

As the managing director of an executive search firm, I’ve found that developing the parameters and requirements of the role and honing the ideal candidate profile is the most crucial point in full-cycle recruiting.

If you get it wrong here, a misaligned need or description sets off a chain reaction. Even a “successful hire” can ultimately be to the business’s detriment.

Often, what we think we need in a candidate isn’t what’s truly required to address our challenges or achieve our goals. Seeking new leadership means embracing change, not repeating past patterns.

If our existing strategies were sufficient, we wouldn’t feel the need to look for someone new in the first place. So, we’re always challenging hiring leaders to nail this part of the equation down with precision and conviction.

Addressing The Challenges Of Large-Scale Hiring

The most difficult aspect of managing the entire recruitment process is dealing with large-scale hiring. When you need to fill many positions across different areas of your company, things can get complicated.

It’s challenging to keep up with the quality of each hire while handling a large number of applicants. This situation demands more time and effort, and there’s always the risk of lowering hiring standards when you’re overwhelmed.

Balancing the need to hire quickly without compromising on the quality of new employees is key, but it’s certainly not easy.

Identifying Ideal Candidates

Identifying the ideal candidate—someone with the right skills, a commitment to long-term engagement, and the potential for substantial growth—is undoubtedly the most challenging part of the hiring process. It’s a delicate balance. Some candidates may look impressive on paper or perform well in technical assessments but fall short in real-world scenarios, and vice versa.

Consequently, sifting through candidates to eliminate those who don’t align, discerning between genuine skills and exaggerated claims, and pinpointing individuals who truly match the criteria is an extensive undertaking for many professionals.

Recruitment involves substantial effort—a meticulous process of evaluating potential fits and ensuring alignment with organizational needs. It’s a task that demands a keen eye for detail and a comprehensive understanding of the company’s requirements, making it a significant challenge for anyone in the field.

Maintaining Candidate Engagement

The hardest part of full-cycle recruiting is keeping the candidate engaged and interested. Interviewing is a two-way street, and candidates are evaluating their experience with your organization.

If they do not have a positive experience with your organization, they will lose interest and disengage. This is why companies have to make sure their interviewing processes are streamlined and their managers are trained on how to interview properly.

To keep candidates engaged, companies have to sell their company culture and the actual opportunity.

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