The post pandemic job market has left employers and job applicants in uncharted territory with both job hunting and recruiting procedures changing substantially. Both sides have identified frustrations with the process. A U.S. employer survey conducted by Indeed found that more than 43% of employers have lamented the increase in time it takes to hire applicants with another 41% of employers saying it is only getting harder to find quality candidates to interview. On the other side, over 60% of job seekers have reported having negative experiences with potential employers.

Today’s Hiring Process Falls Short

The hiring process has long failed to keep up with the rapid shifts we’ve seen in the job market. Many recruitment sites, including Indeed, started by implementing a pay per click model with job applications. This template made no guarantees of companies acquiring quality candidates, despite the volume of clicks their listings garnered. Companies could spend a hefty penny before seeing results. Indeed’s new options are in direct response to this sizable concern.

If hiring speed is your company’s concern, Indeed designed their Pay Per Application (PPA) model to help secure complete and quality applications in a timely and efficient manner. Under this model, an application cost is determined at the time a job is listed. The price is based on market conditions for that specific job. If the job listing is unique to the area it is being posted to and there are many candidates seeking that type of employment, a job sponsor can expect a lower application cost. However, if there are multiple listings that match the same job description and only a few candidates seeking that type of career, job sponsors can expect a higher application cost to correlate with the demand.

Indeed Offers New Options To Meet Your Company’s Priorities

With PPA, several tools are implemented on the backend to ensure that only qualified applications are getting through, including deal breaker screening questions, which recruiters can set up to automatically reject submissions that do not meet a job’s mandatory criteria. To make sure there are no surprises when it comes to costs, job sponsors can choose to receive a specific amount of applications. Alternatively, they can choose to receive an undefined number of applications until a job is manually paused or closed by the job sponsor. Indeed will allow recruiters to reject an application that does not fill a job’s criteria for up to 72 hours before getting charged for receiving that submission.

Indeed will also offer a Pay Per Started Application (PPSA) option that is aimed to provide a job sponsor with started applications on an accelerated timeline. Job sponsors will be charged each time a job seeker clicks a button to initiate the application process. In this instance, instead of spacing a listing’s budget across a formulated timeline, dynamic price setting can lead to  getting budgets being spent faster or slower than before.

It’s Time To Adapt to Market Demands

According to a survey conducted by Indeed, more than 96% of employers desire a site that can help match them with quality candidates. With millions of companies still hiring, Indeed’s Pay for Results option provides employers resources to skillfully reach those applicants. The timing could not be better as shifting demographics in the U.S. threaten to further impede the job market. A shrinking labor force will only increase the need for competitive job recruitment tools.

Recruiting candidates can also be laborious, taking more than a month to fill a position in some cases. PPA and PPSA options were designed to save employers time and money with crafted tools built for bringing you more quality applications while making sure that qualified candidates see and find your company’s job listing. Today, the market is as competitive for organizations as it is for candidates. Unequipped companies risk losing talent if they are not utilizing algorithms to drive their listings to qualified candidates.

The post Indeed Launches New Pay for Results Option to Help U.S. Employers Navigate Changing Job Market appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Of course the process of finding the right contractors and collaborating with them can be difficult to navigate, so let’s discuss the core principles involved, and the obstacles to be aware of as well.

Why Hiring Independent Contractors Makes Sense for Your Workforce Needs

Hiring independent contractors (ICs) is a great way to access skilled workers quickly and cost-effectively. ICs provide the flexibility of short-term or project-based work, allowing you to meet your workforce needs with greater agility than traditional employees.

Moreover, with an IC you may not have to worry about hiring costs such as training or benefits, as you can just pay for what’s needed on demand. Plus, bringing in specialized skills from outside sources can open up new opportunities within your organization that would otherwise be unattainable.

In today’s competitive landscape, having highly experienced professionals on tap makes all the difference when it comes to delivering results fast and efficiently.

What Types of Jobs Can Be Handled By Independent Contractors?

Independent contractors can provide a variety of services, ranging from IT programming and web development to writing, graphic design, marketing strategy consulting, and more.

Not only are ICs an ideal solution for short-term projects or dealing with deficits in your team’s skill set, but they can also be hired on a recurring basis for ongoing work that requires specialized expertise. From virtual assistants and copywriters to financial analysts and software engineers, the possibilities are endless when it comes to finding the perfect fit for your organization’s needs.

How to Find and Recruit Qualified Candidates for the Job

Finding qualified independent contractors can be a challenge, but there are a few strategies you can use to find the best candidates.

Start by asking your current team members if they know anyone who might be interested in working as an IC. Word of mouth referrals are often key when it comes to finding top talent.

You could also post on freelance job boards, or create targeted ads on social media platforms such as LinkedIn. Additionally, networking events and industry associations may be great places to meet potential candidates face-to-face.

Once you’ve identified some promising prospects, make sure to thoroughly vet them. Conducting interviews and reference checks is essential before bringing any new ICs onboard.

Best Practices for Onboarding a New Independent Contractor

Speaking of onboarding, it’s important to consider this carefully in order to forge successful relationships with independent contractors from the get-go.

Make sure that you have all the necessary paperwork in place, and provide your ICs with clear instructions on what’s expected of them. Communicate regularly and set expectations upfront, such as deadlines or any special skills they need to complete the job successfully.

Furthermore, you should establish trust by providing feedback throughout their contract period. This will help ensure that everyone remains on the same page while working together.

Finally, make sure you’re paying your ICs fairly and promptly so that they remain motivated to do great work for you. Given that the standard late fee for an overdue invoice is typically 1-1.5% monthly, you have a responsibility to take this into account and do your best to stick to your side of the bargain to keep them happy.

Crafting an Agile Working Agreement with Your ICs

When it comes to working with independent contractors, having a clear and mutually agreed-upon agreement is essential. Make sure that the document clearly outlines all expectations, as this will help ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities.

Also, consider setting up milestones or deadlines so you can track progress in real time. Be sure to include provisions for payment terms, as mentioned, and also cover dispute resolution procedures and termination clauses if needed, as well as data security measures if applicable.

Tips on Managing Performance & Output from Remote Workers

Managing performance and output from remote workers can be a headache, especially if they are not permanent team members. Thankfully there are strategies you can use to ensure successful outcomes.

First and foremost, ICs need an unambiguous understanding of what role they are to play in a given project. Without this, they could be unable to bring their full expertise to bear on the goals you are working towards.

As discussed, you also need to be liberal with feedback from start to finish so they always know how their work is progressing and are also on point when it comes to deadlines or deliverables.

Lastly, consider utilizing collaboration tools such as online project management systems, which will enable real-time communication between all stakeholders involved in the project. The less manual intervention that’s required to keep up the momentum, the better the eventual outcome.

The Benefits and Challenges of Building an All-IC Team

Building an all-independent contractor team can have its advantages, such as greater flexibility and cost savings compared to traditional employees. What’s more, you’ll be able to access top talent quickly without having to invest in long onboarding processes or extensive training sessions.

However, it’s also important that you consider the potential challenges, such as managing remote workers from different locations and a lack of team bonding due to the physical distance between members.

To ensure success when building an IC team, be proactive in providing them with the tools and feedback they need to thrive, and of course, listen to any issues or concerns that they raise rather than brushing them under the carpet.

Final Thoughts

Cajoling contractors into coming onboard for particular projects you want to complete without hiring full-time team members is a duty that recruiters are often faced with, and one which takes time and experience to master.

That said, if you know where to find the right talent, and you are comprehensive and conscientious about how you bring them into the fold, then the benefits will be obvious, and the potential pitfalls will get filled in.

The post The Ins and Outs of Working with Independent Contractors appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

The pressure of high-volume hiring is real. And while it’s no David Bowie song, the impact of hiring hundreds – even thousands – of employees each month without a cohesive process will definitely be just as memorable, albeit much less enjoyable.

Unfortunately for many TA teams, the only systems in place are adopted from professional recruitment practices. But high-volume hiring comes with a unique set of challenges that requires a specialized approach.

Let’s Talk: Tech, People, Process

Jeanette Leeds, Managing Director of Hourly by AMS and high-volume hiring expert, combines brain power with RecruitingDaily’s William Tincup to teach us about strategies to accelerate volume hiring at scale by leveraging technology to effectively manage high-volume recruitment and attract top-quality talent.

In addition, they tackle best practices for conveying a compelling employer brand that resonates with potential candidates and expedites the hiring process.

Key Takeaways:

• Strategies for streamlining and accelerating high-volume hiring processes while maintaining a personalized candidate experience.
• Best practices for leveraging technology to effectively manage high-volume recruitment and attract top-quality talent.
• Insights into conveying a compelling employer brand that resonates with potential candidates and expedites the hiring process.

Time to Power Up

Technology has transformed the talent industry at all levels, from mobile recruitment tools to AI in sourcing, interview, and assessment processes. But to increase speed-of-hire and reduce costs, high-volume recruitment needs the right tech, a people-first approach, and effective processes.

The post Amplifying High-Volume Hiring: Unleash the Power of Technology, People & Process appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

As recruiters, being more vigilant when conducting background checks on potential hires is imperative. Background checks can be challenging but critical in the hiring process. If done correctly, they can benefit the company due to the following reasons:

Benefits of Conducting Background Checks

●       It strengthens security and safety

Employees with a history of severe criminal offenses significantly threaten a company’s safety, security, and integrity. Running thorough background checks can prevent bad hires from creating a hostile workplace and protect your business, employees, and clients.

●       It lowers the employee turnover rates

Hiring employees who aren’t suitable for the job can lead to wasted resources anSad energy. By running background checks, you can eliminate unsuitable candidates and concentrate on hiring the ideal candidate for the job, resulting in lower turnover rates.

●       It improves the quality of hired employees

Studies show that they exaggerate the credentials on their resumes, with some even lying or omitting information altogether. By conducting background checks, you can filter out candidates who provide fraudulent information and focus on those who present themselves with integrity. It leads to better hires, boosting your company’s operations and overall performance.

Importance of Conducting Background Checks

A background check is like a deep dive into an applicant’s history. It covers their criminal, employment, financial, and commercial records and can help you make smarter hiring choices.

Before making a job offer, background checks can identify red flags early on and avoid potential issues, such as increased turnover rates or legal disputes. Delaying background checks until after hiring is risky and can lead to hiring unsuitable candidates. Some organizations outsource background checks to professional screening companies specializing in this area.

How to Conduct Background Checks

Running background checks is crucial in hiring the best candidates for your company. However, applying best practices to prevent possible lawsuits and complaints is equally important. Here are some tips to help you:

1.      Partner With a Reputable Background Screening Company

When performing background checks on potential hires, following legal procedures and guidelines is essential to avoid lawsuits and complaints.

It’s vital to choose a screening company that you can trust to do a thorough and reliable job. Look for a company accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA),  as this will give you peace of mind that they adhere to high standards of excellence. These organizations went through a rigorous yearlong auditing process to ensure they’re adept in the following areas:

• Legal and Compliance
• Information security
• Verification services
• Researcher and data standards
• Business practices
• Verification services

2.      Validate Social Security Information and Address History

A legitimate social security number must match the name, address history, and birthdate on record. By conducting this inquiry, you can reveal any other aliases or unknown locations where an applicant may have resided. This process can help you discover criminal records under the applicant’s other names or addresses.

Investigating an applicant’s past residences can expose jurisdictions where you must dig deeper. It’ll allow you to discover undisclosed former jobs, violations, or civil cases that may affect their suitability. While this information may not necessarily mean the person is unhirable, verifying social security information can help you make an informed hiring decision and ensure peace of mind.

3.       Check for Criminal History

Recruiters are responsible for ensuring the safety of their employees and customers, and part of that responsibility involves checking an applicant’s criminal record. Negligent hiring can result in serious legal consequences for companies. By failing to investigate criminal records, the organization can be held liable for any harm an employee causes to their coworkers or company property.

Aside from the legal implications, running a criminal background check can also help ensure your employees’ safety. It can reveal an applicant’s violent tendencies or unsuitability for the work environment and job description.

However, it’s important to understand the current practices and guidelines created by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) before undertaking a criminal background check. Violating these guidelines can result in legal issues, such as asking for criminal history on an application form.

Hiring a reputable background check organization is best to ensure compliance with EEOC guidelines and avoid lawsuits. It can spare you the hassle and possible legal consequences of doing a criminal background check on your own.

4.      Conduct a Sex Offender and Us Terror Watch List Screening

During the background check process, recruiters should note that searching the US terror watch list for security, technology, or public sector roles is crucial. This list identifies individuals who are members of terrorist organizations, drug traffickers, and those under international watchlists.

In addition, it’s essential to include a sex offender registry investigation, particularly for positions of trust such as teachers, medical personnel, and childcare staff. This thorough check ensures that you’re hiring individuals with clean records and reduces the risk of potential legal and reputational liabilities for your organization.

5.      Ensure FCRA Compliance

Recruiters should know that a comprehensive background check must include checking applicants’ credit information. It can help mitigate the risk of fraud or theft in the workplace. However, it’s necessary to follow the FCRA guidelines to avoid any legal issues.

Moreover, knowing the state and regional laws concerning credit history checking is important. Colorado and California are some states that prohibit companies from using credit information in their hiring process. As a hiring manager, familiarize yourself with the laws in your area to avoid any violations.

Consider the Background Check Essentials

As a recruiter, it’s crucial to prioritize the safety and integrity of your company and employees. Conducting background checks on applicants can help you verify their qualifications and avoid potential risks, especially in the era of remote work.

To streamline the process, limit the background check to only what is necessary for the job. For example, checking an applicant’s credit history may not be needed for certain roles.

Compliance with national, state, and county laws is vital in completing background checks to avoid lawsuits. Consider working with an accredited background check provider for informed hiring decisions that align with your company’s values and needs.

The post Hiring Process: Tips for Recruiters on Conducting Background Checks appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Talent acquisition software company Radancy acquired Ascendify, a cloud-based talent engagement software platform. According to the company, the acquisition enhances Radancy’s suite of solutions focused on helping enterprises find the talent they need to strengthen their business.

Comeet, a recruiting software provider, launches a new AI assistant that aims to enable better hiring decisions, improve candidate experience and promote diversity and inclusion. According to the company, the solution leverages OpenAI’s GPT to create job descriptions, pre-screening questions and email templates. In addition, the company said the assistant will soon be able to make interview questions and scorecards.

Oyster announced Oyster Total Rewards, a new suite of solutions meant to help companies design a compensation strategy and offer salary, equity, and benefits for teams. The company said the solutions are competitive, compliant, aligned with budget and—most importantly—aligned with employee expectations.

HireRight acquired a background screening provider based in Argentina. The company said this will Inquiro Vitae allow for more targeted local support for its customers hiring across Latin America.

Launched as the U.S stands on the precipice of recession, the Conference Board Job Loss Risk Index measures the likelihood of layoffs in individual industries, based on factors such as demographics, labor shortages and sensitivity to monetary policy. The Index measures the likelihood of layoffs in individual industries based on several key factors including demographics, labor shortages, and sensitivity to monetary policy.

Likewise, a pullback in e-commerce and discretionary spending on goods is likely to cause job losses in transportation and warehousing, while construction is at risk due to weakness in the housing market amid rising interest rates.

The post HCM Talent Technology Roundup April 14, 2023 appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

The platform promises reduced “candidate churn” using conversation AI and automated interview settings. In addition, the company’s financial model only requires users to pay when a candidate is hired.

“Hiring teams spend the most time creating jobs, screening resumes, scheduling interviews… At Fyndo, we realized that most of these tasks [could] be automated using the technology,” said Fyndo Chief Product Officer Kaushik Vinay.

AI-Driven

Fyndo describes its solution as an AI-driven recruitment platform that automates the hiring process for the hiring teams at SMBs. The platform sources, screens and schedules interviews with the best-matching candidates, the company said, relying only on minor human intervention. In addition, the automated process completes hiring more quickly and eliminates unintentional human bias during the screening process, Fyndo said.

Fyndo CEO Amit Chauhan estimates recruiters can get back one hour each day during the recruitment process by using his platform. “Hiring teams spend too much time doing tasks that could be automated and improved by today’s technology,” he said.

Fyndo distributes job postings to “major” job sites with one click, allowing employers to quickly reach both active and passive candidates. Its proprietary AI technology screens job description data points and matches them against a candidate’s information, Fyndo said. It then showcases the best candidates and notably reduces the time spent reviewing applications. The AI also detects fraud and spam applications and removes them from the application pool.

Fyndo said it uses AI to automate job creation, distribution, candidate screening and communication. The use of AI, Fyndo said, allows employers to speed up their hiring process, reach more candidates and keep interested candidates engaged.

The post Hiring Automation Platform Fyndo Launches for SMBs appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Interviewing is still a primarily analog process, which makes hiring more subjective than it could or should be. In fact, HR teams report that 85% to 97% of hiring is based on gut instinct. That’s right, one of the most important and impactful processes in HR is still based primarily on instinct rather than data.

It’s no wonder that turnover rates are high and 60% of candidates report a poor interview experience. Turnover can be due to many factors but is often related to expectation setting and proper transparency during the interview itself. In a tight labor market like we’re facing today, startups and HR teams face massive challenges in filling open positions and can no longer afford to be hindered by ineffective analog interview processes. Gut instinct must be fact-checked with data.

Fact-checking Gut Instinct With Data

Gut instinct may always remain a reality of hiring, but what if we could augment instinct with objective data? Conversational analytics solutions now provide a way to automatically gather, synthesize, and present summarized, objective candidate data that helps recruiters and hiring managers compare their instinct with objective findings from the interview. Also referred to as conversational intelligence or conversational AI, these solutions extract data and insights from human-to-machine or human-to-human conversations.

A common use case for conversational analytics in human-to-machine interactions is leveraging chatbots to field customer service issues. The chatbot collects data to determine what the problem is and whether the customer is satisfied with the answers provided. In the area of human-to-human interaction, we’ve seen conversational analytics applied to the sales domain. Solutions such as Gong and Chorus listen to calls to extract “sales intelligence” to analyze the quality of opportunities.

Finally, we’ve arrived at the era of conversational analytics applied to HR, where solutions like HireLogic listen to job interviews and extract “interview intelligence” for a comprehensive understanding of candidates and what was covered during the interview.

How Conversational Analytics Radically Changes Interviewing

Conversational analytics provides interview intelligence automatically after an interview is completed. Some solutions in the market claim to provide interview intelligence, but instead, provide “interview metrics” like talk time and talk ratio, and allow users to manually highlight snippets of the transcript for review.

True interview intelligence goes beyond metrics to provide time-saving insights that help with hiring decisions. It detects the skills, job functions, industries, and titles discussed, reports how much of the conversation covered those topics, and flags portions of the transcript to surface candidate characteristics such as leadership qualities, aspirations, likes, and dislikes. This succinct analysis helps hiring managers understand how thorough an interview was, whether the interviewer’s recommendation is reliable, and what type of follow-up questions might be required.

To reduce bias and ensure compliance, interview intelligence flags potentially inappropriate questions around age, gender, marital status, or other personal traits so that employees can be coached on how to be better interviewers. For example, asking a candidate how old their children are may seem innocuous but could lead to age-related discrimination. Oftentimes, people don’t even realize they’re doing it, so it’s helpful to have AI attempt to detect and identify opportunities to improve interview compliance.

Having been a founder, a board member, and a C-Suite leader at several companies, I know how important interviewing is to find the right team member. Even the most seasoned manager can find it challenging to simultaneously think of the right questions to ask, listen carefully to the response, and take good notes that can be used for objective hiring decisions, all while trying to build rapport and engage with the candidate. When you compound this challenge across multiple team members, candidates, and positions, it quickly becomes apparent that having objective data to make informed hiring decisions helps tremendously to fact-check instincts and unconscious bias. Having used conversational intelligence to help gather this data automatically during calls, I never want to do another interview again without it.

Imagine the Data From 30 Million+ Interviews per Month

At the start of 2023, there were approximately 11 million job openings in the U.S. If you assume conservatively that there are three interviews conducted per opening, that’s over 30 million interviews a month, or roughly 1 million interviews happening every day in the U.S. alone. This is a significant amount of time and resources that organizations are spending to conduct interviews for hiring, and it’s still a mostly subjective process prone to unconscious bias.

If all that data could be instantly gathered and applied to augment the interview and hiring process, organizations may save countless hours, reduce unconscious bias, and experience less turnover. But most exciting above all is the prospect of helping both hiring managers and job seekers finally find the right fit for a productive and beneficial relationship.

The post The Last Analog Process: Job Interviews appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Understanding the Role of Medical Billers

Before diving into the best practices for hiring billing professionals, it is essential to understand what the role entails. Medical billers are responsible for processing claims and ensuring that healthcare providers receive payment for their services. This requires a thorough understanding of medical terminology, billing codes, and insurance regulations. A skilled medical biller must be detail-oriented, highly organized, and possess excellent communication skills to work with patients, healthcare providers, and insurance companies.

Best Practices for Hiring Billing Professionals

When it comes to hiring billing professionals, there are several best practices to consider. Here are some tips to help you find and hire the right talent for your organization:

1. Define the Role

Before starting the recruitment process, it is essential to define the role of the medical biller. This includes the job responsibilities, required skills, and experience level. This will help attract the right candidates and streamline the recruitment process.

2. Look for Relevant Experience

Medical billing requires specialized knowledge and experience. Look for candidates with a background in billing, coding, or healthcare administration. Candidates with experience working in a medical office or healthcare setting will be familiar with medical terminology, billing codes, and insurance regulations.

3. Evaluate Technical Skills

In addition to relevant experience, it is essential to evaluate technical skills. Medical billing software and technology are constantly evolving, so it is crucial to hire someone who is familiar with the latest tools and techniques. Look for candidates with experience using electronic health record (EHR) systems, medical billing software, and other related technology.

4. Assess Soft Skills

Assessing soft skills is crucial when hiring medical billing professionals. In addition to technical skills, medical billers must have excellent communication, problem-solving, and customer service skills to interact effectively with patients, healthcare providers, and insurance companies. One way to evaluate a candidate’s soft skills is by conducting behavioral interviews that focus on past experiences and actions in challenging situations. You can also administer personality assessments or work simulations to gauge their abilities to work collaboratively, handle stress, and manage their time effectively. By assessing soft skills, you can ensure that you’re hiring candidates who are not only proficient in medical billing but also possess the interpersonal skills needed to excel in the role.

Conduct Behavioral Interviews

To assess a candidate’s soft skills, consider conducting behavioral interviews. These types of interviews focus on the candidate’s past behavior in certain situations. For example, you might ask the candidate to describe a time when they had to handle a difficult patient or insurance company. This can help you evaluate how they would handle similar situations in the future.

Utilize Referrals and Networking

Don’t underestimate the power of referrals and networking when it comes to hiring medical billers. Reach out to your professional network or industry associations for recommendations. Additionally, consider offering a referral bonus to current employees for successful hires.

Provide Competitive Compensation and Benefits

Medical billing professionals are in high demand, and they know it. To attract and retain top talent, you must offer competitive compensation and benefits. Conduct market research to determine the appropriate salary range for the role and consider offering benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.

Offer Training and Development Opportunities

Medical billing is a complex and ever-changing field. To keep your employees up-to-date with the latest technologies and regulations, offer training and development opportunities. This can include online courses, industry certifications, or attendance at conferences and seminars.

Conclusion

Hiring skilled medical billing professionals can be challenging, but by following these best practices, you can streamline the recruitment process and find the right talent for your organization. Remember to define the role, look for relevant experience, evaluate technical and soft skills, conduct behavioral interviews, utilize referrals and networking, provide competitive compensation and benefits, and offer training and development opportunities. Additionally, outsourcing medical billing services can be a smart move for organizations looking to optimize their billing operations and achieve greater efficiency. By partnering with specialized professionals who have expertise in medical billing processes, regulations, and requirements, organizations can benefit from faster reimbursement, reduced billing errors, and improved accuracy. By incorporating outsourcing as part of your talent acquisition strategy, you can build a strong team of medical billing professionals and position your organization for success in the competitive healthcare industry.

The post The Intersection of Talent Acquisition and Medical Billing appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Failing to implement appropriate workplace safety measures and security procedures can lead to injuries among employees. This can also result in decreased morale, a negative atmosphere, and challenges in attracting and retaining new staff members.

It is essential to foster a sense of safety and inclusion during the recruitment and hiring process to entice potential employees to join your organization. Neglecting their safety is far from welcoming and could signal that their welfare is not a priority for you.

Here are some potential consequences to consider in relation to workplace safety.

Impacts On Hiring, Recruitment, and Staff Retention Regarding Safety

Safety is important for your current workers, but also for prospect employees. When new applicants see that you care about their safety they are more likely to be interested in working for your company.

Proper Safety Practices Will Encourage People To Apply

Implementing safety practices encourages people to apply to companies, as it reflects the organization’s commitment to employee well-being and a secure work environment.

By emphasizing safety, a company showcases its dedication to safeguarding its workforce from potential hazards.

Employing safety guidelines and procedures helps maintain smooth business operations. Straightforward measures, such as providing machine manuals, offering clear instructions, using floor markers, reminding employees about safety gear, and keeping protocols up-to-date, contribute to a safer and more efficient workplace.

Potential applicants are more likely to be drawn to a company that demonstrates concern for their safety. In the absence of such measures, candidates may be deterred from applying, fearing the risk of harm to themselves within the work setting.

Fewer Injuries Show the Trustworthiness of the Business

Regular occurrences of injuries are undoubtedly detrimental to any business. Regrettably, accidents can still occur despite addressing all safety concerns, as they are sometimes unavoidable. In 2021, US workplaces experienced 2,607,900 non-fatal injuries and 5,190 fatalities.

However, these accidents imply that some businesses lack safety protocols and don’t provide proper training for employees.

In addition to dealing with unhappy and injured employees, potential safety breaches may prompt the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to inspect your workplace. If violations are discovered, the company may face fines of $15,625 per infraction and suffer damage to its reputation.

The objective should be to achieve zero injuries. A decrease in incidents demonstrates to potential employees that the workplace is secure, fostering trust in the organization. Moreover, when injury rates are minimal or ideally nonexistent, employees will feel confident in the company’s ability to ensure their safety throughout the workday.

Safety Measures Lead To Higher Morale and Engagement

Implementing safety precautions contributes to maintaining a positive atmosphere for both management and employees. A sense of security fosters a more relaxed and content environment, reducing stress related to potential uncertainties.

Alongside improved morale, heightened employee engagement and productivity are likely to result from reduced concerns about potential injuries. Employees can concentrate on their tasks and perform confidently, knowing they are following proper procedures. Prospective applicants will be attracted to a dynamic and efficient work environment.

When employees feel safe and happy in the workplace, you can expect the business to do well. Job satisfaction is vital in every sized business, otherwise, you’ll have people quitting left and right, leaving the company scrambling to find new employees.

Prioritizing Safety Can Create an Inviting Work Environment

Approximately 68% of employees worldwide feel insecure in their work settings. Implementing safety guidelines and protocols, however, can help enhance this statistic. By taking these steps, companies demonstrate that they view employees as more than just workers and genuinely care about their well-being.

When employees feel unsafe, the work atmosphere can become tense and confrontational. This often results in a lack of trust between management and employees, potentially leading to the following consequences:

• Pent-up anger and passive aggressiveness
• Stress and anxiety
• Fighting
• General unhappiness

When adequate safety measures are in place, the workplace atmosphere generally becomes more amicable. Employees perceive that their supervisors value their well-being, fostering a harmonious environment. As hostility dissipates, opportunities arise for cultivating deeper and more supportive work relationships.

A positive and content atmosphere is far more appealing to prospective applicants than one rife with tension and dissatisfied employees. Observing people who genuinely enjoy their work experience is likely to pique their interest.

Providing Safety Training and Technology Will Encourage People To Apply and Keep Current Employees

If your organization lacks adequate safety protocols and employees appear discontent, you can reverse this situation by introducing safety training and technology.

Safety training may seem bothersome to some, but it ensures everyone has a consistent understanding and awareness of safety practices. This is vital for minimizing the risk of injury to oneself and others while carrying out job tasks.

With proper safety training, employees and prospective hires will feel equipped for their roles. Experiencing a sense of insecurity and unpreparedness can negatively impact job performance and overall business success.

Safety technology, such as alarms, machine sensors, and other devices, also contributes to a secure environment. These tools serve as additional safeguards should any aspect of a safety protocol be overlooked.

Implementing these measures will enhance the sense of security among current employees, encouraging retention, and make new applicants feel more confident during the hiring process and subsequent employment.

Concluding Thoughts

In conclusion, the importance of workplace safety and security procedures cannot be overstated.

Establishing and maintaining a safe environment is crucial for business success, employee well-being, and overall job satisfaction. Implementing appropriate safety measures, providing training, and leveraging technology can help to foster a positive atmosphere that attracts and retains top talent.

By prioritizing safety, organizations can create an inviting work environment where employees feel secure, valued, and empowered to contribute their best efforts.

Investing in workplace safety not only prevents injuries and costly legal consequences but also paves the way for a more productive, efficient, and harmonious work environment that ultimately leads to greater success for the entire organization.

The post How Workplace Safety Impacts Hiring and Recruitment appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

If Hiring at Scale, Advertise on Job Search Sites

The answer largely depends on the scale of the hiring and the skill set the employer wants the interns to have. You can quickly and inexpensively hire one intern with widely shared skills by advertising your job through the schools closest to where the job is located. The larger the number of hires, the more unusual the skill set and the greater the number of candidates you’ll need to enter the hiring funnel.

This typically means investing hundreds of hours of staffing time over 12-15 months to identify target schools, plan with them to interview on-campus, and then travel to and conduct the interviews. Or, you can do all of that within a few weeks and at about 10 percent of the cost by reaching students as you would almost any other candidate: through relevant, niche, and general job search sites.

Steven Rothberg
Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, College Recruiter

Host a Booth at a Career Fair

Host a booth at a career fair to recruit student interns. Many universities offer a career fair once or twice a year to introduce students to the working world and help them land an internship or a job. When hosting, you can establish a working relationship with students and tell them about your brand, mission and values, and make them aware of any open internships you have for the upcoming season. It increases brand awareness while recruiting students.

Ann McFerran
CEO, Glamnetic

Maintain Alumni Connections

Assuming you liked your alma mater, there is no better place to recruit. Fellow soon-to-be alumni most likely have a lot in common with your thought process and rigor.

Although this could create a monoculture, I have often found it’s a smart place to start because you have to jump over fewer barriers to develop credibility. The ecosystem of the university aligns alumni with business success, so it’s useful to align business goals with secondary benefits like media attention or class credit for the interns.

Trevor Ewen
COO, QBench

Employ a Multifaceted Approach

With our institutes and NGOs, we employ a multifaceted approach that addresses the unique needs and motivations of the student population. This approach should leverage a mix of traditional and modern recruitment methods, including social media campaigns, campus events and targeted outreach to career centers and academic departments.

Businesses must prioritize their internship programs by offering meaningful work experiences, professional development opportunities and mentorship programs that align with students’ career aspirations. By doing so, businesses can attract and retain top talent while bolstering their brand and reputation in the marketplace.

James Scott
Founder, Embassy Row Project

Make It Worth Their While

If you want to recruit high-quality interns, see them as an integral part of your organization. There is always this misconception in the corporate world that companies do interns a favor by giving them a chance to earn important work experience. While this is true, let’s also not forget that interns represent a unique type of raw talent that you can use for the organization’s best interests.

So, instead of just offering internship programs for the sake of it, make your program worth it. Create a budget for it and make sure your interns get some stipend to cover their expenses. Make sure you also offer credible career growth opportunities for these emerging professionals.

Do not pick someone just to assign them to coffee duty or somewhere in the mailroom. Let them get up close and personal with the core operations of the business, where they can learn and appreciate the work.

Logan Nguyen
Co-Founder, MIDSS

Develop an Appealing Internship Program

An attractive internship program will draw the attention of potential student interns. Take the time to create a well-structured program that outlines tasks, provides learning opportunities and offers flexible hours. You should also consider what perks you can provide that would entice students, such as a stipend or transportation help.

Matt Teifke
CEO, Teifke Real Estate

Use Your Greek Organization’s Local Chapters

I’ve had outstanding success in recruiting students by utilizing the local university chapters of the Greek organizations that I and my network are members of. The students and sorority/fraternity members must motivate themselves to provide a great impression and work output for their organizations’ alumni to maintain top grades.

They also have experience working in a group, working on multiple projects of various kinds and understanding that their work will be scrutinized from a variety of perspectives. They can make incredible interns.

Jeanne Eury
Owner, 8 Arms Group

Look for Those that Exhibit a Passion for the Field

You can most effectively recruit student interns if you look for individuals who are passionate about the field. When recruiting, look for individuals who have a genuine interest in the field—this will guarantee their dedication and eagerness to learn.

When I was in the recruiting field, I found that the best interns were those who had previous experience in similar fields, such as volunteering at a charity or doing research on a particular topic.

I also actively sought interns who showed initiative and had the desire to learn more about the industry. Interns who truly love their work will undoubtedly do better than those who take the job for other reasons.

Pete Evering
Business Development Manager, Utopia Management

Reach Out to University Career Centers

Many universities have dedicated career centers that connect students with internships and job opportunities. By reaching out to these career centers and establishing a relationship, you can tap into a pool of highly motivated and qualified candidates who are actively seeking internships.

The second step is to look beyond candidates’ resumes and grades when hiring student interns. Instead, search for applicants who exhibit originality, zeal and a will to meet challenges.

For instance, I’ve previously hired interns who had launched their businesses or assumed leadership positions in extracurricular activities. These encounters can show traits that are helpful in a startup environment, such as problem-solving, teamwork and resilience.

Percy Grunwald
Co-Founder, Compare Banks

The post How Do I Recruit Student Interns? appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

The company said, the system uses GPT technology to break down job descriptions into search criteria such as job title, required skills and preferred skills. From there, it analyzes over 800 million profiles in SeekOut’s talent database to find the best matches.

As such, the only task for recruiters is to paste a description into the software and wait for the list of qualified candidates to be generated, cutting down on the time and effort usually spent seeking out potential candidates manually.

Personalized Outreach at Scale

The best recruiters research candidates and craft highly personalized messages to increase their email response rates. SeekOut Assist generates a personalized message to the candidate based on their unique qualifications for the role.

In addition, SeekOut Assist analyzes the information in each candidate’s SeekOut profile, including skills and experiences. The technology uses the candidate profile and job description to write a personalized outreach message to the candidate, improving the chances of a response.

SeekOut believes its new approach to generative AI could have a serious impact on how recruiters get their jobs done in the future. To use Josh Bersin’s words, “Generative AI will be a total game changer in HR.”

“SeekOut Assist is a big step forward in solving real business problems with the power of Generative AI and will make our customers radically more productive and effective,” said SeekOut Co-Founder and CTO Aravind Bala. “We’re excited about the future of AI in the HR technology space, and look forward to working with our customers and partners to build new tools that make recruiters’ contributions to their organizations even more strategic.”

What This Could Mean

This could be a step in the right direction for the use of AI in hiring. Recruiters have been focused on the role of AI in the field since long before the introduction of ChatGPT because of the variety of uses and the possibility of timesaving. As we’ve said in the past, recruiters and hiring teams need to practice caution when it comes to new software like ChatGPT. But that doesn’t mean that these technologies are useless.

The post SeekOut Releases ChatGPT for Recruiters appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Paradox announced its conversational ATS focused on front line hiring. The system uses a conversational UI for engagement built around hourly hiring and deskless workers, who primarily use mobile devices to get their work done. With the solution, Paradox aims to reimagine the high-volume hiring process and deliver better experiences for both candidates and hiring managers.

HR platform Deel partnered with talent acquisition solution provider RAMP Global to help organizations grow teams at scale, across a range of areas and skills. According to the company RAMP Global supports HR, procurement and finance departments by streamlining the candidate supply chain, increasing access to talent and reducing hiring costs. With the collaboration, the companies hope to further their goal of helping fill vacant roles quickly at a time when talent is hard to attract and retain.

SourceWhale added enhancements to its platform, allowing customers to gain a deeper insight into their outreach performance metrics such as conversion rates, channel performance and sentiment. As such, the company hopes to help organizations improve decision-making and efficiency while engaging their target audience.

Background screening and identity services company Sterling acquired A-Check Global, a global workforce management, employment and procurement solutions company. According to the company, the deal will expand Sterling’s presence in key U.S. verticals, including Healthcare, Industrials and TechMedia.

The global recruitment process outsourcing market size is projected to reach $21.6 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 17.0%. According to Valuates Reports, the two primary factors driving market growth are the need for an effective recruiting process and the reduction of overhead costs.

The post HCM Talent Technology Roundup March 31, 2023 appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

Lack of Tech Savvy

One of the biggest issues that Generation Z recruiters face is a lack of connection with prospective candidates. Gen Zers are more tech-savvy, so they prefer digital communication over face-to-face interaction. That can make it difficult to create an authentic connection and build rapport with potential recruits.

If a recruiter doesn’t take the time to build a relationship with the candidate, they may be perceived as a “ghost recruiter”—someone who quickly contacts a candidate and then disappears.

To avoid this problem, recruiters should try to stay connected with prospective candidates over longer periods of time through multiple channels, such as email, social media, and text messaging.

Aviad Faruz
CEO, FARUZO

A Counter-offer From Their Current Employer

I’ve recently learned how many professionals, especially Gen Zers, look for job offers while already employed to negotiate their salary in their present workplace. Since they aren’t serious from the beginning and only need an offer in hand to prove their worth where they’re already working, they end up ghosting the recruiter involved.

With the looming recession forcing businesses to save costs, getting a raise isn’t as straightforward as it once was. Proving you have an offer ready if you’re denied a raise can sometimes help you get that much-needed salary jump without switching jobs.

While a few applicants are moral enough to excuse themselves, most don’t bother notifying the recruiter that they’ve accepted their company’s counteroffer and are, therefore, turning down the new opportunity.

Anjela Mangrum
President, Mangrum Career Solutions

Misrepresentation of the Position

If a candidate feels like they have been lied to or misled about the requirements, responsibilities or work environment of the role, that will cause a major loss of trust in the company. Lying about or misrepresenting a role is a good way to lose candidates from any generation.

The younger the candidate, the less patience they tend to have for this kind of behavior, and Gen Z in particular is likely to drop out of the application process without feeling the need to explain why. This is especially common with “remote-washed” positions, which seem to be fully remote from the job posting but in reality use a hybrid model, or are even mostly in-person.

That said, any change to the role’s responsibilities, compensation, benefits or work environment from what was originally described to the candidate is at risk of prompting them to ghost, especially if they feel the deception was intentional.

Archie Payne
CEO, CalTek Staffing

Taking Too Long to Respond 

As a recruiter in the tech niche, I am increasingly hiring Gen Z candidates. A key concern that comes up is how long it takes to hear from the recruiter/hiring manager/employer.

Gen Z grew up in an era of instant feedback, a phenomenon mostly driven by social media and they are not used to long waiting periods. Some have said that they deem it rude when they do not hear after as little as five days and will not hesitate to cut all communication and move on if this happens.

You might come back to them a few weeks later with a job offer, only to find that they will not respond to your messages or calls. Even if they haven’t accepted another job offer, they’ve definitely grown disinterested in yours.

Adding a disclaimer in the job posting on how long candidates might have to wait to hear from you can keep them engaged. And engaging them throughout the waiting period, for example, by sharing helpful content and updates, will keep top talent in your pipeline.

Joe Coletta
Founder and CEO, 180 Engineering

Unclear Job Descriptions

A lot of us have endured agonizing silence while waiting to hear from a potential employer, only to hear nothing at all. In actuality, though, it’s not only the recruiters who are ghosting the candidates—now it’s the candidates themselves. Some job seekers are quitting contact and responding to companies giving no notice. What is the cause, though?

The reason candidates are ghosting is that most of them reconsidered during the interview process or had done more research on your business after the fact. Although Gen Z isn’t afraid to turn down an offer if the job or benefits aren’t what they expect them to be, they usually know how to be polite. Gen Z already has the power to demand things like high pay or flexible work.

However, the candidates will ghost recruiters back if recruiters are unclear about the entire recruiting process and they feel ghosted. Always be upfront about the details of the offer and the expected hiring schedule.

Andre Oentoro
Founder and CEO, Breadnbeyond

Bias in the Recruitment Process

Gen Z candidates are among the most awakened and knowledgeable about workplace diversity, equality and inclusion. For recruiters interviewing candidates for a company with a flawed recruitment process, this becomes a sign of further problems down the line and in the organization in question.

Owing to their inclination to work for inclusive companies, Gen Z candidates will “ghost” recruiters from companies that they sense have bias, which may be clear in the language they use to advertise open roles in the company or in the requirements they mention.

Liam Liu
Co-Founder and CMO, Parcel Panel

Poor Communication

Gen Z is used to immediacy and fast-moving environments. Poor communication about the hiring timeline can lead Gen Z candidates to believe they’re no longer in the process if they haven’t heard from recruiters in just a couple of days.

When hiring managers and recruiters fail to keep candidates in the loop and cannot establish clear expectations for them regarding the steps and duration of the hiring process, candidates may choose to forget about the application and move on to other job opportunities.

Andrei Kurtuy
Co-Founder and CCO, Novoresume

Using a One-Size-Fits-All Approach

I was guilty of approaching hiring in a one-size-fits-all manner when I first started out as a CEO. But as I grew in experience, I came to see that this wasn’t the ideal strategy, particularly for Gen Z. People want to know that their unique skills and interests are considered and that they are more than just a resume. Gen Z prospects can see that you regard them as people and are interested in what they offer by personalizing the hiring process.

One strategy I’ve found to be effective is to provide each Gen Z prospect with a tailored message in an email or phone call. I spend a few minutes looking over their website or LinkedIn page, and I say anything I found intriguing about their educational background or professional experience. This shows my interest in them as a candidate and that I have taken an effort to get to know them.

Percy Grunwald
Co-Founder, Compare Banks

The post What Makes Gen Z Ghost Recruiters? appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

At this time, it’s important to balance hype with caution. While the temptation to embrace tools of this nature will be strong, using generative AI in recruitment is not something that can be recommended right now. There’s no doubt that the versions of generative AI tools we’re seeing today will improve. But as it stands today, these platforms often provide inaccurate information, the process by which they produce output is opaque (which can make a company vulnerable to legal and regulatory challenges), and they’re prone to making biased judgments.

However, this doesn’t mean HR teams should dismiss AI altogether. By using the technology with rigorous controls and oversight in place – in conjunction with other proven inputs – they will be able to develop more efficient and data-driven hiring processes.

Efficient, Sure… but Worth the Risk?

The efficiency capabilities of generative AI make it tempting to use in the hiring process. One way to think about generative AI is that it saves you the trouble of consulting the Internet and instead produces a neat summary of what the internet says, or is likely to say, for you. The information provided by Generative AI tools can sometimes be used directly, or as inspiration for your own content. However at this time, there are several issues that could arise when using these tools to create content for HR purposes.

Let’s start with a less risky use case and see how it stacks up. Generative AI can be used to generate content such as job advertisements. This use case poses less concern, mostly because the internet is awash in job ads and this means that there’s lots of content for the model to draw on. Writing jobs ads can be pretty tedious for humans, so it seems like a great use case for generative AI. Even in this case, though, it’s not without risk. If existing jobs ads use language that is biased according to age, race, or gender, then these biases will also be present in jobs ads produced by the tool. It could produce content that misrepresents your job or which is factually incorrect. And you could inadvertently breach another party’s copyright if the tool reproduces existing text exactly.

Another use case is using Generative AI to create a formal job description. This is riskier because a document such as a job description can have important legal consequences in the event that a selection decision is disputed – the job description, and what’s in it – is often relied upon as the source of truth for job duties and required knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics.

Using a Generative AI tool to help develop a job description means that the content of that description is based in part on information about the job (i.e., the prompt that was supplied to the tool) as well as information that effectively boils down to “words that tended to co-occur with the prompt text on the internet”. Using Generative AI in the process of creating documents like this could seriously undermine the utility and legal defensibility of those documents.

Similar issues apply when using Generative AI to develop interview questions. Interview questions need to be relevant to the job to be legally defensible. There is always the risk that interview questions generated through Generative AI will be related to typical descriptions of the job that were part of the training dataset but that do not match the actual specific job being recruited for.

A Lack of Guard Rails

Experience with Generative AI to date suggests that there are few guard rails that prevent the language model from producing content that is nonsensical or incorrect. If the training data does not provide sufficient information for a meaningful response, the Generative AI tool will rely on the probabilistic nature of the language model to produce a response that is “likely” given its data. This may especially be a risk when generating interview questions for jobs that are highly specific and unusual.

A language model is purely based on the likelihood of text appearing in the context of other text. While the nature of AI chatbots can lead users to believe that the tool understands issues of intent and applicability or is guided by some kind of knowledge-based process, the systems have no understanding of what the user is trying to achieve, or how the produced content may be used. This can result in content, in interview questions for example, that may be illegal or discriminatory in some jurisdictions.

Consistency (And Lack of Bias) Not Guaranteed

There is a much higher level of risk when Generative AI is used to process or draw conclusions from applicant data. For example, using a Generative AI tool to summarize a candidate’s resume, or using the tool to compare two candidate’s resumes. Doing this may violate a host of data privacy and data processing regulations, depending on your legal jurisdiction. Additionally, when used in their off-the-shelf on-line services, Generative AI tools do not guarantee that the same input data will result in the same response. A baseline requirement for using AI and automation to evaluate candidates is that identical input should produce identical output. The probabilistic nature of the language models used means that this will not occur without special modifications or settings being applied. Tools such as ChatGPT have not been validated for use in employee selection contexts – there’s no evidence that they produce judgements which aid in the selection of high performing employees. The results that they produce can reflect the same kinds of biases that are seen in online text that was used in their training data, including bias based on protected classes such as race, gender and age.

Given that the Generative AI tools are trained on the basis of internet text, perhaps a good analogy is whether it would be reasonable to post a summary of an applicant’s resume on Reddit and ask users to comment on how suited the applicant would be to the job. If that strikes you as inappropriate, then using a Generative AI language model to do the work is essentially the same.

Developing a Reliable and Holistic Hiring Process

Considering the growing interest in developing AI-powered hiring processes, HR professionals need to figure out how these processes can be implemented productively and with minimal risk. SHRM’s 2022 survey found that 85 percent of HR professionals who use automation and AI for hiring do so to save time and increase efficiency. But just 18 percent believe these technologies improve their “ability to identify more diverse candidates,” while 46 percent want resources that will help them “identify potential bias when utilizing automation or AI tools.”

These findings indicate that HR professionals are rightly circumspect about using AI for hiring, and should extend this caution to the question of Chat GPT. There are many ways employers can address concerns about inaccuracy and bias – for example, they can develop a hiring process that incorporates multiple inputs to generate a strong talent signal and filter out information that isn’t job-relevant. Trained hiring professionals can use AI to retrieve basic information about candidates, but they should also use objective assessments, structured interviews, and other resources to fairly evaluate potential hires.

There’s no doubt that generative AI is an extremely powerful tool that will only become more useful in the coming years. But we’re also learning more about the limitations of these models every day, as well as the difficult task of improving them. This is why HR professionals should use AI with care and remember that there are many other ways to make the hiring process as fair and predictive as possible.

The post How Hiring Managers Can Avoid Dangerous Misuses of Generative AI appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

HR teams should be looking into methods that have a better record of securing solid hires, such as structured interviews, which create a fairer and more systematic hiring process by measuring candidate responses to a consistent series of questions that are directly related to the roles in question. This filters out irrelevant information, minimizes the biases that can creep into interviews, and ultimately helps hiring managers determine which candidates will perform best on the job. It’s no surprise that a recent study in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that “structured interviews emerged as the top-ranked selection procedure.”

As the benefits of structured interviews become increasingly clear, many HR professionals are still hesitant to adopt them. This is largely due to a cloud of myths that surround structured interviews, which obscure the benefits they offer. These myths stem from several fundamental misconceptions about how structured interviews operate, as well as antiquated notions about what the hiring process should look like.

1. Structured Interviews Aren’t Worth the Effort

For decades, researchers have repeatedly demonstrated that structured interviews are highly effective at predicting candidate success and avoiding the errors that plague other hiring methods. A study in the journal Judgment and Decision Making examined why hiring managers insist on using unstructured interviews, and found that interviewers form confident conclusions about candidates even when their answers are randomly generated nonsense. The researchers also discuss the process of “dilution,” whereby valuable information is concealed amid all the irrelevant information that’s being provided. The authors’ conclusion about unstructured interviews is blunt: “Our simple recommendation for those making screening decisions is not to use them.”

Considering the well-documented benefits of structured interviews and the liabilities of their unstructured counterparts, HR teams have many compelling reasons for using the former and avoiding the latter.

2. HR Teams Lack the Expertise

According to Criteria’s 2022 Hiring Benchmark Report, two-thirds of hiring professionals believe structured interviews lead to better hiring decisions, but less than a quarter say they use “highly structured interviews, with standardized questions and defined rating scales.” One of the reasons HR teams have been slow to adopt fully structured interviews is their misplaced conviction that doing so is too difficult. It’s true that structured interviews require more effort than unstructured interviews – questions have to be crafted in a way that will illuminate role-specific knowledge and skills, adaptability, and any other characteristics the company wants to measure. Then questions and answers have to be properly weighted on the basis of their relevance and predictive value.

However, there are many digital resources and guides that will help HR teams build structured interviews. Once teams have a firm grasp on the concept of structured interviewing, they will be able to develop questions and approaches that suit their hiring needs.

3. Structured Interviews are Robotic and Impersonal

Perhaps the most common complaint about structured interviews is that they’re cold and inhuman, but this is a caricature. There are many ways for hiring managers to make the structured interview process welcoming and less intimidating. First, they can have a normal discussion about the company’s values and culture, as well as the role. Second, they can explain why structured interviews are valuable for the company and the candidate: they give job seekers an opportunity to showcase their abilities on an even playing field. And third, hiring managers can encourage candidates to answer questions naturally and honestly, just as they would in any other interview.

The argument that structured interviews are too mechanical doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Aside from all the ways hiring managers can make the process more organic and comfortable, structured interviews already have an extensive record of success.

4. Candidates Dislike Structured Interviews

The quality of the candidate experience has never been more important. Criteria’s 2022 Candidate Experience Report found that many complaints about the hiring process will cause job seekers to abandon it altogether: almost one-third said they would exit the process if it was taking too long, while 53 percent would do the same if they received poor communication from the company or recruiter. While some hiring managers believe structured interviews will drive candidates away, they’re mistaken. When Google started conducting structured interviews, its hiring team reported an “uptick in candidate satisfaction in feedback scores for structured interview candidates.” Other research has found that candidates regard structured interviews as a fair method of evaluation.

Over three-quarters of employees and job seekers say a diverse workforce is an important factor in deciding where to work. When companies use structured interviews, they will show candidates that they’re taking active steps to minimize bias and discrimination – a key element of a healthy candidate experience.

5. Hiring Managers Will Resist

Criteria’s 2022 Hiring Benchmark Report found that a significant obstacle to conducting structured interviews is “getting hiring managers to comply” (cited by 40 percent of respondents). This expectation is understandable, as hiring managers are often the first to contend that structured interviews are awkward and unnatural. Company leaders and other members of the HR team can address their colleagues’ hesitation by pointing out that structured interviews will help hiring managers make better decisions. Hiring managers should also be involved in the development of rubrics and questions, which will give them a stake in the process.

The top three hurdles to implementing structured interviews are: defining the rubric for evaluating responses (47 percent), creating the interview questions (44 percent), and finding time to develop the process (44 percent). There’s no question that structured interviews require more preparation and analysis than casual conversations, but that’s why they’re far more objective and predictive than those conversations could ever be.

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