I’ve been spending a lot of my time on the phone with job candidates lately. That might be surprising to you if you know that I’m not usually on the front line for recruiting. We’re hiring for several positions at the moment and our experience through “The Great Resignation” is not too different from what my peers in the IT industry around the nation have been going through.
While it’s generally more difficult to fix the car while you’re driving it, this has actually been an opportune time to look at our recruiting process and to mold it into something better, something that will help us get the great people that we need for today and in the future.
Put Yourself in the Candidate’s Shoes
As I contemplated how we were engaging with job candidates, I imagined what it was like on the candidate side. I wondered – How would I feel if I were in their shoes? How would I respond if I had to go through the same process that we were asking candidates to do?
What came from this reflection was simple – treat others as you would want to be treated yourself.
So that’s how I got started calling the people who have recently applied for a job at Accent. It was because I thought they would want to connect with a human and have a conversation that would start to uncover how they might fit in and lay down the first building blocks that are needed for a relationship.
That’s what I would want if I was the one making a big life decision like changing jobs.
Creating Win-Win Situations
We don’t have a full-time recruiter here and, even with me spending 75% of my time in recruiting, it’s hard to get to everyone with a phone call.
We’re getting lots of applicants, which is contrary to what some news stories would lead you to believe. There’s no lack of people.
We’re not just looking for warm bodies, however. We want this to be a win-win. So even though it’s consuming so much of my time, we’re creating a process that’s more human. This new process includes having conversations to uncover what job candidates are looking for and why, and I’m asking these people – Where do you want to go in your career? If I could find a way to get you there, would it be worth coming here? And the answer’s always yes.
The pandemic has created a very unique situation for employers right now. What might look like adversity may actually be an opportunity for rebuilding.
Here at Accent, we are working to fill the gaps in our wonderful team, and we are also building a better recruiting process with a “people first” approach.
We already knew this, but I guess we needed a reminder – When you put people first, everything works out.
