7 Terrible Mistakes You Must Avoid in Virtual Hiring

Virtual hiring has gone mainstream with the outburst of COVID19. Industries globally have started recruiting employees through virtual interviews. Nonetheless, Virtual hiring is?pretty different from physical hiring and has?certain shortcomings. HR managers need to adopt robust and tailored recruitment plans to avoid the pitfalls of virtual hiring. A top solution could be to outsource recruitment to reputable outsourcing firms. Read this article to learn about the do’s and don'ts of virtual hiring. ?

Common Pitfalls of Virtual Hiring?

In this technology-driven era when people have grown a lot tech-savvy, HR managers have to stay extra vigilant and a few steps ahead of the candidates. Virtual hiring can get flawed even under the best of circumstances. Although it yields various benefits if done discreetly, i.e., time-efficiency and cost-effectiveness, yet it can be challenging at the same time. So, to lead an effective virtual recruitment process, HR managers need to be au fait with all the possible mistakes and how to avoid them. Let's explore the common pitfalls you need to know to get the hang of virtual recruitment. ?

• No Vis-à-Vis Interaction with Candidates?

The first and most terrible mistake that recruiters might make is to avoid a face-to-face meeting with candidates. We all know that virtual recruitment is?primarily carried out due to geographical limitations or other serious issues, but that doesn't mean candidates should be hired without meeting them. To meet such challenges, there are hundreds of famous virtual meeting apps available in the market, i.e., Zoom, Skype, MS Teams, Google Meet, Facetime, and many?more. ?

These tools can help you meet the candidates in a virtual environment and thoroughly gauge their personality through verbal and non-verbal communication, i.e., body language, facial expressions, hand gestures, and much more, which cannot be assessed without meeting the candidates. It's a great way to evaluate if the candidate has any cultural differences, punctuality issues, language barriers, or any other physical disability.?

During video calls, HR managers can also determine whether the details provided by the candidate in the resume were correct? Is he really competent, or was he just making it all up? Communication with the candidate in real-time can help gauge their ability to carry the responsibilities of their role and whether they match organizational values and goals. Hiring a candidate only based on their CV and shared experiences is one of the terrible mistakes recruiters may make. Even voice calls are not enough for recruitment. It has to be a vis-à-vis interaction. ?

• Absence of A Robust Plan?

Besides holding a video call with the candidate, HR managers must be adept at the art of gauging people from the other side of the screen. Virtual interviews and in-person interviews are very different. It's too challenging to assess someone's personality, competency, and intellect through a video call. Interviewers have to be extra vigilant and prepared about what they will ask and how they will gauge certain aspects of candidates' personalities and intellect through their answers. For that matter, a complete list of field-relevant questions along with a rubric should be designed prior to the interview session. ?

A checklist rubric would do great to record the answers, their underlying meaning, connected personality traits while keeping all sessions time-efficient. Most recruiters make the mistake of directly interviewing the candidates without proper planning of interview questions. It may lead to hiring a wrong candidate who might only have good communication skills that impressed the interviewers but weak competency for the post. Several psychological tests can be taken into account for designing interview questionnaires and responses' rubric. After all, interviews are a genuine source of meeting a candidate and deciding if he fits the role. Therefore, it must be handled wisely.?

• Technological Pitfalls?

Virtual hiring entirely relies on technology. Therefore, measures must be taken beforehand to avoid any unexpected technological shortcomings during the hiring process. Firstly, interviews should be scheduled keeping in mind the convenience of recruiters and candidates since there can be electricity breakdowns, equipment shortages, internet fluctuations, personal commitments, or similar issues. This can solve many problems already. Secondly, recruiters and candidates both need to have good IT know-how. Instead of waiting for tech experts to come and fix it, they should have appropriate skills for solving any technical issue they may run into then and there. HR managers can also keep a team of IT experts at hand to resolve the technical problems on the spot and keep the flow smooth. Best of all, keeping backup plans for technological issues is crucial for smooth recruitments.

• Communicate Company's Expectations Clearly?

As soon as a job opportunity is advertised, thousands of candidates apply. However, the pool of applicants may contain a lot of beginners and unsuitable candidates. Filtering the qualified ones out of that massive collection can be highly time-consuming. Well, this complex problem has a simple solution. The HR managers must clearly mention all of the job descriptions in the advertisement. This will let the applicants know about the company's expectations at the time of applying. This is a great way to limit unwanted applications and filter qualified candidates who fit the advertised position. HR managers can also create a pre-interview questionnaire to pre-vet the applicants and sift the wheat from the chaff. Filtered applications phenomenally reduce the time of the screening process. ?

• Weak Promotion Strategy ?

A good recruitment process relies on how effectively you promote your advertisements. If your job ads do not reach a big audience, you may lose the chance to attract talented candidates. Promoting advertisements isn't just about using social media or sending out an email. It requires robust management and therefore, businesses are largely investing in?hiring the top talent. It's crucial to design appealing advertisements with a significant focus on their distribution, whether via social media or paper media. This all doesn't take place in a day, rather develops over time, which means HR managers need to gradually expand the talent community. Holding virtual recruitment events, promoting brand awareness, running customized marketing campaigns can help build a community and persuade talent worldwide to join the organization. ?

• Employing Inappropriate Tools ?

Tools play a vital role in making virtual hiring successful. It may involve tools for making video calls, applications management, pre-vet questionnaire, advertisements, tracking social media mentions of candidates, assessing applicants' records, and getting actionable insights to help you measure the performance metrics and balance ROI. As there are many tools available in the market, all claiming to be perfect, it is hard to pick one that would serve the purpose best. HR managers must be au fait with all the emerging tools and challenges of virtual Recruitments to employ the best tool and avoid any pitfalls. Our articles regarding the best Recruitment tools can help you choose the top tools for leading an impeccable hiring process. ?

• Not Performing Background Research on Candidate ?

A dire mistake that HR managers mostly make in speeding up the recruitment process is not doing rigorous research on candidates' backgrounds. Later on, this leads to complications while the candidate is already on board, and a U-turn is almost impossible. To avoid such troubles, HR managers must lay down the entire record of candidates to scrutiny and perform in-depth research on their professional and personal backgrounds. Nowadays, a variety of software is available in the market that helps you gather social media and other online records of a person, even their social media mentions. For instance, social listening and monitoring tools help you monitor and analyze online conversations about anyone. This allows the HR managers to gauge a candidate's reliability, personality, professionalism, and much more. ?

How is Outsourcing an Optimal Solution??

In light of all the virtual hiring pitfalls mentioned above, it's evident that virtual recruitments are no piece of cake. To meet global demands, organizations need to hire seasoned recruiters who are au fait with the existing and emerging tools and trends of virtual hiring. However, hiring an entire recruitment department can be costly and time-consuming. An optimal solution could be to outsource recruitments to Outsourcing4work. O4w is a globally recognized outsourcing firm that has achieved milestones one after another. We provide our clients with expert recruiters who work closely with the company, and design customized recruitment plans while accommodating their budget. Our recruitment plans are robust, perfectly aligned to clients' goals and values, time-efficient, cost-effective and impeccable. Guess what? You can visit our career page and apply now for the latest job opportunities that align with your expertise. Start a bright career with O4w! You can also grab a free initial consultation with our experts to get an overview of our unparalleled services.

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