Candidate Pool Dried Up?

2 Simple Steps to Expand the Pool of Qualified Candidates

Even though the overall job market is softening - as evidenced by headline-grabbing layoffs - many jobs remain unfilled. For hiring managers who have challenges identifying, attracting, and hiring qualified candidates, here is a process that will help expand the candidate pool.

Consider this diagram of the candidate universe.

Traditional hiring methodology starts by identifying candidates who have the ‘ideal’ background as defined by the hiring manager. In the diagram, these candidates exist in the left column. The rest of the hiring process is built to attract these candidates, figure out which can be successful (top left quadrant of the diagram), and hire the best.

If this process works, great. If not, try this approach. Instead of defining the candidate pool as those in the left column, define it by candidates in the top row (the dark blue quadrants in the diagram). Success with this alternative approach can be accomplished by following these steps. ???

Step 1 – Recognize that there are people who can be successful in the open role even though they do not have the ‘ideal’ background.

Step 2 – Determine how to identify, qualify, attract, and hire these candidates.

In theory, these steps are easy to understand. In practice, though, they can be difficult to implement.

Step 1 is really a mindset shift. My experience in executive search is that most hiring managers believe there are people who can succeed even without the ideal background. However, that does not always translate into Step 2. In fact, most hiring managers are willing to leave a position open for a long time rather than consider candidates who do not have an ideal background. Why? In part, because hiring managers believe there is more risk of failure for candidates without an ideal background. ?

The bigger issue, though, is that Step 2 can be difficult and uncertain. Breaking this step into four components, here are some challenges as well as examples of expanding the candidate pool to include people who can succeed even without the ideal background.

Identifying – Typical descriptions of ideal candidates include a list of required experiences, certifications, and education. Comparing the list to resumes simplifies the process of excluding unqualified candidates. Our alternative process is all about including additional candidates. For example, some organizations have successfully promoted and trained customer service professionals for sales roles even though sales experience was lacking. Simplicity provides a framework for identifying transferable skills.

Qualifying – A traditional approach to qualifying candidates is to start with a candidate who does have the ideal background and then conduct behavioral and cultural interviews to determine if the person is truly qualified (in essence, eliminating those in the lower left quadrant). In the new approach, hiring managers may need to eliminate some requirements and/or redefine experiences that could fit to push into the top-right quadrant. For example, many tech roles that traditionally required a bachelor’s degree no longer do. Google, for one, provides online courses to help people learn the basics of certain tech roles, which also creates an opt-in candidate pool for the company.

Attracting – Traditional talent attraction is centered around hiring permanent, full-time, onsite employees using salary, bonus, and benefits. The pandemic turned that model upside down, and many organizations are still looking for the magical formula that will attract great talent. Remote, hybrid, flex, gig, consulting, outsourced, you-name-it work arrangements are common now. The key is finding an arrangement that attracts candidates and produces desired results. SHRM provides a toolkit for selecting and managing various options.

Hiring – Traditional hiring processes can feel as challenging as passing an act of Congress – they take a long time, and it's tough to reach a consensus. Taking the opposite approach, Greyston Bakery in NYC uses an Open Hiring staffing model for filling bakery roles. That means no resumes, no interviews, and no background checks. They have a waiting list of interested candidates. I understand this approach will not appeal to every organization, but Greyston makes it work. ???

Even though this alternative approach will be more difficult for organizations in the near term, the payoff can be tremendous. Unfilled roles result in lost productivity for organizations and burnout for employees. The long-term payoff may be even greater. This alternative approach helps hiring managers focus more on potential and less on historic experience. Automation and globalization are rapidly shifting and eliminating many traditional jobs. Organizations that have a process to identify talented people in addition to experienced candidates will be able to perpetually expand their talent pool and retain great workers. ?

For more ways to expand your candidate pool, contact me at [email protected]

Randy Samsel is CEO of Esearch Talent Solutions and believes that Better Livelihoods lead to Better Lives.

To view frequent career advice updates, follow his LinkedIn page -?https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/esearch-talent-solutions/

To learn about Esearch Talent Solutions Career Coaching, visit his website -?Career Coaching – eSearch (esearchjobs.com)