Here are 5 Common Hiring Challenges and Practical Solutions

With the rising demand for talented candidates, recruiters encounter more issues than ever.

So, we asked some recruiters on Reddit about the most significant challenges they faced during their journey.

We came across numerous challenges, but here are the most common ones.

Read on to know them, along with their practical solutions!

Challenge 1: “I am Unable to Find Quality Candidates.”

It was surprising to know that the primary concern of most recruiters was that they could not find a qualified candidate for the job.

This is undoubtedly a concern, as finding the right candidate for the right job is your top priority.

Here’s what you can do the next time you have trouble sourcing candidates–

●     Prioritize Passive Candidates Along with Active

87% of active and passive candidates are always open to new job opportunities.

The numbers clearly state that even if your ideal candidate is satisfied in their current position, they are probably still interested in other options.

So, reaching out to passive and active prospects is crucial if you want to improve the quality of the hires.

●     Use a Multichannel Recruitment Approach

You may find the best and brightest applicants using a multichannel recruitment strategy.

Your channels can include the following:

  1. Internal and external employee referrals
  2. Job postings on your website
  3. Social media and Job Boards
  4. Cooperation with agency recruitment firms

Challenge 2: “It’s Difficult to Build a Strong Employer Brand!”

9 out of 10 candidates apply for a job when the employer brand is actively maintained.

In this fiercely competitive job market, we all know that a strong employer brand is what sells, but how do you get started on this?

●     Make Your Company Unique

Finding and attracting qualified individuals may seem challenging when your company is still expanding.

How do you spread the word, then?

Share the company’s history online to get things going. This will encourage candidates to discuss, research, and ultimately apply.

●     Make Employees Your Brand Ambassadors

Employees play a huge impact in creating a strong employer brand. (Without a doubt!)

Encourage your staff to submit testimonials, share pictures from corporate events, or write blog articles highlighting why they enjoy working for your business.

Also, compensate them when they bring in referrals.

Challenge 3: “How do I Reduce My Hiring Costs?”

A major concern for most recruiters is managing and reducing their hiring costs.

We get it; with the increasing use of more and more resources, you want to keep your recruiting cost at a minimum.

Here’s how you can do that:

●     Invest in Recruitment Technology

Investing in the right applicant tracking system helps you to reduce manual tasks, thereby minimizing the cost of time and money.

It will automatically keep track of all your candidates in one place, help in resume screening, data-driven decision-making, and ultimately improve your hiring costs.

Many free applicant tracking systems are available in the market to optimize your hiring from top to bottom.

●     Ask Your Employees for Referrals

Referral programs are the most cost effective method that can result in recruiting high-quality candidates.

You can ask your employees to refer some candidates and compensate them for doing the same.

This will boost employee referrals leading to lower costs.

Challenge 4: “How Do I Not Lose Candidates to Better Salaries? “

Attracting highly qualified candidates without focusing on the salary is tough but here are some tips that are guaranteed to keep your candidates interested in your job offers:

●     Provide a Positive Candidate Experience

Winning candidates by providing a positive candidate experience despite your competitors offering higher salaries is a skill!

But how do you provide one?

  1. You can use a candidate tracking system to set reminders for sending them personalized follow-up emails and messages and communicate according to their degree of expectations.
  1. Keep them informed about any changes in the hiring schedule and share feedback even if they are not selected.

This will help provide a positive candidate experience and make them stick around.

●     Celebrate Your Company’s Differences

When you can’t compete with larger organizations for salary, focus on the unique things you can offer your applicants.

Whether it’s flexible working hours, learning and development opportunities, or fun pizza party Fridays, celebrate your company’s differences.

Challenge 5: “I Can’t Reach New People With My Hiring Strategy.”

With the changing technology and trends, recruiting using decade-old hiring practices won’t work anymore.

As recruiters, you must be creative and develop unique strategies to stay updated with the latest recruitment developments. Here’s how–

●     Freshen Up Your Tactics

It will be a good time to adopt more creative hiring procedures if it seems like you are constantly getting the same pool of candidates.

The top candidates want to be surprised, delighted, and inspired by a job opportunity, so you must find innovative ways to capture their interest.

●     Embrace the Use of Videos

Videos reach where people can’t!

Create and post authentic and catchy video messages that can instantly give candidates a peek into the open job role and attract them.

To conclude, challenges are bound to occur in any profession.

Recruiting top candidates is not easy and comes up with a bunch of complexities, but these solutions might help you to solve more than one problem during the process.

But always remember this quote by Sue Tetzlaff, Cofounder of Capstone Leadership Solutions; “Hiring tough can always help you manage easily.”