With the growing number of companies encouraging their teams to work from home for the rest of this year and beyond, you might be kicking off a virtual recruiting process or even starting to hire remote employees for the first time. And even the onboarding process that used to take place in the office needs to go virtual.
This transition could be a bit disorienting and requires several iterations to work smoothly. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when starting to recruit and onboard new team members remotely.
Cast a Wide Net Through Multiple Channels
To find qualified candidates, you need to ensure that the right prospective candidates are viewing your job postings. That means you will have to advertise your position through various channels, depending on the type of position you are trying to fill.
Most popular ATS (Applicant Tracking System) providers like Lever, Greenhouse, and iCIMS are already integrated with job boards like ZipRecruiter and Indeed to make posting and managing your open position easy.
Social media sites, like LinkedIn or even Facebook, are also great place to attract professionals. More and more people rely on digital networking when it comes to looking for work. And social media sites help you being on top of mind for those who are looking for new opportunities when they browse the internet.
In addition to posting open roles or advertising about your company on social media, make sure to ask the hiring managers and the hiring team’s existing members to help spread the word about the open roles. Encourage them to share their personal stories about why they chose to work at your company and how their experience has been. Storytelling goes a long way to grab the attention of prospective candidates and to differentiate your company from others.
For entry-level positions, utilizing websites or platforms that focus on university recruiting and early-in-career hiring, such as Handshake, Yello , or Jumpstart, can be very effective.
Create a Structured Interview Process
Before you start talking to job candidates, you should finalize your end-to-end interview plan including the logistics of conducting virtual interviews. For example, how many stages will your interview plan include? Where in the interview process will you place your skills screening? Which tools or platforms will you use? Taking the time to answer these questions will help you create a streamlined process for you and your team.
In a high-volume hiring process, like your university recruiting, putting a skill assessment step at the very top of the funnel can help you identify qualified candidates fast and increase the diversity of candidate pool. For new grad software engineer hiring, you can utilize a professionally designed software engineer certification to streamline the process and even automate the administrative tasks involved in it.
Remote interviews over a video call can be as effective as face-to-face interviews with some preparation and proper tools. A comprehensive interviewing platform, like CodeSignal Interview, can make a big difference in delivering a seamless overall interview experience for your hiring team and your candidates, especially for an advanced technical interview involving code-writing and whiteboarding.
Start Onboarding Early
To promote a successful onboarding process, the human resources (HR) team can get a head start by kicking off the onboarding process as soon as the job offer is accepted. Younger professionals, new to the business world, may need additional assistance when filling out their financial documents. Completing a W2 form can be difficult without prior experience. By offering help and frequently checking in with new employees, you can verify that they have accurately completed their paperwork.
New hires may also find it beneficial to use a financial service that allows you to get paid sooner through early direct deposits of their paychecks. Since most recent graduates are paying off student loans, getting a paycheck up to two days ahead of time can help them better manage their finances. Offering this support will make employees feel valued and that their financial wellbeing is important to your company.
Before their first day on the job, your HR team should start integrating new hires with their fellow co-workers by hosting virtual meetups. These social gatherings can include ice breaker activities, games, and trivia questions about the business to help new workers learn more about their fellow teammates and current employer. Employee orientation should similarly start at the same time to give new workers a chance to review the employee handbook and to address any questions they may have.