Today’s job market is an entirely different environment. While there is an enormous demand for talent, there are also hiring freezes. The world has experienced the biggest hiring freezes and furloughs in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and they didn’t end there. Most companies feel hiring freezes are the new normal, which is not completely wrong.
According to a majority of recruiting professionals, they are out of work during a hiring freeze. Let’s break this bubble. A hiring freeze offers you the best time to keep your talent pipeline warm. Wondering why you need to keep your pipeline warm?
A talent pipeline is your go-to pool of candidates whenever you have hiring requirements. Your existing talent pipeline loses interest in you if you do not engage with them properly. When things go back to normal and hiring begins, you will have to build a candidate pipeline from scratch, which is extremely time-consuming and tiring.
This article discusses what a hiring freeze is and some smart things recruiters must do during hiring freeze.
What is a Hiring Freeze?
A hiring freeze refers to a situation where your company or client withdraws the idea of hiring new people to reduce costs. Hiring freezes are one of the ways to safeguard a company’s employees in terms of paying their salaries.
A hiring freeze that lasts longer time might inevitably affect recruiters’ lives. Especially those recruiting consultants or recruitment agencies will be at a major loss if their clients freeze hiring for longer.
Although this is a time when recruiters and TA specialists think they have no work, which is far from the truth. Most experts say hiring freezes are vital times to get ready for the next hiring cycle. This is the time to warm up your existing talent pipeline and not lose them to your competitors.
6 Smart Ways to Keep your Talent Pipeline Warm
Stay Connected
Being in touch with your potential talent pipeline is always beneficial to you. As your team gets some leisure during a hiring freeze, it’s useful to invest your time and energy in engaging with your talent pipeline.
More than anything, your candidates also invested their time to try applying for the job you have posted. Hence they deserve to be updated with the latest status or any developments or changes in the process. As candidate experience weighs heavily in talent acquisition, you need to engage with them properly. Otherwise, you will have to build a pipeline from scratch again.
Communicate Often
You should communicate with your candidates regularly. Send frequent emails and personalized SMS to your pipeline to make them feel you’re still interested in them and their skills. This needs some effort, but it is all worth it.
To take your relationship further, ask them to upskill or take a few mock interviews before you get them a new update. Also, always let them know when you will get back with an update. This will prevent them from leaving your recruitment process.
Boost Relationships
Networking is key to the success of any business. So, build a network and interact with people within your industry and outside the industry. Networking will not only help you get updated information about hiring freezes in different industries but also help you get new opportunities.
Keeping up with the latest updates on the process will help you stay ahead of the process as soon as the hiring resumes.
Waste No Time
Hiring freezes give you enough time to sharpen your skills and analyze gaps in the process. So, take advantage of this time to be decisive and quick to grab the talent as soon as the companies are ready to hire.
The competition is fierce after the hiring freeze ends, and in order to beat your competitors, you need to be really quick.
Do not waste your time, and make sure you complete the application process, screening and shortlisting candidates, and interview them in the meantime. An Applicant Tracking System will help do all recruitment tasks and hire high-quality applicants with ease. An ATS will save you both time and speeds up your hiring. Having a handful of candidates already will help you fill a vacant position quickly after the hiring freeze.
Assess their Skills
As discussed above, use your time to the fullest by reviewing candidates. Also, perform skill assessments to ensure you have the right fits in your talent pipeline. Doing this will prevent unqualified or irrelevant profiles from entering your pipeline, and you will save a lot of time by not interviewing them.
Provide Genuine Feedback
Honest and constructive feedback throughout the process impresses your candidates and increases their chances of being hired in the next recruiting cycle.
Therefore always give them honest feedback that encourages them to stay with you for the next job opening.
Wrapping Up
A hiring freeze might seem confusing at the beginning for recruiters. But hiring and recruiting managers have lots to accomplish during a hiring freeze. Recruiters need to realize that it is the best time for preparation, and you must utilize this opportunity to improve your hiring game. Your intelligence, paired with a well-designed ATS, will take your recruitment success to the next level.
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