A staggering 86% of job seekers use one or other online recruitment platforms for their job search, concludes a Gartner survey. Such numbers only convince us that it is time for recruiters to embrace virtual recruitment methods. In this guide, let us explore 6 effective virtual recruitment ideas that can step up your hiring game and help attract the best talents for your organization.
What is virtual recruitment?
Virtual recruitment is the process of recruiting candidates remotely, without the need for in-person interaction.
This includes virtual events, online job postings, video interviews, and more. Virtual recruitment is no longer a buzzword as iIt has already gained popularity in recent years, especially with the rise of remote work culture after the recent pandemic. Also, there is a need to connect with a wider pool of candidates beyond geographic boundaries.
What is a virtual hiring event?
A virtual hiring event is something that enables job seekers and potential employers to meet online. These kinds of events allow employers to connect with a large pool of candidates often not possible otherwise. Candidates irrespective of their geographic location can participate making it easy for them to apply for any suitable open positions.
Technology like video conferencing, online assessments etc., can be used to conduct such virtual hiring events.
Learn about the common hiring challenges faced by recruiters.
Top virtual recruitment event ideas to attract top talent
Online recruitment platforms are on the rise and in such a scenario, virtual recruitment events are an effective way to hire top talents. These virtual events allow recruiters to reach a considerably large audience all from the comfort of their homes and offer candidates a chance to interact with potential employers. Let us now briefly discuss some of the virtual recruitment event ideas to help attract the top talents for your organization.
1. Host a Virtual Career Fair
Hosting a virtual career fair is made easy with tools like Brazen, vFairs, etc which offer customizable booths (virtual), chat rooms, video conferencing, etc. They are much similar to traditional career fairs except that it takes place completely online.
These allow for interaction between candidates and recruiters from different companies. Candidates can learn about the job openings and apply for the positions in the virtual event itself.
2. Conduct Webinars
Webinars are great especially when it comes to educating candidates about your organization and discussing the open positions available.
Webinars can also be used to share your company culture, talk about your achievements, and also provide tips on cracking job interviews. Live webinars or pre-recorded webinars can be shared across your social platforms or on your organization’s website.
3. Organize a Virtual Hiring Event
The initial screening of candidates can all be done via a virtual hiring event. Also, you can make use of popular video conferencing tools such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams and conduct interviews with candidates from virtually all over the world.
In such a case, will it not allow you to expand your search for top talents while also reducing the cost associated with travel, lodging, etc?
4. Create a Virtual Office Tour
Virtual office tours are great means to make your candidates feel your organization’s work culture. There are tools such as Oculus VR which can give a virtual reality experience of your office.
Also, you can think of offering 360-degree video technology that gives candidates a realistic tour of your office. Most likely the candidates will get interested in your organization and the job opening that matches their skills.
5. Host a Virtual Hackathon
Virtual hackathons are online competitions where participants collaborate in teams to create new ideas or find solutions. Have you ever thought of conducting a virtual hackathon? There are tools like HackerEarth, Devpost, etc. that allow you to host your event and even offer prizes to the winners.
Hackathons can help identify the best candidates with specific skills and also act as a platform to showcase their abilities. Identifying top talents via contests.
6. Offer Virtual Workshops
Virtual workshops can offer value to candidates and at the same time promote your organization. Workshops can be had on topics like resume writing, interview skills, career development, etc. Candidates can use these workshops to upskill themselves with the required job search skills while getting to know your organization better.
Benefits of Virtual Recruitment Events for Your Organization
If you have not yet attempted virtual recruitment events, it is the right time to give it a try. They are already becoming popular as top recruiters are always on the search for creative ways to attract the best talents out there. If these virtual recruitment events are part of your recruitment strategy, you can increase your organization’s visibility and can fill your open positions with the best candidates.
Let us explore some of the key benefits of virtual recruitment and why it’s worth considering for your organization.
1. Increased Efficiency
Virtual recruitment helps to streamline your hiring process by saving time and resources. As a recruiter, you can easily schedule interviews, and conduct all required pre-employment assessments making your life as a recruiter easy.
Also, you can seamlessly keep candidates updated throughout the process eliminating the need for any phone calls. Candidate screening also can be automated with these virtual recruitment tools increasing efficiency.
2. Expanded Reach
Another benefit of virtual recruitment is that you will be getting expanded reach. You need not limit yourself to a specific geography.
That would mean you have access to a larger pool of talents. If your role is a specialized role where you might not get candidates locally, then you will find virtual recruitment helpful.
3. Cost Savings
If your hiring costs are bothering you and looking for ways to reduce your hiring costs, virtual recruitment is the first thing you should attempt.
This saves a lot in terms of travel, lodging, and other expenses associated with getting candidates for an interview in-person in your office. Not only cost savings but also time savings. Yes, it can reduce your time-to-hire also.
4. Improved Candidate Experience
The overall candidate experience can be improved as virtual recruitment makes the hiring process more convenient and less stressful.
Think of taking interviews from the comfort of their homes, without the need to travel. That would for sure have a better candidate experience.
Also, these virtual recruitment tools can share more information about your organization with the candidates and the position they are applying for. That would keep them more engaged.
5. Better Data Management
Managing candidate information and tracking their progress would be a daunting task for a recruiter. But with virtual recruitment tools, it is no more the case. You can easily store resumes, and cover letters in one centralized location that can be easily retrieved or sorted. That also helps to review and compare candidates easily.
Better data management would also mean that the communication with the candidates is kept on track. They don’t miss any details or deadlines.
Virtual recruitment would be helpful irrespective of whether you are looking to fill a few key roles or looking to build a whole new team from scratch.
Overall it not only helps attract top talents but also saves time and resources for both the candidate and the employer.
Top methods and platforms to recruit employees virtually
Here are some methods to recruit employees virtually:
1. WebPipl
WebPipl is an AI-powered community hiring platform that connects great companies with extraordinary talent. WebPipl has a lot of product lines in its arsenal like iVerified, the video interviewing platform, iAssess (an Online skill assessment tool), and quite others that job seekers and recruiters might find useful.
What we have discussed is only scratching the surface. We have a lot more virtual recruitment platforms out there, but you get the idea.
2. Video interviews
Video interviews not only save time and money for both employers and job seekers but also help reduce bias. iVerified is one such video interviewing platform that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to help companies streamline their recruitment process and make more informed hiring decisions.
The platform allows recruiters to conduct video interviews with candidates remotely and helps them identify top talent based on their skills, experience, and personality traits.
Check out iVerified (world’s fastest video interview software) and learn how to perform online interviews with less effort and budget.
3. Virtual career fairs and events
Participate in virtual career fairs and events to reach a larger audience and connect with potential candidates. These events can be industry-specific or general and provide opportunities to network with candidates in real time.
4. Employee referrals
Encourage current employees to refer their network of qualified candidates. Offer incentives or bonuses for successful hires through employee referrals.
5. Employer branding
Build a strong employer brand through social media, website content, and other marketing materials. This can attract passive job seekers and build a positive reputation for your company. Virtual recruitment platforms are a great way for recruiters to streamline their hiring process, from sourcing candidates to conducting interviews.
6. LinkedIn
There is no better social network for professionals than LinkedIn. Recruiters often use LinkedIn to post job openings and search for suitable candidates.
The platform also offers a paid subscription model which has additional features and tools to help recruiters find top talents. It also has those extra features candidates might find useful.
7. Indeed
Indeed is undoubtedly one of the largest job boards in the world. Recruiters often post job openings and start their hunt for candidates here on Indeed.
This platform too has free and paid plans with more features like targeted recruitment and job postings, resume alerts, and other premium services reserved for the paid plans.
8. Glassdoor
Glassdoor is a job search and company review website. Recruiters can use the platform to post jobs, access candidate resumes, and see salary information for different job titles. The platform also offers employer branding solutions that help recruiters showcase their company culture and values to potential candidates.
9. ZipRecruiter
ZipRecruiter is a popular job board that allows recruiters to post job openings on multiple job sites with one click. The platform also offers candidate screening tools and an applicant tracking system (ATS) to help recruiters manage their hiring process more efficiently.
Learn more about what ATS is, its benefits, features, and a guide to choose the right ATS software.
10. Online job boards and social media platforms
Utilize online job boards and social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Indeed to post job openings and connect with potential candidates.
You can also target specific groups or communities on social media to find qualified candidates.
Additional virtual recruitment tips from personal experiences
1. Small Groups/Communities
I’ve seen personalized recruitment work well lately when HR personnel are active in small online communities. For example, there are hundreds of groups where subject-matter experts hang out for idea-sharing purposes.
One is the PeopleGeeks Slack community. HR and People leaders use this group to talk about how they can improve employee experiences and HR processes. Within this community, you can post job openings at your company and interested candidates can message you right there to get connected.
Insights from: Kelli Anderson, Career Coach, Resume Seed
2. Start With Phone Interviews
Screening employees based on their resumes is still a vital process. But after this, follow virtual recruitment through phones. As you know, almost all the candidates have phones these days, so you can approach them easily. A recruiter can know much more about the candidate through a phone interview before a one-on-one interview.
After the outbreak of the pandemic, phone interviews increased more than ever before. Even many big companies recruited global talent with the help of phone calls and video interviews on Skype. Employers can decide on a candidate to promote to the next level or not over a phone call.
The phone interview doesn’t take place only once; often, most stages of virtual recruitment are done over phone calls. And the last interview is a one-on-one, in which you have to meet a recruiter. But with time, this stage has been removed in some companies.
They hire candidates in a completely virtual environment until the last stage of the interview.
Insights from: Saikat Ghosh, Associate Director of HR and Business, Technource
3. Scouting Talent from Engaged Social Media Audiences
Monitoring your social media audience for the individuals that engage most frequently with your brand effectively widens the talent pool available for you to hire virtually.
Often, the most knowledgeable segments of your target audience are talented enough to join your ranks and, if approached with the right offer, will be glad to work virtually.
Insights from: Liam Liu, Co-founder, and CMO at ParcelPanel
4. Virtual Job Shadowing
Virtual job shadowing opportunities are a highly engaging way of attracting and recruiting quality talent virtually. Providing these opportunities will allow candidates to get a sense of what it’s like working for the company, which is a great way of promoting the company’s employer brand and showing off the organizational culture.
Virtual job shadowing is also an effective way of giving candidates a sense of the job requirements and employer expectations.
Insights from: Will Baker, Founder, Skirtings R Us
How WebPipl helps you recruit the best employees virtually
WebPipl is a powerful tool that can help recruiters to find the best candidates for their organization. It enables recruiters to perform deep web searches to find potential candidates, and it can even uncover candidates that are not actively seeking employment.
This tool can help recruiters to streamline their hiring process and find the best employees for their organization.
With WebPipl, recruiters can quickly gather information about a candidate’s education, work history, and online presence.
- Verify a candidate’s identity and check for any red flags or potential risks.
- WebPipl’s user-friendly interface makes it easy for recruiters to use and navigate.
- It can save recruiters time and effort by automating the candidate screening process.
- Using WebPipl can help recruiters make more informed decisions and find the best candidates for their open positions.
FAQs on e-recruitment
What is virtual recruitment?
Virtual recruitment is the process of sourcing, screening, and hiring candidates through online tools and platforms, without the need for in-person interactions.
How do you recruit creatively?
Recruiting creatively involves thinking outside the box and exploring unique ways to attract top talent. Some creative recruitment strategies include leveraging social media platforms, hosting virtual hiring events, utilizing employee referrals, and developing employer branding initiatives. Use WebPipl’s AI-based recruitment software to conduct remote interviews faster and cheaper.
How do I recruit candidates virtually?
WebPipl is a powerful virtual recruitment platform that can help you find and screen top candidates from the comfort of your own home or office. By leveraging its advanced AI and machine learning capabilities, you can easily conduct comprehensive candidate searches and perform in-depth background checks to ensure you’re hiring the best possible talent for your team.
What is gamification in recruitment?
Gamification in recruitment is the process of using game elements, such as challenges, rewards, and competition, to make the recruitment process more engaging and interactive. It involves applying gaming techniques to non-gaming contexts to improve the recruitment experience for candidates and enhance the overall quality of hires. The goal of gamification in recruitment is to attract, engage and retain top talent while making the recruitment process more efficient and effective.
Raju Thammala is the founder of WebPipl, an AI-based recruitment company revolutionizing the tech hiring process with products like video interviews, ATS software, etc.
As CEO and founder, Raju Thammala is passionate about leveraging technology to deliver next-gen recruiting services. In his free time, Raju enjoys reading and exploring new cuisines or jet-setting to exotic destinations.