Recruitment – online versus face to face

May 19th, 2023 | Industry News

The pandemic may now seem like recent history, but it has changed the face of employment. Employers are struggling to find the balance between remote employees, hybrid ones and a workforce back in the workplace. Social environments have broken down and there are no obvious new ways to create workplace culture. Additionally, the pandemic led to the utilisation of online recruitment tools such as SaaS recruitment agencies in unprecedented numbers.

It’s often overlooked that the first point of contact between any organisation and its employees is the recruitment process. It has an impact on candidates that shapes their future understanding of their employer. Transparent recruitment ensures that candidates feel there is an employee-centric approach and recruitment management software can play a significant role in this new recruitment environment. Shifting to online processes has many advantages but the value of in-person recruiting events shouldn’t be overlooked.

In-person recruiting – how recruitment software helps

It might seem counterintuitive to suggest that recruitment CRM software is essential for effective in-person recruiting, but given that candidates attend events mainly to get a sense of the organisation and how they might fit into it, recruiting software can help establish a relationship before the candidate even walks through the door.

Personal interaction also fosters intangible elements that build a strong sense of trust and commitment as well as giving companies, and recruitment agencies networking opportunities that can have a lasting impact and also create a sense of buzz around the recruiter and the company they are recruiting for.

There are limitations too:

• Not every candidate will be able to attend and in-person events can disadvantage those with commitments at home, or differently abled candidates who find travel demanding
• In-person recruiting events can be expensive in comparison to using a website for recruitment, for example
• Significant time and energy is required of recruiters to make an in-person event work well
• Not every recruiter shines at in-person events, and sometimes those who are most adept at using recruitment database software to spot perfect matches don’t want to be engaging with candidates in a face-to-face capacity.

Online recruiting fairs

There’s a different approach, which combines the sense of face-to-face with online tools. Virtual fairs and events offer great accessibility to the very candidates who find in-person recruiting challenging. They may also be more equitable in other ways, allowing candidates to present the best of themselves in ways that they might not manage in person.

Finding the right blend of virtual and in-person helps good recruiters bridge the fracture that the pandemic created in the recruiting world, and can deliver a wide range of highly motivated candidates.