Recruiting in the new age of digitalization

We asked our colleagues how they perceive things now, in the new context that is somewhat stable, and we learned from them how the recruitment process takes place during this period. Thus, our colleague, Ionela Costea, a recruiter from Brașov, is telling us in the interview below about the challenges of adapting the recruitment process to the new social conditions, as well as talking about adapting to WFH.

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1. What did switching to a WFH or hybrid working system mean to you?

There’s an old Romanian saying: “Be careful what you want, that you might get it”. I wanted for a few months, a day, two a month to work from home, but I did not expect it to be possible, I did not see how it could work.

It was a very fast transition from one way of working to another, being a measure imposed by the pandemic context, I adapted quite quickly, so the transition to work from home was relatively easy.

For the first two or three weeks of WFH, I didn’t miss the office very much and looked at the positives, such as being close to family, gaining more hours of sleep, time for gardening, and other recreational activities, but after a while, I felt the lack of human interaction, face-to-face interviews, discussions with colleagues, morning coffee and the entire work environment.

However, a positive consequence of the pandemic is the fact that I realized that I could work efficiently from home and if you want something strong enough, it happens.

2. What are the main challenges in recruitment today, given the current situation? (digitalization and maintenance of social distancing in the context of the pandemic)

One of the challenges is identifying the right candidates, the management of the interaction with the candidates via phone / video call.

Moving the recruitment process exclusively online has created communication challenges.

The online recruitment process can limit us from the possibility of knowing the real identity of the interlocutor, the accuracy of linguistic and technical tests being difficult to determine, and it can be difficult to observe the sincerity and honesty of the candidate.

At the same time, the changes of the last year make us adapt to the new reality, forcing us to use new selection methods to replace the face-to-face interviews.

3. How do you anticipate that the recruitment process will change this year?

As health comes first, the recruitment process will be helped with solutions accessible to all, through social platforms, an example would be the Facebook network, a valuable tool for building professional relationships and especially for recruiting staff, because of the great potential of young talents.

The change can also come by introducing virtual reality to create a clearer image for potential candidates on the type of job offered, the work environment, being also a way to promote the company.

Therefore, it can be a challenge for companies this year to streamline and modernize the virtual process and improve the candidate’s experience.

4. Even if the pandemic ends, do you think recruitment will be approached differently compared to 2019? How has the pandemic changed the way we recruit?

In the context in which there is a need to continue the professional activity along with the challenges presented above, digital recruitment has become the norm, this being a different approach from 2019.

The impact of the pandemic accelerated the process of digitalizing the recruitment process, the use of technology being in our favor, making it possible to expand the area of ​​candidates in other cities where we do not have a CGS site.

5. In the new context, what are the strengths of the candidates? How can they convince you that they are the right employees for the company, in the absence of face-to-face interaction?

In the absence of face-to-face interaction, candidates can persuade the recruiter by the positive attitude and presentation during the video interview, at the same time the facial expression and appearance are just as important, as in a classic interview.

6. What are the new recruitment tools in the context of digitalization and the pandemic?

In the context of digitalization, the Zoom interview has become a widely used technique, reducing financial and time losses. Additionally, many interviews take place on platforms such as Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook the same way.