Recruitment challenges in 2024 and their solutions

Recruiters must constantly work their way out to overcome the recruitment challenges, to name a few, Rapidly changing technology, a limited talent supply, economic uncertainty, diversity and inclusion goals, and a drop-off rate. 

In this blog, we have summarised key recruitment challenges recruiters face and solutions to overcome them like a pro.

Top recruiting challenges and their solutions 

1. Attracting the right talent

Finding the right candidate in a pool of unqualified talent is hard, as the options are limited. Recruiters often struggle with questions like – how can I make my job stand out from the crowd? What can I do to maximize my advertising opportunities? Is my ad copy good enough to attract the right candidates?

Unequal and vague job descriptions will discourage good candidates and attract many underqualified candidates. Identifying and eliminating those underqualified candidates will lead to a waste of time and resources.

Another challenge is to post the job requirements on multiple channels to attract a large number of qualified candidates.

Solution: To attract the right talent you will have to flaunt your needs in a way that they seem to be opportunities one can’t miss. A perfect job description, the use of relevant keywords, and automation will pave your way to success. 

Write easy-to-read job descriptions

You should be clear about the requirements in your job ads and give a concise view of the role. Candidates are not likely to apply for a job if they are not sure of what they will be doing, even after reading a role description. The job description title should be snappy; it will improve candidate accessibility. 

Use relevant keywords in your ad copy

Use relevant keywords in your ad copy so that search engines identify it and make your ads visible in the most relevant searches. This will help convert a view or visit into a submitted application.

Use automation for job postings 

Use good recruiting automation software to create more targeted job postings and display advertising on various job portals and social media.  It will also help you to publish your Recruitment ads (ads for your open position) to specific demographic segments that you feel would be the best fit for your position.

2. Engaging qualified candidates

According to  Ambra Benjamin, global leadership recruiting leader at Facebook – “the greatest obstacle for recruiters is connecting with candidates through the noise of all the other 2,000 recruiters trying to reach out to the same candidates.”

Also, Read – How to source passive candidates

Recruiters often struggle to stand out from their competitors when engaging qualified candidates. Also, candidates with the required skills already have several job offers simultaneously. It is important to go the extra mile to convince qualified candidates that your offer is a better choice than your competitors.

Solution: Research well about the qualified candidate, like what interests them, their previous job, etc., before contacting them. Now craft personalized sourcing email sequences to get that conversation started. 

Also, Read – 25 Recruiting Email Templates for Recruiters

Next comes the interview. It is often the deciding factor when a candidate is deciding between multiple job offers. So, make the interview a great experience for them. According to LinkedIn research, 65% of candidates say that a bad interview experience makes them lose interest in the job. 

Answer all the questions regarding the open roles and responsibilities. Give them information about the organization they will work for.

Post-interview, it’s vital to keep candidates in the loop to prevent them from growing frustrated and accepting another offer. Give them a clear timeline for when they should expect to hear from you. Also, provide regular updates to let them know you haven’t ghosted them. 

3. Managing time 

According to Celia Stangarone, operations specialist at RiseSmart: “I could come into work and have hundreds of emails. Not even exaggerating. On average, 200 people apply to a posted job so if I have 10 of them, that could be 2,000 resumes/emails/applications I need to go through.” 

Recruiters can easily become bogged down by the nature of the business. Spending time on admin work such as invoicing, data entry in their recruiting CRM, or pulling information from various systems to get basic metrics such as fill rate and time to fill for recruiters. It’s painful and time-consuming. And, none of those functions drives their revenue.

Solution: Invest in a powerful applicant tracking system. The right system can help you improve candidate experience, boost productivity, and cut down on tedious administrative tasks.

4. Managing data 

Recruitment data and metrics help recruiters improve the hiring process and make informed decisions. But, Collecting and processing all the candidate and client data can be a hassle. Processes like maintaining spreadsheets require a lot of manual work, and the chances of errors are also high. This makes it difficult for recruiters to track data and trends accurately. 

Solution: Application tracking systems like Recruiterflow can help you store data and export helpful reports. This data will help you with current and future hiring processes. You can prioritize the metrics that align with your client’s goals and eliminate data that can be counterintuitive to your hiring process. 

As for offboarding, your business must have a process for that before onboarding a new employee. These tips for secure Microsoft 365 offboarding can help you reduce security risks coming from this specific software, don’t forget to apply similar strategies across your entire organization. 

Also, Read – How to choose the best recruitment software 

5. Reducing Candidate drop off

Ghosting or candidate drop-off is a common problem during interviews and hiring. Candidates often join a job and leave after a day or two. Drop-offs are very costly for staffing and recruiting firms. Not only does it hurt its relationship with clients, but it also loses the investment it made in finding and recruiting the candidate.

Solution: There is little that can be done in this situation, but asking clients to start the onboarding process immediately and encouraging candidates to update their social media like Instagram can help reduce the drop-off rate and at the same time, can grow your followers. 

Recruiters face many recruiting challenges in their quest to hire the best candidate for their clients. But with proper strategy and recruiting tools, it is easy to mitigate them.