August 5, 2021
Traditionally, fall is one of the busiest hiring seasons of the year. There are more job posts published in October than in any other month. With hiring managers coming back from summer vacation, projects that were previously on hold are kicked into high gear, which means hiring is too!
This year, we can expect an extremely busy fall hiring season for several reasons. For one, this summer has been particularly slow as individuals prioritize vacation and spending time with loved ones now that travel restrictions from COVID are lifting. Secondly, as more and more people get vaccinated, offices reopen, and the economy continues to grow, there will be more open positions to fill. Here is what you can focus on now to make sure you are ready come September.
When planning for the future, it’s always helpful to reflect on the past. Look at the prior years’ numbers when formulating your recruitment strategy for the fall. As 2020 was an anomaly, it might be more helpful to look at 2019 data instead. How many applicants applied to your job posts in the past? How many candidates were interviewed? How many were hired? Compiling and analyzing this data can take time, if you haven’t been tracking it already, so the end of summer is the perfect chance to set aside time to look at what’s worked vs what hasn’t, historically.
When analyzing prior years’ data, make sure you’ve determined what your hiring goals are for the fall. Do you want to attract more applicants than in previous years or remain on par? Knowing this information will help you when strategizing, delegating tasks, and distributing effort and budget so you can make the most impact.
Looking at how effective your fall hiring efforts have been in the past may shed light on where bottlenecks are occurring in your process. The slower weeks of August are a great time to take inventory of your current tech stack and play around with new software. Are you paying for something that isn’t being used consistently? Or isn’t delivering you the results you’d hoped for? Do you find yourself frustrated by how many different platforms you have to log into and keep updated?
Aim to consolidate your toolkit by selecting software that generates the most value and time savings for your team. With an all-in-one recruiting tool like Fetcher, you can automate your sourcing and outreach efforts so you can focus on more meaningful, critical tasks like candidate engagement.
TIP: Check out this blog post to see how automated sourcing and outreach helps teams overcome the major challenges associated with high-volume hiring.
Through your alumni groups, former work colleagues, and online connections, start to spread that word that you’ll be looking to hire in the fall. Perhaps there won’t be much of an appetite to job hop in the summer but it’s best to plant the seed now and see more applicants in the fall. Make sure to also re-engage past prospects who perhaps came close to landing a job with your company but were beat out by another candidate. They could be a perfect fit for an upcoming role!
Passive candidates can have an incredible positive impact on your company so it’s crucial you don’t forget about them in your hiring process. However, since many industries in addition to recruiting are busy in the fall, passive candidates will also be distracted and less likely to respond to your outreach. Start the conversation now before inboxes start filling up!
As a hiring manager or recruiter, you know which roles you are trying to fill and what attributes you want in your candidates. But, why should a candidate want to work for your company? As you prepare for a slew of interviews this fall, make sure you are ready to answer the most important question for an interviewee — what makes your organization unique? In a highly competitive hiring landscape, the answer to this question can make or break a candidate’s perspective on your organization.
Review your company’s values and have examples of how those values are ingrained in your company’s culture. It’s worth asking yourself why you work at your organization, as an interviewee may ask you directly if they sense they’re getting too corporate an answer. You should also be informed on your company’s benefits policy and know what perks you can provide new hires.
Your interview process needs to be fast and efficient if you want to land your top candidates. This fall will be a busy hiring season for everyone, meaning that offers will get competitive. To reduce the chance of losing out on a prospect because of a slow turn around, make sure you have a solid plan in place. How many rounds of interviews for each role? Which roles will have assessments? Make sure deadlines are communicated with the hiring manager and the rest of the team to hold everyone accountable and make sure candidates are reviewed swiftly.
Be wary of FOMO! Often when interviewing many candidates in a short timespan, it’s easy to pass on someone great, thinking someone even better will come along. Don’t miss out on a strong candidate because you believe a better one may come along — they may not!
Fall should be spent enjoying leaf piles and hot apple cider (or pumpkin spice lattes!) On the recruiting side, fall doesn’t have to mean scrambling and stressing over hours of sourcing, vetting, and interviewing to do. Avoid becoming overwhelmed by planning ahead during these remaining few weeks of summer. The team at Fetcher is happy to chat with you about taking your recruiting efforts to the next level this fall and beyond.
Check out our other blog posts for more talent acquisition tips and insights into recruiting trends.
At Fetcher, our mission is to introduce companies to the people who will help them change the world. Our full-service, recruiting automation platform automates those repetitive, top-of-funnel tasks, so you can focus more on candidate engagement & team collaboration. Simplify Sourcing. Optimize Outreach. Hire Top Talent. Learn more at fetcher.ai.
Recruiting Strategies, Workplace Trends
