Five ways to survive recruiting during the holiday crunch

Tis’ the season of scrambling to meet year-end recruiting goals. The holidays are here and it’s time to get ready for the new year. Although holidays are a time for rest, fellowship, sugar cookies and gifts, it’s easy for goals to fall by the wayside if you let them. There are ways to enjoy the festivities, relax a bit, and still accomplish your recruiting goals like a boss! It’s all about balance. Here’s how to survive recruiting during the holiday crunch. 

Update your job descriptions

This may go without saying but updating your job descriptions will do you wonders during the holidays. Have an old job listing with an expired date? Update it! Do you have job descriptions with crazy requirements that haven’t been reviewed in years? Scrap it! Your candidates may not stop looking for work during the holidays, but they may stop looking and applying to your job ads if you’re being unrealistic. The holidays are a time for people to enjoy and loosening the reigns on your work hour expectations or updating your expiration date can be a big deal. It’s the little things that can have big payoffs in the end.

Conduct a year-end recruiting assessment

Assessments are such a significant part of a company’s growth, but also for your recruitment. Getting real about your pitfalls, opportunities for growth and your strengths can help you assess what you need to change, and what hiring methods to keep; especially while you’re recruiting during the holiday. 

Set recruiting goals for next year

Make your days merry and bright in the new year by setting recruiting goals now. What can you do to improve your workflow? How do you want to diversify your talent pool? Is there a better way improve your job descriptions? Setting recruiting goals for next year before it arrives is a surefire way to accomplish them. You’ll have better direction when you have actionable goals ready to roll in the new year. 

It’s a new job market – adapt!

Don’t be a grinch. Change the way you see talent, especially during the holiday season. Hiring bias is real, and sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. You may think you need a candidate with higher education, 10 years of work experience, and located in the same area; but do you really? The talent you need could be sitting right under your nose and you may need to make a few adjustments. Thanks to COVID-19, the industry has changed, and top talent is being more selective about the jobs they’ll consider.  

They may not have a four-year degree but are certified in the very skill you need to fulfill a role. Your candidate may not be within the same state, but they’re willing to work remotely during the reasonable work hours allotted. With the help of the right recruiting tool, you can gather market intelligence and candidate insights to help you find better talent in less time, helping you meet your recruiting goals. 

Invest in better software

Sometimes it’s all in the software. Make recruiting during the holiday season a little simpler by investing in better software tools. Re-evaluate the method you’re using to find, communicate and schedule interviews with candidates. Are you sifting through various job boards for hours? Do you manually send emails to each potential candidate? Are you using multiple tools to schedule interviews? You may need to consolidate your tools and invest in better recruiting software to streamline your workflow.