Recruiters are under pressure. They’re having to do more with less, and in a tough labor market it’s harder than ever to find and engage qualified candidates while keeping your pipeline strong.
These are just a few of the challenges recruiters are facing, and as the recruiting industry continues to buzz about solving those challenges with new solutions and the power of AI, it can be hard to know where to start.
If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed, you’re not alone. In this article, we’ll break down seven common recruiting challenges and some solutions to solve them.
Recruiting Challenge #1: Talent Shortages and Skills Gaps
Talent shortages and skills gaps are a common challenge for recruiters and employers alike. SHRM reported that seven of the top 10 hardest to fill positions in 2024 are the same as the top 10 hardest to fill positions in 2016.
At the same time, talent shortages are closing in. The US Chamber of Commerce reported that although American businesses are “creating hundreds of thousands of jobs each month, a significant number of positions still remain unfilled.”
So what can recruiters do to in the face of a challenging market?
Talent Shortage and Skills Gap Solutions
Luckily, there are several solutions recruiters can consider to address talent shortages and close skills gaps.
- Adapt candidate skillsets for new roles: After the pandemic, every industry was forced to adapt -- that same strategy can help recruiters and companies address skills gaps. By carefully analyzing the skills of your talent pool, you can identify candidates within your database that may already be warm and could still be a good fit, even though their skills may not seem like a perfect match at first glance.
- Pinpoint hard-to-find talent with tech: By utilizing a technology tool (or strategically integrating AI in recruitment) you can hyper-target candidates who have specific qualifications, or aggregate searches across multiple sources, or match candidates to jobs (and vice versa). This means recruiters can cut down the time they spend scrolling through irrelevant results or reviewing resumes from unqualified candidates.
Recruiting Challenge #2: Attracting and Retaining Passive Candidates
Sometimes the perfect candidate isn’t actively looking for a job. Finding and engaging this kind of passive candidate is a challenge many recruiters face (especially considering the above-mentioned talent shortage). LinkedIn reported that as much as 70% of the global workforce is passive talent which isn't actively searching for new employment – that's a lot of potential talent!
Passive Candidate Recruiting Solutions
There are a few ways recruiters can reach passive candidates:
- Make the most of your talent pool: Your internal database might have thousands of candidate profiles. Many of them may be employed in a role, but could still be a suitable fit for one of your positions you’re looking to fill. Plus, you may also already have existing relationships with some of these candidates – which can make it easier to reach out and see if they’re interested in a job even though they aren’t actively looking.
- Research what passive candidates are looking for in a new role: It all comes down to research. PwC found that popular reasons for candidates to switch jobs include an increase in pay, better job fulfilment or the opportunity to be themselves at work. Armed with this kind of information, recruiters can optimize their outreach and job advertisements, promoting the features of the role that are most relevant to the candidates they have in mind.
- Find passive candidates on social media: social media channels can be a convenient and accessible way to search for passive candidates. However, it’s important to be strategic in this search – ask yourself what kind of candidate you’re looking for and consider what platform they’re most likely to be active on before you start your search.
- Continue engagement: By continuously engaging candidates in your database, recruiters can stay in touch to build a relationship, and even share roles that the candidate may be interested even if they’re not actively looking for a new role. Plus, candidate engagement can have the added bonus of improving your data hygiene and boosting your employer brand.
Recruiting Challenge #3: Candidate Experience
Candidate experience isn’t just a buzzword – it's a crucial component in attracting talent. In a world where 60% of surveyed recruiters say their biggest challenge is a low number of applicants, candidate experience could be the difference between an applicant who evangelizes your brand or a candidate who warns their friends and colleagues to steer clear of your company.
The recruiting process determines how candidates feel about your organization, and ensuring candidates have a positive experience can be very difficult, especially when recruiters are already worrying about dozens of other job functions.
Candidate Experience Solutions
Successfully hiring and retaining top talent requires solid candidate engagement practices. If a candidate has a great experience (whether or not they end up being hired) they're more likely to advise people in their network to apply to your organization in future.
Here are a few ways you can improve candidate experience:
- Streamline your application process: avoid long application forms with multiple fields, reduce the number of assessments and rounds of interviews required, and be clear on the decision-making process and timeline up front.
- Improve communication: there's nothing more frustrating than being ghosted, and that sentiment goes both ways during the hiring processes. Update candidates as soon as any progress is made: when you receive their application, when you have feedback after an interview, and when a decision is made are all great times to get in touch with a candidate.
- Showcase your employer brand: write clear job descriptions, create an appealing careers site and be authentic at each touchpoint in the candidate journey. This recruitment process optimization will show candidates what it’s like to work at your company and attract candidates that will be a best fit for your organization.
Recruiting Challenge #4: Leveraging Recruiting Technology
Recruitment technology is a hot topic. From sourcing to assessments and onboarding, everyone seems to be implementing AI in recruiting.
Lots of tools are available to automate busy work—but even after you research and ensuring smooth implementation and clear processes are essential to encourage correct usage, high adoption rates and return on investment.
Leveraging Recruitment Technology Solutions
- Consider the “why”: Why do you need a technology solution? Consider which specific pain points the new recruitment technology is intended to solve. Understanding that is key to selecting the right technology tools. Take automation tools, for example: there are endless solutions that promise time savings at scale through automation. But, automation relies heavily on data and underlying processes. If there’s a misstep during selection (say for example, not checking compatibility with your essential workflows or other tools), it can negatively impact effectiveness and ROI.
- Keep key stakeholders involved: Stakeholder input should be gathered before, during and after selecting a new tool – and your list of stakeholders should include some end users, too.
- Adopt the right tools: Prioritize what pain points are most important. AI-driven tools are very powerful, but you need to ensure they’re both a good fit for your team and an appropriate solution for your organization’s challenges. For instance, if you’re struggling with data entry and admin and want to prioritize it, you’ll want to find a tool that tackles that before, say, a tool to enhance your onboarding process with AI. And, after selecting your tools, it’s crucial to prioritize training your users in key capabilities of that tool.
Recruiting Challenge #5: Compliance and Data Privacy
Managing candidate data while staying compliant with regulations like GDPR and CCPA is a growing challenge for recruiters. Plus, these regulations are constantly evolving from year to year, so recruiters have to be vigilant when considering whether or not their processes comply with data privacy regulations.
Compliance and Data Privacy Solutions
To help make compliance easier, consider:
- Regular staff training: If your recruiters aren’t effectively trained on data privacy regulations, how to use your database or the software in your tech stack, they won't be able to utilize candidate data effectively. Regular training can help ensure everyone’s knowledge is up to date and help build a culture of responsibility when it comes to compliance.
- Using recruiting tools built with compliance in mind: tools that prioritize data privacy and compliance will collect, process and store candidate data according to legal standards, so it’s one less thing you need to worry about.
Overcoming Challenges in a Dynamic Market
In today’s competitive recruitment landscape, overcoming challenges like talent shortages, passive candidate engagement, and maintaining compliance can feel overwhelming. But with the right strategies and tools in place you can turn these obstacles into opportunities for growth. By being adaptable, investing in technology, and prioritizing relationship-building, recruiters can thrive even in the most challenging markets. The key is to stay informed, be strategic, and always put candidates at the heart of your process.
Want to learn more about how recruiters are leveraging the latest technology? Check out our Recruiter’s Guide to Generative AI.
