Central Florida Talent Acquisition Leaders Share Covid Recruiting Strategies They are Keeping Forever

8 Strategies to market

We surveyed one hundred and thirty-four Central Florida talent acquisition leaders for the 2022 Central Florida Employment Outlook. Even before Covid, companies were having a hard time filling open jobs. Once the world reopened, Central Florida's available job count skyrocketed. The problem was thousands of workers didn't return to the workforce for numerous reasons. 

This caused internal recruiting departments to rethink their recruiting strategies.

Post-Covid recruiting changes had to happen if companies wanted to hire. For the first time, numerous companies were paying people to interview! While that is not a long-term solution, employers also made many other changes.

 

Here are eight strategies that worked and are not going anywhere.

1. Virtual Interviews: Video interviewing started over twenty-five years ago, but it took a pandemic to get Zoom and Microsoft Meetings to become standard, everyday recruiting tools. Over 60% of surveyed employers mentioned video interviews being a game-changer, especially for first interviews. However, many hospitality employers still want onsite interviews since they are usually one interview hire and want to showcase their property to help them sell the job.

 

2. Digital Job Marketing: Many Central Florida employers increased their digital job marketing recruiting strategy and used paid targeting on many social media sites and search engines. For professional jobs, LinkedIn and job board sponsorships worked. Also working well were digital packages (including video) on sites like Instagram, Facebook, and even TikTok.

 

3. Virtual/Live Job Fairs: The virtual gathering of job seekers in a virtual job fair platform is something 15% of employers will continue if offered. Employers are also increasing their budgets for live job fairs. Hire Day Orlando and Hire Palooza, presented by OrlandoJobs.com this year, had over 7,500 job seekers attend. Employers had the chance to interview and hire on the spot.

 

4. Better Employee Referral Programs: No doubt that internal employee referral programs can yield great hires. Companies are investing in ERP programs that digitally let their employees earn money by simply sharing an open job on their social media channels.

 

5. Starting/Signing Bonus: 33% of companies are adding a significant signing bonus for new employees.  

 

6. Training Internal Recruiters: With so much talent acquisition technology available, many companies ensure that their internal recruiting teams become experts in digital marketing, online databases (not job boards), text recruiting systems, email campaigns, etc.

 

7. Rewrite Job Titles and Job Descriptions:  Many companies realized that some of their vacancies have job requirements that could be tweaked to open up a larger talent pool. This includes removing unneeded certifications and degrees and refocusing the job requirements to only include the must-haves skills.

 

8. Shortened Application/Mobile Friendly: Some employers increased their application count by shortening their online application process. Employers also created a mobile-friendly application that job seekers can easily apply via a cell phone. Job seekers filled out a quick form that would make an application link they could finish at another time.

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