Candidate acquisition
As with most holiday periods, summer often becomes a time of reflection for most candidates. They kick back in their lawn chair and suddenly the job they have been engrossed in does not seem so appealing to go back to. Therefore, the availability of candidates – an hour to speak, do some research, update a CV can more easily be found on holiday - and willingness to discuss new jobs is an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed
Opportunity to stand out
The use of job adverts and other recruitment tools decreases over the summer which means it is a great opportunity for you to promote your business and stand out from the normal jungle of openings
Plan well
Most companies have a well-structured recruitment process throughout the year, however, the main challenge over summer tends to be that hiring managers and decision-makers are not available for interviews and hiring conversations over summer. Losing momentum in a recruitment process makes it much more likely that you will lose the candidate, so having a tailored ‘summer recruitment process’ will be key. The scenario we see the most is that a company might have managers available to interview at different stages of summer, however, all the decision-makers are not.
Have you mapped out who in your business is involved in a recruitment process? Have you looked at delegating this responsibility in a way that makes a full process and decision possible? Is your recruitment process actually ‘completable’ over the summer?
Be proactive
While your competitors are on holiday, you can really use the summer period to your advantage. If you, as per the above, can hire, use the window of opportunity. If you cannot complete a full process in July, use an agency to source candidates in July and allocate time in your diary to pick it up the first week of August. Be aware that as soon as August hits, all your competitors might be back as well, and the candidate you liked will possibly be contacted about multiple other opportunities.
If your inbox is full after summer, and you hold off reviewing CVs for a week, and your interview availability is not until after that, these are weeks that other companies might use to complete a full recruitment process with the candidate you liked. Allocating time in your diary to review candidates on your first day back, and having slots blocked out in your diary for interviews in the days/first week after returning from holiday, is the best strategy to ensure that you are the first person the candidate meets after summer and greatly increases your chances for success.
Expectations
Communicate your availability to your agency. Tell them how you wish to go about recruitment over the summer. Put them in touch with the managers who will be involved in the process before the summer to ensure everyone is introduced and know what to expect. Luckily, as people have become accustomed to more virtual tools, most initial interview steps and prep can be done flexibly from almost anywhere.
As a business, we have recruiters working all through summer and offer recruitment plans tailored to your availability and situation. Please reach out to us here if you wish to hear more and to ensure that your company takes full advantage of the summer period.
We look forward to hearing from you!
