Imagine a world where dating was forced to stop. Many people were forced out of existing relationships, and those without partners were told that they would have to wait four months – at least an entire lonely season – without finding someone.

Now imagine the panic, the relief, the desperation and the hive of activity once fingers were clicked and dating opened back up again.

This is essentially the challenge that organisations are on the precipice of facing as we break free from COVID-19; as they look to rebound and begin hiring once again.

Their ‘Tinder’s’ are set to drown in a sea of faces and bios; the extent of which they’re unlikely to have encountered before. Some seemingly attractive, some ticking boxes, others falling short of the mark whilst others potentially surprising you once you dig a little deeper into their profile.

The sheer volume of applicants that businesses are set to encounter when advertising job roles in the aftermath of this pandemic is going to be a gamechanger. For many, it’s a game they should have already been participating in, by converting their hiring and filtering activities into a data-driven process. But the truth is, the majority of organisations are losing that particular battle.

To rely on manual filtering methods even in ‘normal’ times would result in missed opportunities; inaccurate validation of candidates and potential ‘misfires’ and ‘mishires’. To rely on manual filtering methods over the coming months as the masses desperately search for a ‘date’ will make the above concerns almost inevitable.

Filtering through the desperation

The issues facing organisations on the hiring front are multifaceted.

They derive from the climate that’s been fostered over the past few months, with many people losing their jobs, many now looking for fresh starts and others looking to leave the potentially insecure flexi-workforce.

This largely means that there will no longer be a typical capability of applicant for any given job role. Previously, that was one filter that would presumably take care of itself, because why would a mass group of people apply for jobs that were either drastically above or beneath their skill-sets?

Desperation alone means more people than ever before will be throwing their hats into the ring for jobs they’re overqualified or underqualified for. Throwing the proverbial at the wall and seeing what sticks won’t be uncommon among an unemployed contingent with mouths to feed.

But of course, especially among the overqualified group, they’ll have the wherewithal to adapt their CVs accordingly. They’ll know to ‘dumb down’ where needed and how to make themselves look as seemingly suitable for the job role as possible.

So, it’s not even as if organisations can quickly wade through those applications and omit those who fall into the under- and over-qualified categories.

At face value, they’re simply going to face an unprecedented deluge. One often misrepresented, misleading and unmanageable.

To demonstrate the potential challenges that organisations face, and the repercussions of the potential chaos that’s about to ensue, we at Match have pinpointed a few key factors that are likely to derail hiring drives post-COVID:

• With an increase in the volume of applications and an ineffective system to filter and communicate, many candidates will become frustrated by the time they’ve wasted in applying for what they may see as a job beneath their value. Word of mouth-induced reputation damage is a possibility.
  
• If hiring fatigue sets in, then those same people may stop applying for roles at your organisation altogether, meaning you may miss out on their expertise for a job that is suitable for them later on.
  
• The ambiguity and limbo of furloughed staff means that more people than ever will be ‘chancing their arm’ at roles. The intent or availability of candidates among the deluge will vary more than ever.
  
• Application fatigue can also set in for you as an organisation, finding it more clouded to find the right person, or even leading you to re-advertise in a different way – costing time and money.
  

• According to Criteria Corp, 78% of CVs contain misleading statements, while 46% contain actual lies. These percentages are likely to rise and it’s tough enough to spot them under normal circumstances. It will be a nigh on impossibility to do so without digital assistance soon.
• With the probability of this process getting away from organisations, investment can also get away from them as a consequence. Do you know how much you spend on internal recruitment? It’s already likely to be less than it would be to engage with an external partner such as Match from an ROI perspective. Outsourcing can not only mitigate the above factors, but can do so more cost-effectively.

Find a marriage, not a fling

The complexity doesn’t end there.

Understandably, with budgets likely to have tightened, the appeal of incredible candidates dropping their standards and dropping their asking prices is clear. When else would businesses have such a calibre of talent knocking their doors down for cheaper outlays?

But good value now doesn’t necessarily mean sustainable success in the long term.

The market will pick up again, and at that time there won’t just be an aforementioned increase in volume among applicants. There will be an extent of chaos in the months and years that follow, as companies begin to build up their own activities again and start to reach prior levels of profitability.
When that moment strikes, those 10/10 bargains picked up post-COVID may well jump ship to re- join their ‘rightful’ partners and peers.

By only hiring for this period, regardless of the beautiful models put in front of you, you’re only likely to create complications further down the line. At that point, the candidate you should have hired to begin with is likely to be ‘seeing someone else’.

Your beautiful date was a fling, not a marriage.

Look through the smoke and mirrors

It’s a minefield at both ends of the spectrum. By trying to capitalise on the current situation, organisations are likely to hire an overqualified candidate on the cheap before losing them later; or overcompensate that fear and hire someone that doesn’t actually fulfil the needs of the role sufficiently.

Essentially the volumes are about to increase, but the margins for error will get smaller in tandem.

Filtering with sustainability, longevity and success in mind needs to remain a core mission among your hiring efforts. But with so many people to filter and validate at scale, the time to turn to digital is now!

The moving parts are too complex and the increased number of parts makes keeping track of those movements impossible. That’s why we’ve seen a vast increase in companies turning to us at Match as we all look towards the much-cliched ‘new norm’ beyond COVID.

Our AI and data-driven, six-stage hiring process leverages decades of experience, client requirements, candidate behaviours and capabilities to help us wade through appearances, smoke, mirrors and peripheral pressures.

By validating talent pools more efficiently, your extensive network will extend even beyond the masses at your door, to find the right person from the market, not just from your inbox.

That six-stage process then ensures automatic feedback, increased success rates, and – perhaps most importantly – a more succinct idea of what ‘good’ looks like bespoke to your organisation, not just in general - which is what many unsuitable applicants will be banking on when glorifying their CVs.

Your perfect Match

Our pace and quality of submissions also speeds up the process, at a time where urgency can be dampened by volume. Our blended resource model is bespoke, flexible and geared up to only unearth the highest value talent.

We showcased this ourselves two years ago, when advertising for a typical role which received 325 responses. After filtering through our process, only ONE candidate fully met the criteria to succeed in the role, with a further two who could have potentially been brought on board.

Companies aren’t aware of this probability issue. The probability of finding ‘the one’ among the hundreds of rubbish dates. It usually leads to a situation of ‘settling’, even if they don’t realise it at the time. Our 1/3 recruitment success rate of the ideal candidate being identified, validated, and then accepting the role, highlights the significance of finding the RIGHT person. And it’s why our clients have remained satisfied and loyal to our model for so many years.

In theory, having a larger number of suitors will increase the likelihood of your prefect person seeking you out. But it also makes it far more difficult to find them.

That’s where we can help.

When hiring, you need to focus and hone your criteria, identify talent, validate their credentials and then gauge their needs and ambitions, before responding appropriately.

Very soon, there will be a lot of undesirables claiming to tick those boxes, encouraging you to ‘swipe right’ manually.

However, only through enhanced data analytics and a digitised approach can organisations effectively wade through those ‘frogs’ to find their perfect ‘Match’.