If you are like most recruiters, you probably spend a (large?) part of your time lamenting – or even complaining – about the lack of talent in certain jobs and/or in certain industries… #TooSad
“I can’t take it anymore! Where are all the good candidates hiding… Seriously?! 🤯🔥”
At the same time, most recruiting processes leave untold numbers of potential talent by the wayside! Basically, that entails just about everyone who does not fit 100% with the hyper-restrictive job description or with the prototypical representation of the ideal candidate*. For example, did you know that “Mohammed” had to send 20 CVs on average to get an interview while “Michael” only needed 5 (and 4 for “Nathalie”) to get an appointment with a recruiter? **
* Yours or that of the manager for whom you are recruiting…
** Study by the Montaigne Institute (October 2015)
Why does that happen?
The problem is, many recruiting teams continue to behave like the music label “Majors” of the 80s and 90s (pre-internet period) did.
At the time, the music you had access to was narrowly limited to what the major labels considered “worthy of signing”! As a result, the scope of the songs you heard on the radio was EXTREMELY limited, all relayed in a lazy way by the Top 100 and other incredibly conservative rankings… Of course, fans of more underground music could spend their time researching the few songs that were out of the ordinary… on the condition, however, of knowing precisely which shops would carry them!
And what was happening to the tens of thousands of artists whose demos had not caught the attention of the big labels? Well, pretty much the same as in the literature publishing field… their works never truly saw the light of day! Classified as “alternative”, these records or books found themselves buried in niche categories… with no chance of reaching their potential audience!
And then out of nowhere: 💥BOOOOOM💥 The internet changed everything! ✨🚀✨
From Napster to MySpace to YouTube to TikTok, technological advancements revolutionized the music industry. Today, virtually anyone can make their music accessible to the rest of the world. And the World can choose – each on their own – what they want to listen to and discover! And fortunately, it’s no longer up to the select few producers and select few big labels to dictate what audiences should listen to.
Likewise, when it comes to recruiting, it is not keyword research, targeted schools, degrees earned, or any other restrictive practice that should dictate who is a good fit (or not) in relation to the open jobs open at your (or any) company…
From “Perfect Fit” to “High Potential”!
Despite technological advancements that have transformed the recruitment landscape in recent years, most companies continue to rely heavily on (pre) selection criteria from another age: “I want a Russel Group/Ivy League grad”, “Must have a Masters degree”, “Minimum 3 years of experience or no chance!”…
Result: lengthy recruitment delays, the frustration of operational managers who can’t find “good profiles”, candidates who are struggling to find a job… Clearly, this way of doing things does not/no longer works. #GameOver
Bonus: 46% of candidates recruited using this “classic” approach are dismissed or have resigned after barely 18 months. And in 89% of cases, it has nothing to do with the technical skills of the applicants, the schools they attended or their previous experiences!
How to recruit more diverse profiles.
#1 – Recruit on (actual) skills, abilities and potential!
Candidate’s having the “right background” is NOT an essential condition for success… and in no way does it guarantee their integration and their development – in your company – especially over the long term.
#2 – Broaden your perspectives… and your sourcing channels.
Spend time sourcing new schools (and not just the Top 10), dedicate time (or someone on your team) to it! If you don’t… nothing new will happen.
#3 – Use the proper tools.
If you want to shortlist your talent based on the right criteria (potential), continuing to base your choices on CV keyword scorings will get you nowhere. Equip yourself with solutions pour analyse personality, motivations or cognitive abilities of your candidates. Try predictive recruitment!
#4 – Be open to new and unfamiliar profiles, representative of the society in which we all live!
People with disabilities, of various origins, promote the representation of gender and age within your teams… without any particular preconceptions.
Obviously, to achieve such a result, the largest obstacle to overcome will undoubtedly be shifting the overall mindset from an intellectual point of view… Because good news! The characteristics that represent potential are extremely well and evenly distributed in the all segments of the population.
What if the only thing to do to start finding more “good candidates” is to simply change your outlook on what defines “talent”?
