Criteria Corp Blog

Companies are in a crunch to find the right candidates for their open positions, and one of the biggest reasons for this is that they simply aren’t getting enough applicants in the first place. Factors like the skills gap and the low unemployment rate are having an impact on just about anyone who is in the business of hiring. But these widespread trends don't change the fact that you still need to fill your open positions.

When your goal is to hire the best person for the job, you don’t want to feel constrained by a tiny applicant pool. While there’s no easy solution to a lack of applicants, here are a few things that might be preventing you from getting as many applicants as you possibly can:

In the current job market, companies are struggling to find enough qualified candidates for their open positions. According to research from Glassdoor, 76% of hiring professionals find that attracting quality applicants is their #1 challenge. The problem may be felt even more strongly by small businesses, for which over half say they receive “few or no qualified applicants” for their open positions.

In an ideal world, every worker wants to love what they do, or, at the very least, look forward to coming into work every day. While finding happiness at work is a personal goal that many people have, ensuring employee happiness is a goal that many companies should have as well. And not just out of the kindness of their hearts – the reality is that happy employees are also good for the bottom line.

A new year offers new opportunities to improve the hiring process for the better. Yesterday, we hosted a webinar that aimed to explore some of the biggest trends in hiring this year and to identify the most impactful ways to drive success within the context of today’s hiring landscape.

When technology changes, it doesn’t just affect the tech industry – it affects every industry. Technology is altering the very nature of our jobs by changing the way we communicate with each other, the way we organize our work activities, and the way we approach our rapidly shifting job responsibilities. One estimate suggests that 65% of children entering school today will work in jobs that do not yet exist, and we’re already witnessing a lot of that change right before our eyes.

For decades, a college degree has been the metaphorical gateway to a solid career path. But rising education costs and growing student loan debt may be causing a decline in college enrollment in the United States – enrollment numbers have been falling for the last 6 years.

Anyone who’s involved in the hiring process knows how challenging it can be to manage all the moving pieces. For every single job you’re hiring for, you first need to create a job description; this job description then gets posted across a variety of different job boards online or throughout your IRL networks; next, applicants start flowing in, each sending in a resume or application, but also often sending in other documents like cover letters, work portfolios, or certifications; and then you have to shuffle all of these candidates through each stage of the hiring process, from phone screening to in-person interview to formal offer and more.

Flexible work schedules are gaining in popularity, and it’s likely that more and more companies will continue to start offering more flexibility in some form or another. Of course, there isn’t just one type of “flexible working” situation – it can take many forms, including remote telecommuting; flexible schedules like four 10-hour shifts per week; or alternative daily schedules with different start and end times than the traditional 9 to 5. Should your organization start accommodating flexible working schedules in some capacity? Weigh the pros and cons for yourself.

The benefits of integrating two platforms together is clear – syncing all your information in one place makes it easier for you to work faster and more efficiently without switching between platforms. But full-scale custom integrations between platforms can sometimes be time-consuming, technically complex, and labor-intensive for all parties involved. And sometimes the platforms don’t integrate at all.

A new year means a new start. And while many of us are resolving to eat healthier or exercise more, hiring professionals are no doubt entering 2019 with some ideas about how to make their hiring processes even better. Here are a couple of resolutions we could all strive for when it comes to hiring great employees this year.