Hiring update: Hourly role insights

College students, part-time workers and high schoolers are looking for hourly employment, and hiring teams are often faced with the pressure to fill these roles fast. But there’s good news for both sides of the hiring process. 

Despite economic uncertainty and the lingering pandemic ripple effect, the labor market for hourly workers remains strong.  The restaurant industry alone expects to hire 502,000 jobs, the highest since 2017, according to the National Restaurant Association.

In addition, despite inflation, consumers are still taking advantage of vacations, dining out and entertainment, creating many opportunities for frontline, blue-collar and hourly workers. For hiring teams that need quick, efficient solutions to hire at scale, here are three tips to ensure your candidates are accepting your offers and not the competition’s.  

Match skills, not titles 

Widen your recruiting funnel with smart, chat-based job matching. Conversational AI matches candidates to all the jobs they fit, not just the ones they search for. And when job titles vary greatly in name, it’s important to have technology in place that recognizes the skills a candidate has that can be advantageous for major roles. 

It may sound simple, but if your candidates are searching for “server” positions, and your company calls them “waiter” or “waitress,” you could be missing out on qualified candidates.  Chatbots match candidates based on skills, so they can access all the roles available. The burden of responsibility is no longer on the candidates to ensure they’re searching for specific titles correctly — enhancing your candidate experience in the process.

Start texting

Gen Z candidates, born between 1997-2012, are a digitally-native generation. They grew up with internet, smartphones and social media. And when they prefer texting. they it’s important that you meet them there—because playing phone and email tag is not only outdated but inefficient.  

• Invites & Reminders: Send a text invitation to remind candidates to complete video interviews or assessments. This also includes the ability to reschedule or cancel video interviews.
• Text-to-Apply: Advertise job openings with QR codes or text codes
• Direct Messaging (Text Recruiting): 1:1 or mass text campaigns sent from within a
  dashboard (not your personal phone). Easily engage your past employees about new
  opportunities or touch base on last minute details with new hires. 

Texting allows you to engage or re-engage in seconds, so you and your candidates can move
quickly.

Offer a Virtual Job Tryout

Making quality hires is one thing but ensuring they stick with you is another. Offering a virtual job tryout to candidates, offers a realistic job preview as part of the hiring process. It gives candidates a glimpse into what their day-to-day would look like so they know if it’s something they want to keep pursuing. The science-backed assessment helps teams understand if candidates are the right fit—helping them discover the potential in each of them.

For example, Walmart has incorporated a custom virtual job tryout into their hiring for retail associates. It gives potential employees an idea of what they can expect in the role. As a result, Walmart has seen:

• 400,000 new hires in 4 months;
• 100% candidates would recommend applying; and

• 95% completion rate.