I’ve often wondered, “How do we make more perfect matches between candidates and employers?” It’s a question that’s plagued recruiters and staffing professionals for decades, but in the interest of time—and ever-expanding workloads—most have given up the “right fit” for “right now” needs.
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While culture fit has become a strong focus in recent years, it entails a lot more than finding someone who simply blends into and feeds a company’s existing culture. Due to a variety of factors, including pressure to meet financial targets, we tend to try to fill a role as quickly as possible, sacrificing other intangibles. But we should be holding out for a long-term fit—someone who is the right person for the role and the company and who also feels that the company and job are right for him or her.
After all, Deloitte estimates that losing an employee can cost a company up to two times that person’s annual salary. With more than 15 million people cycling through staffing companies over the course of a year, according to Staffing Industry Analysts, recruiters are at the epicenter of a very expensive—but potentially lucrative—endeavor.
The real benefits—financial and otherwise—only come with the right fit who’s in it for the long haul.
Recruiting’s Next Transformation
As I’ve discussed before, the recruiting industry has sometimes relied too heavily on technology, sapping its work of the human touch that candidates so desperately need (and often demand). While working to rectify that, we at Monster have identified another gap in the industry’s thinking: the right fit.
A quarter century ago, finding a job was complicated and frustrating. Jobseekers scoured newspaper classifieds, surveyed their friend networks, and wrote letters—or even showed up in person—to businesses to find possible openings. The number of opportunities available was the direct result of an absurd level of investigating. People settled for what they could find.
Twenty-five years ago, Monster was born. By compiling everything in one place, we gave people the power. And yet, traditional job boards haven’t been able to help candidates and employers find the right fit.
Job boards supply the information, job descriptions, and résumés needed to start the search for those perfect matches, but a human still has to sift through it all. Conversations and face-to-face meetings are required to find out whether there’s any spark or possibility for a long-term commitment between candidate and company.
As the industry and job boards evolved, candidates became a commodity. Algorithms took the place of thoughtful connections, and people began to feel that submitting their résumé was nearly the same thing as sending it into a black hole. Employers weren’t happy, either: They were underwhelmed by the quality of the applications they received. They blamed recruiting and staffing professionals for the unqualified placements they dealt with.
The “right fit” is a deeply personal definition. It’s specific to the role, person, and company at hand. One person may be looking for a flexible environment with lots of autonomy and opportunities to work on passion projects; another person may want a big-picture role that pulls on varied skill sets and features a short commute. The right opportunity will look very different to each of these people, and for companies, the right employee will, too. An algorithm can’t pinpoint that.
Investing in the Right Fit
So many staffing agencies and recruiters have built their reputations on filling openings quicker than anyone else. The right hire, however, saves clients from the headaches of high turnover. Investing in a more comprehensive vetting process using the right solutions can help candidates and employers truly see each other.
Monster is investing in different tools that will make that process more meaningful and effectual for both employers and candidates. The goal is to create tangible solutions to some of the more theoretical problems recruiters face, injecting a human touch with technology’s help.
The first is Monster Studios, a mobile app that empowers recruiters to quickly and cost-effectively record professional-looking videos that showcase a company, role, and team. Seeing and hearing the people a candidate will work with can make an opportunity feel more authentic and compelling. Forrester Research found that a minute’s worth of video is worth 1.8 million words.
That’s accompanied by SearchMonster, which meets consumers’ expectation that they can refine their search in certain ways. The tool combines precision-search technology with direct messaging, pulling data from different platforms to provide a fuller picture of each candidate.
Our new “fit” meter works alongside these two. Displaying on the candidate’s side, this tool helps candidates quickly scan the job opportunities presented to them and immediately identify which ones might be most relevant. Striving for a strong fit, the meter looks beyond the application phase to determine possible opportunities through skills, interests, experience, and personal priorities.
Perfection’s not possible. The pressure to produce the perfect candidate or the perfect role may lead recruiters to avoid considering fit as the desired result altogether. But a perfect match—the right fit—is entirely possible and absolutely necessary. The right fit is how recruiters, candidates, and companies find long-term success and stop focusing on short-term needs.
| As the Chief Executive Officer for Monster, Scott Gutz oversees the company’s ongoing commitment to transform the recruitment industry and bring humanity back to the job market. Scott leads a global team of more than 2,000 employees across 20 countries. Scott joined the company in July 2018 to help grow the business of Monster and improve outcomes for both employers and candidates. Previously, he was CEO for Amadeus North America, Inc., the leading provider of technology solutions to the travel and tourism industry. Similar to Monster, which strives to connect people and jobs, Amadeus is a two-sided marketplace that aims to connect travelers and travel providers. He’s brought significant expertise and experience with technology, ecommerce and digital transformation to his role at Monster. To learn more about Scott, or to connect with him on LinkedIn, click here. |