As a managing partner at Strawn Arnold & Associates, I have spent more than a decade recruiting senior executives, building management teams, and cultivating lasting relationships with talent working on the front lines all the way to the C-suite.
When the pandemic hit, the industry—still experiencing growth—needed to make a rapid adjustment to the way it recruited and hired talent. While the landscape changed and the “new normal” was more new than it was normal, we worked with CEOs and management teams around the country to change the way we did what used to be business as usual.
People still needed jobs (now more than ever), and industry had them. The task was to make meaningful and impactful personal and professional connections in a new way. This new way of doing things is here to stay, not because of this or future pandemics but because it works.
The New Normal Works
In any industry, there are regional differences, and the pandemic added another dimension to that reality. In some places, it was still the norm to meet for an in-person meeting—even as recently as the fall. Generally, on the coasts, virtual meetings were more dominant, but even then, there were variances. As little as a month or 2 later, that variance had been eliminated, and almost all of our recruitment is now entirely virtual.
While it’s true that, given the unpredictable political and economic landscape, coupled with the potentially slow rollout of the vaccine, some companies are freezing hiring unless essential, many companies are rapidly embracing new technologies and approaches to recruiting in order to keep their competitive edge. There are inevitable challenges but overwhelmingly positive outcomes and benefits.
Fortunately, some things remain unchanged—or, at least, one thing. The initial sourcing process for recruiting talent is still essentially the same. It’s still about staying connected, whether that’s using LinkedIn, specialty databases, industry referrals, or personal contacts.
It’s still about using social media and e-mail to stay in contact (and even more so), and it’s still about one’s knowledge of a specific industry and harnessing technology to attain the most successful recruitments. It’s all the same, only amplified—and that’s where the same old, same old ends.
Here come the challenges and the benefits.
The Pros and Cons
Traveling for an in-person interview during the pandemic is simply not viable. Face-to-face dinners are a thing of the past—for now, anyway. Using social media-driven screenings and online chats provides a great deal of information with no risk. Zoom interviews allow you to meet a more diverse pool of candidates in a shorter period of time.
The benefits are clear: Virtual interviews are safer and more cost-effective. Even after the pandemic subsides, the benefits will inform how companies screen candidates, and much of what’s virtual will remain.
Additionally—and paradoxically—virtual hiring allows clients to actually hone in and get to know potential talent better than ever before. Without the distraction of a restaurant or another public place, both the client and the talent have each other’s undivided attention, and many candidates are more candid and open when answering questions from home rather than in a formal office environment. This allows for a more in-depth interview engagement.
Yet the challenges exist, and despite the fact that virtual interviewing has been the norm since March 2020, some companies are still resistant to making a final hiring decision without a face-to-face interaction—especially for executive-level positions. The concerns are valid. We are humans, after all, and a great deal of information can be obtained from in-person meetings through body language and even a handshake. Nevertheless, these challenges are not insurmountable.
Tips for Successful Remote Interviews
By using a few key techniques during virtual interviews, companies can get the information they need and, more importantly, the confidence they need to make the hire.
Firstly, without the benefit of an in-person interview, you need to prepare more in-depth questions to assess whether the person is a fit with your company’s culture. Secondly, it’s helpful to ask the same question in a variety of ways and with different framings. This will allow you to fill in a more dimensional narrative of the candidate. Thirdly, ask for examples. Asking for examples invites candidates to share more of their experience and expertise and allows for a richer conversation.
Questions about their ideal work environment, their greatest failure, and how they view their work can help create the most accurate picture of how these candidates will fit in from a collaborative and team-building perspective.
However, even with the best interview techniques and technologies, some senior roles still require an in-person meeting, and with some planning and communication, a final meeting can be set up out of the office with social distancing protocols in place. I’ve seen final meetings take place during a walk in the park or a coffee outside, weather permitting. Even these interactions can provide additional information and connection that is useful.
A major challenge in the virtual world is providing your candidate with a clear picture of your company’s culture. Without an in-office meeting and tour, it’s hard to get a sense of the surroundings to see if it’s a fit, which is crucial for retention. There are workarounds for both the company and the candidate.
Firstly, companies can offer virtual tours, lunches, and meet-and-greets so candidates can get a sense of how people interact and get along. Secondly, candidates need to ask more pointed questions than they would if they were in the office. These include questions such as what the surroundings are like, the neighborhood, the décor, and even artwork—all of this gives a sense of the company and whether it would be a culture fit.
Lastly, the challenges and benefits of virtual hiring will not go away when the pandemic does. The challenge is to adapt to the new technologies and even embrace them. Take advantage of how seamless virtual interactions have become, and enjoy the benefit of time saved in return.
Making the most of the virtual hiring process can help you recruit top talent no matter how or where you connect. Companies that embrace the challenge will be the clear winners in the long run.
Oliver Esman is a managing partner at Strawn Arnold & Associates, Ltd., who joined the company in 2006, after a 30-year career in corporate human resources. Since joining the firm, he has established a broad search practice that focuses on clients in the generics, specialty pharmaceuticals, and pharmaceutical services industries.