Hopefully, this does not happen to you, but there are many recruiters that have “req overload” on a regular basis where they are managing over 25 reqs on their desk.
In today’s round-table session, we talk about ways that recruiters can get through their day and manage this type of req load… while keeping sane.
Listen in on what our panelists have to say.
This event is part of the “Let’s Talk Recruiting” series where a panel of recruiting practitioners get together online and have a conversation on a variety of topics related to corporate recruiting.
Click to Play the Recording
Our Panelists…
| Name & LinkedIn Profile | Group | Title | Company |
We asked our attendees, “Do you have a tip that you can give for helping recruiters manage a large req load?”
Here are their answers:
Chat Messages from the Session…
10:04:20 >> From Tamara Garlett : Great point, Mark, however, what if the company releases 25+ roles at any one time and won’t assign priority – in other words ALL of the roles we are releasing to you ARE THE PRIORITY . . . looking forward to tips regarding this issue
10:06:15 >> From Carol Ricciardi to All panelists : I move on to the next one and go back to it the next day.
10:08:33 >> From Catherine Montoya : to add to Tamara’s comment- how are you handling the administrative things alongside the 25 roles being open all at once
10:08:48 >> From Tracey Anderson : Also, Prioritizing the older reqs over the newer reqs
10:08:49 >> From Abby Dooley : @Tamara I agree. How do you suggest the conversation with prioritizing
10:08:52 >> From Antoinette Williams : I have done it; however, sometimes I have to make adjustments. My managers typically do not want to see if they are not quite a fit.
10:09:02 >> From Tracey Anderson : To ensure you are reaching your time to fill goal
10:09:57 >> From Kirsten Barron : Yes Courtney!
10:10:15 >> From Tracey Anderson : I concur Courtney
10:10:33 >> From Darcy Connelly : All of my HM’s think they are at the top of the list!
10:10:57 >> From Brandon Barber to All panelists : Of course Darcy 🙂
10:10:57 >> From Nicole McDaniel to All panelists : Also, prioritizing on the managers that give feedback and respect the hiring process! I’m going to focus on the roles that I know I can get hired the quickest.
10:11:05 >> From Daniella McDonald : In my last position as Manager of TA I had one recruiter who consistently had 40-50 positions. There was a spreadsheet she used with the hiring managers to review priority. Were there roles that had candidates in process or offers out that she could hold off on? Which positions were hiring managers going to recruit on or that were going to be filled by an agency? That helped “reduce” her workload a bit.
10:11:09 >> From Antoinette Williams : i will typically ask the manager what is his/her drop dead time they need a butt in the seat.
10:11:31 >> From Tamara Garlett : I find that providing Hiring Managers with workback calendars (hiring timeline – broken down week by week what is happening in the recruiting process) allows for Hiring Manager anxiety and misunderstanding of the process alleviation (somewhat). Over communicating versus under communicating seems to allay their anxiety . . .
10:11:53 >> From Daniella McDonald : We also had biweekly meetings/calls with the hiring teams to review where things were with positions to determine where focus was needed.
10:12:01 >> From Tamara Garlett : Great question @seanrehder
10:13:46 >> From Cindy McWilliams : I like Tamara’s comment about overcommunicating to reduce hiring manager anxiety. We do weekly recruiting touchbase meetings, even if there are only 10 minutes of updates to share, to maintain timely transparency.
10:14:15 >> From Antoinette Williams : i agree with mark. most of our positions are hard to fill and will take longer than 30 days.
10:14:57 >> From Catherine Montoya : we do
10:15:08 >> From Carol Ricciardi to All panelists : I have a spreadsheet color coded for my HM”s if needed, this helps them stay organized w/candidates in the interview process. Works well.
10:18:05 >> From Elaine DeWitt : When initially posting a req, I would do an intake with the hiring leader to determine the urgency and how they are managing in the meantime. For example, can they distribute some of the duties to others or do they have a TEMP assisting, etc.
10:18:36 >> From Carol Ricciardi to All panelists : me
10:18:51 >> From Daniella McDonald : I have never had a scheduling coordinator.
10:19:00 >> From Tracey Anderson : Me either
10:19:19 >> From Elaine DeWitt : Nor have I —– recruiters handled everything
10:19:26 >> From Tamara Garlett : Scheduling coordinators are GOLD
10:19:29 >> From Alicia Branon to All panelists : Finally just got someone who schedules for me & it is a game changer!
10:19:39 >> From Brandon Barber to All panelists : It is a great thing to have
10:20:03 >> From Simone Press : Most large companies have scheduling coordinators — but the reality is people NEED to ensure those roles are fully mentored and that coordinators have a path to long term success… You have to put time and effort into helping them get to the next career stop.
10:23:07 >> From Tamara Garlett : @simone – completely agree
10:24:01 >> From Nicole McDaniel to All panelists : @Cindy – same I send weekly emails on status of reqs
10:25:07 >> From Bernard Boulos to All panelists : My req load is averaging 25 per quarter
10:26:01 >> From Nicole McDaniel to All panelists : Agree- be consultative to the manager!
10:27:00 >> From Farron McDonald : One thing I haven’t heard yet is reminding your hiring partners that recruiting is a team sport and while you are re-assuring them that you are prioritizing their role, if they have some downtime and are able to find any profiles on LinkedIn or even reach out to any profiles that they are interested in to help beef up the candidate pipeline, it engages them in the process and immediately adds talent to the pipeline where the hiring manager has already demonstrated some level of interest.
10:27:52 >> From Kirsten Barron : Asking their help to solicit referrals from their staff helps too especially if you have solid Referral program in place
10:29:07 >> From Carol Ricciardi to All panelists : That is me, I am also involved in the intake, scheduling, preping, and final offer stage.
10:29:45 >> From Daniella McDonald : I have never experienced the splitting of roles – someone reviewing and screening, someone else takes the rest of the process. My teams have always been full cycle.
10:30:14 >> From Tracey Anderson : I have always been a full cycle recruiter
10:32:11 >> From Brandon Barber to All panelists : anything over 35 is pretty silly
10:32:20 >> From Tamara Garlett : @sean – recruiter optimization studies show between 15 to 18 reqs
10:32:32 >> From Antoinette Williams : i have always been a full cycle recruiter.
10:32:45 >> From Antoinette Williams : i have had as many as 50 reqs.
10:33:06 >> From Daniella McDonald : In a prior role I kept my teams at 12-15 positions, in my last position I had one recruiter close to 20, another as 40-50 and a junior recruiter at like 10. And as the Manager I had 6-12.
10:33:34 >> From Tracey Anderson : I have had as many as 80 reqs
10:34:04 >> From Elaine DeWitt : For those with under 30 reqs, what type of positions and industry? I was a healthcare recruiter handling complex critical care nursing and Resp Therapists and always had over 50 reqs
10:34:18 >> From Tracey Anderson : Sourcing in the evenings so I am ready for the next day.
10:34:27 >> From Tracey Anderson : Making calls on Saturdays as well
10:34:59 >> From Elaine DeWitt : Tracey – I have too! I feel your pain. I once had over 100 reqs
10:35:36 >> From Simone Press : CALENDLY IS AMAZING!!!! And 100% integrates w most tATS
10:35:37 >> From Heather Levine to All panelists : I worked for a huge home health company in the past and also had up to 80 reqs at once. Insane and you really can’t be productive or even fulfill some of the psotiosn.
10:35:44 >> From Alicia Branon to All panelists : I use calendly for sure! It is the easiest way to book candidates!
10:35:49 >> From yanin fucile : Modernhire
10:36:17 >> From Kirsten Barron to All panelists : We use ModernHire as well
10:36:44 >> From David Baker : to Elaine – I have 65 reqs right now (also in healthcare)
10:37:32 >> From Elaine DeWitt : Kudos to you David! I’m sure you work many hours. We used “Time Trade” for our interview scheduling.
10:37:54 >> From Tracey Anderson : Very important
10:38:05 >> From Brandon Barber to All panelists : I think it probably depends a lot on the talent sector. High volume, etc. Tech takes a lot more hand holding.
10:39:00 >> From Tracey Anderson : 2 hour slates for sourcing
10:39:16 >> From Tracey Anderson : yes
10:40:04 >> From Alicia Branon to All panelists : We’ve always done phone & video as preliminary screening & then interviewing. On-site is more of a final round.
10:41:00 >> From Kirsten Barron to All panelists : Modern Hire has that capability. OnDemand Voice and Video itnerviewws
10:43:21 >> From Alicia Branon to All panelists : What is the best way to test Excel modeling skills? Any EEOC approved applications?
10:43:35 >> From Kendall Lockwood to All panelists : what’s the name of the coding app used?
10:44:00 >> From Tracey Anderson : schedule debrief calls with my hiring managers
10:44:00 >> From Mark Wollin to Antoinette Williams and all panelists : Codebunk is what we use
10:44:06 >> From Tracey Anderson : I put times on their calendars
10:44:24 >> From Mark Wollin : Codebunk is what we use
10:44:35 >> From Katherine Amato : yes that is best practice.
10:44:52 >> From Alicia Branon to All panelists : Anyone willing to share their scorecards with me? I am in the process of creating one for our HMs.
10:45:58 >> From Kendall Lockwood to All panelists : Thanks Mark! I’m excited to check this out. Sounds awesome!
10:47:39 >> From Brandon Barber to All panelists : Big time saver
10:47:48 >> From Natalya McCool : How do you spell that?
10:48:16 >> From Tracey Anderson : Is there a tool like that in Google
10:48:34 >> From yanin fucile : is quickparts like text recruit/ICIMS text engagement?
10:48:40 >> From Mike Haley : big fan of Quick Parts in Outlook.. saves a ton of time.
10:48:51 >> From Brandon Barber : its a tool within Outlook. LIke shortcuts
10:50:28 >> From Kirsten Barron to All panelists : Is it like saving Signature templates?
10:50:31 >> From Mike Haley : We also use Textio to help us with JD’s and messaging
10:51:13 >> From Mike Haley : Kirsten, it is similar to templates, but easier to use
10:51:26 >> From Kirsten Barron to All panelists : Thank you!
10:52:07 >> From Cindy McWilliams : Great conversation!
10:52:13 >> From Katherine Amato : Thank you!
10:52:14 >> From Natalya McCool to All panelists : Thank you!
10:52:15 >> From Daniella McDonald : Thank you!
10:52:16 >> From Elaine DeWitt : THANKS !
10:52:17 >> From Antoinette Williams : thank you.
Some of the attendees…
| Name & LinkedIn Profile | Group | Title | Company |
