Recruiting during the holidays

Hey everyone, hope you are doing well.  Sorry I’ve been slow to post here lately, I’ve been really with the Recruiter Tips and Tricks series on the Google Students Blog that posts have been few and far between.  However, I did have some things I wanted to get out there this week.  Recruiting during the holidays.  It’s tough right?  No one wants to do anything and people are taking time off for vacation and shopping all over the place...meanwhile, you’ve got jobs to fill.  Here are a few thoughts!

Be Sensitive -  This time of year it’s impossible to try and stuff interviews in...there are just too many things going on.  You’ve got to be sensitive to people and how they celebrate the holidays.  When trying to schedule an interview you’ve got to think not only of the candidate, but also of your team.  I mean, some of these people might celebrate Festivus and you don’t want to offend those folks.....

Timing - Timing is brutal this time of the year.  No one works the last week of the year, and if they do....they are not cranking along at full speed.  So you need to be smart about who you schedule for interviews and when they come in.  The worst thing you can do is book something on a day where no one wants to be there....and have the candidate suffer from a poor interview experience.

Expectations - Last but not least...make sure you set expectations properly.  Don’t tell the candidate you’ll have an offer on 12/23....only to not call them back until January.  Same goes for hiring managers, lets face it...if the job isn’t filled yet it’s likely not getting filled until 2012.  Turth hurts people but being upfront and setting realistic expectations will go a long way towards your 2012 goals.

That’s it, I’m going to try and get one more of my stupid movie related blogs by the end of the year.......we’ll see.  Until then, good luck wrapping up the year!!