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Volume Hiring vs. Regular Recruitment Process: 5 Key Differences

By | Connor Circle

Employers want employees with personalities and career aspirations that align with the company’s culture and the bigger picture. To get their ideal candidates, recruiters have to invest a great deal of time, thoughts, and money in their recruitment processes. Recruiters should also be able to choose the most appropriate process between regular and volume recruitment models for their unique hiring needs. This article explores the key differences between the two models just to help talent acquisition teams make the best pick.

  1. Definition

These two recruitment models are primarily different by definition.

Volume hiring: This is when a recruiter needs to hire many employees at one and for similar roles. The recruits can be in their thousands.

Regular recruitment: This is when a recruiter needs to hire just one employee for just one open role.

You can already see how this fundamental difference precipitates a whole load of other differences.

  1. Sourcing for the new recruits

Volume hiring: Recruiters here are interested in finding both quality and quantity. They, therefore, have to adopt a multi-channeled advertisement approach in order to maximize their reach. They have to list available vacancies on local job boards, advertise on mainstream media, work with social media influencers, and ask existing employees for referrals. Sometimes recruiters are forced to go back and contact vetted but unsuccessful candidates from previous job interviews. Simply put, the sourcing process in volume hiring is quite rigorous and extensive.

Regular recruitment: Recruiters here are interested in the quality of the candidates they get, not so much about the quantity. The sourcing process is quite straightforward too. Recruiters advertise available job slots on major job boards and get a ton of suitable candidates within a few days. It’s that simple.

  1. The application process

Volume recruitment: When advertising for job vacancies, recruiters have to build a strong value proposition to convince potential recruits to apply. The recruiter has to portray a reputable brand and company culture to potential candidates. When candidates reach out, sometimes recruiters have to plead with them to recommend other potential candidates or vouch for the company in their social circles. In a nutshell, it is incumbent upon recruiters to make the application process appealing, exciting, and painless in order to catch the attention of potential candidates and attract the huge numbers they need.

Regular recruitment: Recruiters don’t worry themselves about the pain candidates go through during the application process. The application process is boring and somewhat uninspiring. It is incumbent upon applicants to impress, catch the recruiter’s attention, and explain their potential. It’s only after the recruiter is impressed that candidates get a chance to sit with HR for further discussions.

  1. The assessment process

Volume recruitment: It is not humanly possible to sort through thousands of applications, assess each application manually, and grade candidates. That’s unless the recruiter has all the time in the world, which is another impossibility. For this reason, recruiters use automation to shorten the process. There are automation tools that recruiters can program and deploy for the assessment and grading of special talents, abilities, job experience, and personalities of job applicants. The process isn’t perfect because it misses out on important indicators such as applicants’ education qualifications, but it is efficient in sieving out outliers and unqualified applicants. Automated processes are also less prone to errors and hiring bias.

Regular recruitment: Because the list of applicants is short, talent acquisition teams can easily screen applicants manually, create shortlists, and perform role-specific assessments on the shortlisted applicants. Unlike automated mass screening, manual screening gives recruiters the freedom to consider their gut feeling and intuition when assessing candidates. Manual processes, however, are prone to human errors and biases.

  1. The actual interviews

Volume recruitment: Unfortunately, interviews cannot be automated. The interview process is, therefore, long and tedious. Sometimes recruiters are forced to interview candidates over calls or emails just to speed up the process.

Regular recruitment: The process is also thorough and tedious, but at least it isn’t as long as volume recruitment.

Note:

For companies seeking to expand to international markets, the two recruitment models above may not be viable. Foreign labor markets are hard to navigate, mainly because recruitment and employment laws vary from one country to the other. For example if you are going through the company  registration process in Singapore then it is better to allow a professional employer organization (PEO) to handle your entire recruitment process. PEO employment is viable for a multinational workforce for two key reasons. One, PEOs are familiar with the employment laws around the world. Two, they are sufficiently skilled and equipped to navigate the language and bureaucratic challenges of international business expansion.

Final word

Whichever recruitment process you use, recruiters should ensure that it is efficient and without bias. That’s how they will get the right talents for the job. Remember: A rushed, biased recruitment process will negatively impact the operations and profitability of a company in the long run.

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