“It’s still at 23%,” says Khitij, 27, glancing to check his phone’s battery life. He has been diligently working with his phone on charge since the start of his shift. With two roles left to shortlist candidates for, he's only halfway there. Khitij explains, "For each position, I need to make around 25-30 calls from a pool of a hundred potential candidates.Tough hai - but I get it done.”
Khitij (name changed to protect privacy) is an experienced recruiter working for a leading staffing firm in India. He considers his work to be a battle, the battle for talent. Specifically, he handles the Oil and Gas sector. “Fastest finger first chalta hai idhar,” he remarks as his phone buzzes for the umpteenth time. He winces but still smiles as he talks to a potential candidate. He has had too much talking to do today!
Firms face intensified competition, many now rely on staffing agencies like the one where Khitij works to fulfil their workforce requirements. This works better for them, given the seasonality, the unpredictability of demand and onerous labour compliance that needs to be maintained. In the era of digital commerce, staffing firms have emerged as crucial partners in talent acquisition. This reflects in the quality of the output that's demanded of recruiters. "They want specific skill sets and the right prior work experience. They have double the expectation - in half the time," bemoans Khitij. Moreover, with an estimated ~30,000 staffing firms in India, the industry's fragmentation further fuels fierce competition in acquiring the right talent.
"If they had a rupee for every WhatsApp message they have to read, they would be millionaires." They should spend a disproportionate time speaking to candidates and understanding if they really are who they claim to be.
Once a job or, in recruiter parlance - a project - is received, it’s almost an organised chaos that unfolds. Recruiters utilise a wide range of communication channels, including WhatsApp and LinkedIn, to disseminate job information and reach potential candidates. Job-board and database searches are conducted diligently to find suitable candidates. Constant phone calls are made to engage interested individuals and confirm their willingness to pursue the opportunity. WhatsApp groups play a crucial role as a source of referral candidates that must be checked, adding to the complexity of managing multiple channels simultaneously. There are more tabs open on a browser than calls from a team leader checking up on the progress.
Empowering Recruiters with Technology
Recruiters play a crucial role in the talent acquisition process, but what drives their motivation day in and day out? “Sense of achievement hai. I work for my team leader, and we are central to our company. Also, someone gets a job because of all this” there is evident pride in Khitij’s voice. Once the dust has settled, there is a feeling of a well-done job. After all the chaos of phone calls, WhatsApp campaigns, and resume searches, it is time to head home after a job well done.
Fortunately, recruitment doesn’t need to be this chaotic. Technology is driving a transformation in the recruitment ecosystem, introducing AI-powered tools that bring order to data and simplify resume parsing.. Recruiters are invaluable strategic assets, engaging in a daily battle to identify the perfect talent for their organisations. Their efforts should not be reduced to blind outreach, merely hoping for a handful of successful conversions. Instead, recruiters should spend a disproportionate time speaking to candidates - and understanding if they really are who they claim to be.
At Hunar.ai, we are dedicated to providing recruiters with innovative digital solutions to enhance their recruitment practices. Our goal is to revolutionise the industry and empower recruiters to achieve their recruitment goals effectively. By leveraging our advanced CRM platform, workforce agencies and recruiting firms can streamline their operations, digitise their data and automate job campaigns. This enables recruiters to save time on tele-calling tasks and focus on conducting subjective assessments, leading to improved efficiency in talent acquisition. So that recruiters actually do faster what they’ve always been doing - winning the war for talent.
