Have you ever come to work on Monday, sat down at your desk and saw your recruiting pipeline filled almost overnight? The feeling can be one of pure joy, or a chaotic nightmare, depending on your process for candidate screening. More and more companies are opening the recruiting floodgates in an effort to combat the driver shortage, only to overburden their recruiters and negatively impact their recruiting process.
But how can more candidates be a bad thing? Having a robust pipeline is something that every recruiting department in the country aspires to have. But there are pitfalls to having more candidates than your team can handle and the impact can be disastrous.
If you are struggling with your recruiting pipeline or process, know that you are not alone. Most fleets have areas that can be improved upon, and sometimes an outside perspective is needed. Have you ever heard the saying, “can’t see the forest for the trees?”
4 Pitfalls of a Failed Driver Screening Process
Sure that endless stream of driver leads might seem like a godsend, but there are underlying issues with approaching recruiting in this manner. Namely, your team only has a certain number of hours in the day, and it is impossible to make that many connections in such a short amount of time. This becomes especially true if you are dumping more and more leads on them day after day. Here are four common pitfalls that overburdened recruiting teams face.
Unqualified Candidates
Driver recruiting is like a minefield, one misstep, and the candidate that you were so excited to get into a truck is suddenly disqualified. Making your recruiter wade through one unqualified candidate after another is frustrating at best. In truth, it can be soul-crushing.
Antiquated systems, like Indeed and Craigslist, are filled with candidates that might have a CDL, but do not hold the endorsements that you need. They might be job hoppers, or they might have too many accidents. Your recruiters’ time is better spent on qualified applicants that can get deeper into the process.
Missed Opportunities
Speaking of more highly qualified candidates, chances are you are one of several fleets vying for their attention. Currently, it is a buyers market, and you had better believe that recruiters that are late to the game will be behind the eight ball.
All of that time that Recruiter Dave has spent trying to contact John Doe who has been with nine companies this year alone, could have been spent with someone who would have been a great fit for your company. Only he/she wasn’t contacted in a timely manner (if ever) and instead went with your competitor.
Wasted Time/Money
In the recruiting world, time is money and every second that is wasted on unqualified candidates is costing you. These costs go much farther than your recruiters’ salary. After all, you did pay for that recruiting ad, and that was in an effort to fill those empty trucks that cost you each day that they remain empty.
Look at the opportunity cost as well, if your recruiters were only dealing with highly qualified candidates, think how much more quickly could you fill those trucks. If they are on the road one week sooner, how much additional revenue could be added each month? Would you then be able to add capacity and grow your fleet? A failed recruiting process touches much more than you might think.
Recruiter Burnout
Driver recruiting is a tough job, and recruiter burnout is a real issue within the trucking industry. As recruiters become overburdened the threat becomes real, and smaller fleets are playing with fire if their only recruiter suddenly up and quits.
The best way to ensure that recruiters are successful is to provide them the tools they need to do the job properly and avoid unwarranted challenges along the way. This can be through the use of technology or through simple processes to ensure they are getting the best possible candidates.
Driver Screening That Actually Works
Acknowledging that you are creating more work for your recruiters and causing more harm than good is the first step. Partnering with a team that has been in the recruiting trenches and understands the importance of properly screened candidates is the next.
The KJ Media team got its start in the recruiting chair and knows the frustrations that come with unfiltered pipelines. Even the best applicant tracking system in the world cannot help you get through the daily deluge of drivers that happens when screening fails. Our systems are designed to put the best candidates possible at your doorstep so that recruiters can have more meaningful conversations and get trucks filled. Connect with our team to schedule a consultation today.
