recruiter using hiring tools to hire candidates

AI for Hiring

5 Incredible Ways To Easily Manage the Blue-Collar Talent Shortage With Hiring Solutions

July 8, 2022

Tima Rassool

Tima Rassool

Content Writer

Lack of skills, education, and the unorganised nature of the workforce has made it harder for companies to find blue-collar workers but hiring solutions are here to help.

There are various methods and solutions you can use to source blue-collar workers that will effortlessly help recruiters to build a talent pipeline for various projects. Many sectors are facing a workforce shortage due to the 2020 reverse migration and thus need solid recruiting techniques. A lack of solid recruiting techniques can lead to low productivity, a loss in business competency, and an extension of project timelines which would collectively hurt bottom lines. So, without further ado find out the recruiting techniques and hiring solutions you need to navigate the talent shortage among blue-collar positions!

Start By Posting To Niche Job Boards

a recruiter enhancing the candidate experience by using hiring solutions

Niche job sites help you target the right audience and reduce irrelevant applications. So if you’re not getting all the candidates you want by posting jobs on mainstream job boards, opt to try out targeted job sites too. For example, if you’re looking for construction employees, advertise your jobs on the best construction job boards. For manufacturing roles (e.g. welder, machinist, assembler), you can use job sites like Manufacturing Jobs, Manufacturing Crossing or JobsInManufacturing. You can also find other dedicated job boards for a variety of blue-collar professions. For example, check out Nexxt’s network of local and national job sites. This is where hiring solutions like EVA-REC come in useful. Our world-class hiring solution helps you post jobs with one single click to 2,000+ job boards, channels, and social media platforms. This allows you to boost your sourcing efforts and create a more targeted approach when it comes to job posting

Use Employee Referrals

recruiters improving hiring process by using hiring solutions

Employee referrals are one of the most effective recruiting methods. Referred employees tend to stay longer at the company and are better culture fits. So, ask your workers if they know other competent people who can fill your open roles. Start your referral program by determining what referral rewards you’ll give for successful referrals, and how you’ll reach out to your workers. For example, hiring solutions like EVA-REC have a built-in referral function to make it easier for you to request referrals, and for your employees to find qualified people in their network and refer them.

Hire Veterans

recruiters using hiring solutions for candidates

If only there was an entire group of highly trained and skilled candidates who are often unemployed or looking for a new career. Well, there are; military veterans are often trained in the supply chain, construction, driving and other fields, and they could easily transfer these skills to careers in non-military pursuits. So, consider including a veteran hiring program in your recruitment strategy. Again, you can use hiring solutions like EVA-REC to post job ads for veterans and market your company as a veteran-friendly employer and more.

Customise Evaluation Methods

a recruiter using hiring solutions

With exceptions, most blue-collar jobs don’t require a college or university degree. This means that traditional cognitive ability and personality tests may be difficult for some candidates, especially if they belong to older generations. This will make you lose some great candidates at the beginning of the recruiting process. What you can do though, is try out innovative hiring solutions, such as video interviews or gamification. Gamification can incredibly enhance the candidate experience by simply making the recruiting process more interesting, engaging, and fun for candidates. This is done through less complex game levels, simplified instructions and implementation of a warm-up game, so the candidates could get involved with better success.

Be Mobile-friendly

a recruiter using hiring solutions to send out emails

According to a recent Glassdoor survey, blue-collar job seekers are more likely to use their phones to look for jobs than other workers. This means that if you haven’t optimised your career page or application forms for mobile – you could potentially lose qualified candidates. To combat that, here are some actions you can take:

  • Ask your development team to test your career pages and application form on various mobile devices.
  • Go through an application process yourself on mobile to see if there are issues with the process (aesthetic, functional, etc.)
  • Ensure your application forms aren’t overly complex or take too long to complete since this will likely increase the abandonment rate on mobile where the screen is smaller, making it more difficult to complete lengthy processes.

Is All Of This Too Much To Do? It Will Become Easier With The Right Hiring Solutions!

If hiring blue-collar workers sound like a herculean task, you can make it much easier by choosing good hiring solutions as your ally. When you’ve committed to the hiring solutions updates your team needs to make the most effective and efficient hiring decisions, you’re ready to get out there and meet talent. And you can connect with the confidence that you’re introducing candidates to a positive experience with your HR team long after the offer has been made. EVA-REC is one of our comprehensive hiring solutions that helps small businesses to corporate giants build skilful workforces and hire top talent at scale. Our purpose is to help companies of all sizes find, attract, and hire the right people, every time. It offers world-class AI features and technology that is fully customizable – and creates a rich and immersive hiring experience for HR teams and candidates alike. Seeing is believing! Request a free demo and see the exceptional results you can achieve with EVA-REC today.

Turn top talent to employees fast

Hire, assess, onboard and manage top talent for every job. See how Elevatus streamlines everything; from acquire to new hire.

Request a demo

Author

Tima Rassool

Tima Rassool

A wordsmith, storyteller, and content strategist – Tima is an MBA graduate with 6+ years of experience in the world of HR. With over 2,000 blogs under her belt, Tima's expertise and insights have helped businesses across the globe take their recruitment to the next level and stay ahead of the curve.

Turn top talent to employees fast

Hire, assess, onboard and manage top talent for every job. See how Elevatus streamlines everything; from acquire to new hire.

Request a demo