Seasonal hiring update: hourly role insights

Every year, an influx of college students, part-time workers, and high schoolers are looking for summer employment. And every year, hiring teams are faced with the pressure to fill roles fast. 

But there’s good news for both sides of the hiring process. Despite economic uncertainty and the lingering pandemic ripple effect, seasonal workers are facing a promising season. 

According to Forbes, “The restaurant industry alone expects to hire 502,000 seasonal jobs this summer, the highest since 2017, according to the National Restaurant Association.”

In addition, despite inflation, consumers are still taking advantage of vacations, dining out, and entertainment, creating many opportunities for frontline, blue-collar, and hourly workers.

With an influx of candidates and open roles this summer, it’s safe to say seasonal hiring teams need quick, efficient solutions to hire at scale. Here are 3 tips to ensure your candidates are accepting your offers and not the competition’s. 

Match skills, not titles 

Widen your recruiting funnel with smart, chat-based job matching. HireVue conversational AI matches candidates to all the jobs they fit, not just the ones they search for. And when seasonal job titles vary greatly in name, it’s important to have technology in place that recognizes the skills a candidate has that can be advantageous for major roles. 

It may sound simple, but if your candidates are searching for “server” positions, and your company calls them “waiter” or “waitress,” you could be missing out on qualified candidates. 

However, the HireVue chatbot matches candidates based on skills, so they can access all the roles available. The burden of responsibility is no longer on the candidates to ensure they’re searching for specific titles correctly—enhancing your candidate experience in the process. 

Start texting

GenZ candidates, born between 1997-2012, are a digitally-native generation. They grew up with internet, smartphones, and social media. And when they prefer texting, it’s important that you meet them there—because playing phone and email tag is not only outdated but inefficient.  

• Invites & Reminders: HireVue video interviewing and Assessments include the ability to send a text invitation to remind candidates to complete them. This also includes the ability to reschedule or cancel video interviews.
• Text-to-Apply: Advertise job openings with QR codes or text codes
• Direct Messaging (Text Recruiting): 1:1 or mass text campaigns sent from within a dashboard (not your personal phone!). Easily engage your past employees about new opportunities or touch base on last minute details with new hires!

Texting allows you to engage or re-engage in seconds, so you and your candidates can move quickly.

Offer a Virtual Job Tryout®

Making quality hires is one thing but ensuring they stick with you is another. HireVue offers the Virtual Job Tryout® to candidates, offering a realistic job preview as part of the hiring process. 

It gives candidates a glimpse into what their day-to-day would look like so they know if it’s something they want to keep pursuing. The science-backed assessment helps teams understand if candidates are the right fit—helping them discover the potential in each of them.

Walmart has incorporated a custom Virtual Job Tryout® into their hiring for Retail Associates. It gives potential employees an idea of what they can expect in the role. As a result, Walmart has seen:

• 400,000 new hires in 4 months
• 100% candidates would recommend applying 
• 95% completion rate

Read the Walmart case study here. 

Ready to engage your candidates for faster seasonal hiring? Request a demo.