Think back to the last time you went through the recruiting process. Was it when you were applying for your current recruitment position? Or even before that with a different organization?
As CDL driver recruiters, it is so easy to get sucked into the day-to-day processes and workflows that define the job. It’s reaching out to new applicants, following up current applicants, and making sure VOE and Clearinghouse requests go through. There are plenty of checkboxes to work through, but what about the drivers themselves?
Throughout all of these tasks, it is easy to lose sight of the driver candidate and how they are experiencing the recruitment process.
Put Yourself in the Driver Candidate’s Seat
Although your recruitment process is developed from the recruiter’s perspective, every decision must be made with the driver experience in mind. With fewer drivers to fill more open positions than ever before, your team must be explicitly clear and driven when it comes to talking to and engaging with drivers. All it takes is a single misstep to send a driver into the arms of a competitor.
One thing your team can try is working with your current drivers to re-write your driver recruiting procedures. What worked well for them when they were going through the recruitment process? Where were some areas that felt a little less than ideal? Asking your current drivers to help and give input can also go far in developing lasting working relationships.
Another idea is to automate and streamline your processes where possible to give your recruiters more time to focus on actual driver engagement. Think about all of the ‘extras’ that go into the recruiting process. Things like nurturing early-stage drivers, running VOE checks, managing Clearinghouse compliance, and assigning leads take time away from driver-focused activities like talking with applicants or developing onboarding plans. By automating these more tedious parts of the recruiting process, your team can be better focused on what matters most – the drivers.
One last trick is to have your driver recruiters each go through the recruitment process themselves. Think of this like auditing your internal procedures – a recruiter will go through the application process as an applicant and make notes and identify potential gaps. Your team can identify areas of improvement while giving recruiters a first-hand understanding of how drivers experience recruitment.
While it’s easy to get stuck in day-to-day processes, CDL driver recruiting should be first and foremost focused on the drivers themselves. By taking some of these ideas into account, your team can be more driver-focused – and more successful.
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