--- title: "How To Hire Top Talent Faster During COVID 19" description: "This article will guide you on how to hire top talents faster during the COVID 19 crisis., This article will guide you on how to hire top talents faster during the COVID 19 crisis." canonical: "https://recooty.com/resources/blogs/how-to-hire-top-talent-faster-during-covid-19" author: "Recooty Team" date: "2025-06-20T00:00:00+05:30" updated: "2026-10-22T15:35:38+05:30" image: "https://recooty.com/resources/blogs/media/2020/07/How-To-Hire-Top-Talent-Faster-During-COVID-19.png" --- # How To Hire Top Talent Faster During COVID 19 COVID-19 changed how teams hire, and its clearest lasting lesson is that remote hiring needs deliberate structure. Define the work pattern, time-zone overlap, communication norms, interview evidence, and onboarding plan before you start sourcing. This guide shows how to shorten waiting time, explain remote work honestly, and keep candidate evaluation consistent during and after a crisis. See the related guide on [recruiting software during a crisis](https://recooty.com/resources/blogs/how-to-choose-the-right-recruitment-software) for workflow considerations. [![Post a free job on Recooty](https://recooty.com/resources/blogs/media/2024/12/Recooty-simplies-hiring-3.png.webp)](https://app.recooty.com/register?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=banner) ## Key takeaways - The pandemic-era lesson still applies, but the current remote hiring challenge is consistency: define location, time-zone overlap, communication norms, work samples, and onboarding before sourcing. - Use recruitment software to keep distributed hiring teams aligned on applications, scorecards, interviews, messages, and source reporting. - A fast remote process is not a shorter process. It is a process with clear stages, decision owners, candidate updates, and fewer scheduling gaps. - Show candidates how work actually happens: meetings, documentation, manager access, equipment, performance expectations, and career growth. - Measure speed alongside quality with time to first qualified shortlist, interview conversion, offer acceptance, candidate experience, and 90-day retention. ## Effects of COVID 19 on Recruiting Recruiting top talents can be an excruciating task. The current crisis has brought upon a huge change in the recruitment industry. The infection has spread rapidly across the globe in a span of just a couple of months. That’s why social distancing norms have forced organizations to adopt measures so that their staff remains safe. While employees are adapting to working remotely, schools are closed and events are canceled. And as the situations are worsening with every passing day, there’s a good chance that remote is the new way of living. Remote work is the reality and future for almost every industry, including the recruiting and HR. Even amidst the economic crisis, hiring is happening, but remotely. As a matter of fact, remote hiring is going to be a major trend in the future of hiring. - [Jobvite’s data](https://www.jobvite.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Adapting-to-a-Remote-World-of-Recruiting.pdf) suggested that 84% of recruiters were adapting to remote hiring practices. - A [Doodle study](https://go.doodle.com/WC-2020-08-Recruiting--Onboarding-Users_LP-01?utm_medium=PR&utm_source=prnewswire&utm_campaign=remotework) found that around 16% of US HR professionals were ready to recruit fully virtually at the time of the study. The future of recruitment is uncertain as it relates to the current pandemic. For recruiters and hiring managers, this shift to the virtual working environment is bringing up new questions: How to hire top talent faster during this COVID 19 crisis? How to overcome the uncertainties? Here are some insightful tactics you can adopt to your hiring practices. These will help you to overcome these challenging times. ## A 14-day remote hiring sprint 1. **Day 1:** Write the role outcomes, location rules, time-zone overlap, salary range, and hiring stages. 2. **Days 2 to 3:** Publish the role on the careers page and relevant job boards, then activate employee referrals and targeted outreach. 3. **Days 4 to 6:** Review applications against a written rubric, respond to candidates, and schedule screens across time zones. 4. **Days 7 to 10:** Run structured interviews and a short work sample. Store feedback in one shared system rather than private messages. 5. **Days 11 to 14:** Compare evidence, check references, give candidates a clear decision timeline, and prepare the onboarding handoff. ### Remote hiring metrics to report Track time to first qualified shortlist, application-to-screen conversion, screen-to-interview conversion, interview-to-offer conversion, offer acceptance, candidate response time, source quality, and 90-day retention. Report these by role and location. A faster process is not better if it produces weak matches or early attrition. ## Tips to Hire Top Talent Faster ### Update your Recruiting Process If you are hiring during the coronavirus pandemic, you need to make sure your recruitment process is updated. Remote hiring experience is definitely going to be totally different than in-person hiring. You need to prepare a detailed and well-thought-out recruitment process. You can also consider asking your current employees to help with your recruitment process. This will give you a versatile set of insights. Every stage of remote hiring is going to be virtual, so you need to have a technology-friendly outlook. Take your time, evaluate your present process, your current needs, then update your recruitment process. ### Post attractive job openings and let people know you’re hiring The pandemic has hit the economy badly. Many companies are undergoing layoffs or hiring freeze. So, many qualified candidates might be under the impression that most companies are not hiring. So you must take great care in ensuring that top talented candidates know you’re hiring. You can post your job openings on various channels including social media. Along with that, make sure your job descriptions are attractive and precise. Highlight the duties and responsibilities very clearly. Clarity about expectations always keeps qualified talent around. ### Build a stronger Employer Brand Keep qualified past applicants and interested prospects in an organized talent pool. Record the role, skills, location, work preference, and contact permission so you can reconnect when a suitable remote opening appears. Share useful updates with the pool instead of sending every person the same job advertisement. ### Enhance your Talent Pool The days of in-person recruitment, job fairs across college campuses are gone. Recruiters now have the task to virtually build an employer brand. Building a strong employer brand is more important now with remote hiring. The job seekers should connect with you and want to work for you. On the one hand, so many people are losing their job, whereas, on the other hand, a huge number of jobs are created as well. As a recruiter, you need to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity. Recruiters need to sell themselves as employers who are driven by passion and determination rather than only profit. You can leverage your website and social media accounts for building a strong employer brand. ### Use an Employee Referral Program With the inability to meet in-person and other physical constraints, a referral program might be a great idea for senior hires. Also, if you have a busy hiring team, employee referrals can reduce your hiring time. Recruiters can leverage the candidate’s professional network and reel in new talents. By implementing a referral program, you can get your employees invested in the recruitment process. You can also offer your employees some extra perks like nice bonuses, vacation days to attract the best candidates possible. ## Best recruiting software for remote teams: what to prioritize now Remote hiring needs more than a video call. A useful workflow connects job distribution, applicant tracking, interview scheduling, structured scorecards, candidate communication, talent-pool rediscovery, and onboarding handoff. Choose the smallest recruitment software setup that keeps decisions visible to the hiring team and candidates informed. Current remote-hiring comparisons distinguish an ATS, sourcing tools, assessments, scheduling, video interviewing, and global employment or onboarding systems. A tool that posts jobs may not manage a distributed interview loop or cross-border compliance. [Lever’s 2026 remote-hiring comparison](https://www.lever.co/insights/best-remote-hiring-software) uses this workflow-based approach. | Remote hiring need | Capability to look for | Question to ask before buying | | ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | Distributed review | Shared pipeline, permissions, mobile access | Can every interviewer see the same stage and next action? | | Consistent evaluation | Scorecards, interview kits, work-sample stages | Can criteria be set before interviews and audited later? | | Scheduling across time zones | Self-scheduling, time-zone display, reminders | Can candidates choose practical times without repeated emails? | | Candidate trust | Automated updates with human ownership | Can the team explain who responds and when? | | Remote readiness | Location, work authorization, equipment, and work-pattern fields | Can the role clearly state where and how the work happens? | | Post-hire handoff | Offer, e-signature, onboarding, and HRIS integration | What data transfers after acceptance and who owns it? | ## How remote hiring has changed after COVID-19 Remote interviews are now part of a broader operating model. Candidates need to know whether the job is fully remote, hybrid, or location-bound; which hours require overlap; how the team documents work; what equipment is supplied; and how performance and promotion are handled. Add those details to the job post and repeat them before the offer. The [Omni Candidate Experience Report 2026](https://www.omnirms.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Omni-Candidate-Experience-Report-2026.pdf) recommends structured interviews, skills-based assessments, and practical exercises. For remote hiring, that means assessing observable work-related evidence instead of relying on vague “culture fit” conversations. ### Remote hiring readiness checklist | Before sourcing | During interviews | Before the offer | | -------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | Confirm country, state, or city eligibility | Use the same core questions for every candidate | Confirm work authorization and payroll route | | Define time-zone overlap and response expectations | Use a short role-relevant work sample | Explain equipment, security, and onboarding | | State remote, hybrid, or office requirements | Tell candidates the next step and decision date | Put work pattern, pay, and conditions in writing | | Assign one candidate-communication owner | Provide an accessible alternative if technology fails | Set 30/60/90-day outcomes | ## Conclusion Remote hiring moves faster when the job is explicit, interview evidence is consistent, and every stage has an owner. Keep those conditions in place as you adjust your process for the current workforce. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is remote hiring still effective after COVID-19? Yes, when the role, work pattern, time-zone expectations, interview evidence, and onboarding plan are clear. Remote hiring is not effective when it only moves an unclear process onto video calls. ### What is the best recruiting software for remote teams? There is no universal best platform. Prioritize shared applicant tracking, structured scorecards, time-zone-aware scheduling, candidate communication, reporting, and a clean handoff to onboarding. Choose based on hiring volume and the stage that is slowing your team down. ### How do you assess remote candidates fairly? Use the same role-related questions and work-sample criteria for every candidate, provide reasonable accessibility options, document evidence in a shared scorecard, and avoid judging home environment, camera quality, or informal background details that do not predict performance. ### How can a remote hiring team move faster? Assign one process owner, publish the interview stages, reserve recurring interview blocks, use self-scheduling, set feedback deadlines, send status updates, and keep all candidate records in one recruitment workflow. Removing waiting time is usually safer than removing evaluation steps. --- *Source: [https://recooty.com/blog/how-to-hire-top-talent-faster-during-covid-19/](https://recooty.com/resources/blogs/best-ai-powered-applicant-tracking-systems)* ## Structured data ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "headline": "How To Hire Top Talent Faster During COVID 19", "description": "The pandemic-era lesson still applies, but the current remote hiring challenge is consistency: define location, time-zone overlap, communication norms, work samples, and onboarding before sourcing. Use recruitment software to keep distributed hiring teams aligned on applications, scorecards, interviews, messages, and source reporting. A fast remote process is not a shorter process. It is a process with clear stages, decision owners, candidate updates, and fewer scheduling gaps. 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