Top Stories: Catfishing Candidates, Debating Video Interviews, iCIMS’ Latest Acquisition, and More!


Welcome to “The Most Interesting Recruiting Stories of the Week,” a weekly post that features talent acquisition insights and information from around the web to kick off your weekend. Here’s what’s of interest this week:
“Catfishing is the process of luring someone into a relationship by means of a fictional online persona. But a recent survey showed that businesses are also using catfishing-like tactics to attract job candidates under false pretenses,” according to SHRM. “In September, software company Greenhouse released a report revealing that some companies are using sophisticated webpages with overt promises of a great company culture and impactful diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) commitments to get candidates to interview with them. These employers then often ask inappropriate questions or engage in other practices that sour the candidates’ opinion of the company.”
A recruiter posted on LinkedIn about his experience doing a video interview for Johnson & Johnson. The conversation that ensued reveals a range of strong opinions about the vale (or not) of asynchronous video interviews.
“iCIMS has announced the acquisition of SkillSurvey from its current shareholders, which include Primus Capital and PNC Erieview Capital,” Enterprise Times reports. “Neither party disclosed the terms of the deal. Founded in 2001, SkillSurvey provides a talent intelligence platform that helps hiring organizations verify candidate skills and check references to improve the talent pipeline and increase retention. The SkillSurvey platform enables organizations to complete reference checks earlier in the hiring process, often before the interview stage.”
“The share of job seeker searches for seasonal work on Indeed rose 33% as of September 30 compared with the year before as interest in seasonal jobs rebounded to its highest level since 2019,” according to Hiring Lab. “At the same time, employer demand for seasonal workers was down 8.2% from historic highs in 2021, while the share of job postings noting an urgent need for seasonal hires dropped from 10% to 6%. The combination of strong worker interest for seasonal employment and cooler hiring appetite could diminish job seeker bargaining power this holiday season.”
“Masculine defaults in the workplace aren’t new, but you may not always notice them,” according to this Harvard Business Review story. “Masculine defaults are a form of gender bias in which characteristics and behaviors typically associated with men are rewarded and considered standard practice. But the evidence shows that effective workplaces require masculine and feminine behaviors (as well as non-gendered ones) to be effective. With masculine defaults, it may seem like there’s equal opportunity for men and women, but men are often more socialized to engage in stereotypical masculine behaviors and more typically rewarded for them.”
Read this ERE.net interview with Rafael Rice, senior manager of talent acquisition at Credit Karma, about how his company found new internal posts for its recruiters, enabling them to grow knowledge and skills as part of an effort to save their jobs during the pandemic. The lessons are just as applicable today. (Notably, Rice was one of the TA pros who was redeployed.)
Read the most interesting recruiting stories of past weeks here.
The premier independent practitioner-led recruiting event is back in-person at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Nov. 7-9. It’s an ideal opportunity to gain actionable insights for talent acquisition professionals, by talent acquisition professionals. Discover practical ideas, best practices, and case study solutions from leaders who share your toughest recruiting challenges — and have experience overcoming them. Learn more and register here.
Have you visited the world’s largest library of talent acquisition media yet? ERE Pro features deep dives into the recruiting challenges that real talent acquisition professionals face daily, from practitioners that have already tackled them. Learn from from leaders from Uber, Lowe’s, Marriott, DoorDash, and a wide range of other organizations across a broad span of industries. Gain insights here.
Join the conversation about all things talent acquisition in the ERE Facebook Group. It’s a great venue to gain information, support, and network with fellow peers. We’re talking about some of the stories above, as well as other hot recruiting topics, so come share your own views in the ERE Facebook Group. We’d love to see you there!
Additionally, got questions? Feedback on a story? Or want to pitch a story idea? Get in touch with ERE editor Vadim Liberman at vadim@ere.net.
Did you find this post interesting? Then share the knowledge! Please consider forwarding this to friends and colleagues.
And to continue receiving recruiting intelligence to power your career, department, and organization, subscribe to the ERE Daily Newsletter.
Thanks for reading!