Recruitment: candidates' new expectations.

The war for talent is intensifying, and companies are finding it increasingly difficult to identify, attract, and retain the talents that will make a difference. One reason for this tension lies in a recruitment process that is still too traditional and often out of step with current candidate expectations.

This is why quality recruitment can no longer rely solely on two tools that have become obsolete: the CV and the cover letter.

Let's be factual: the average time a recruiter spends reading a resume is forty seconds. It takes twice as long to decide whether it passes the pre-selection stage. Can you really hope to attract a good candidate with less than a minute of attention during the first contact?

Conversely, the time invested by the candidate is considerable: creating an account on the career site, filling out a questionnaire, adjusting the CV to respond to the offer... The imbalance is obvious.

And the cover letter?

The cover letter made sense in an era before social media. It allowed people to discover the candidate's personality beyond their CV. Today, it's tending to disappear: a strong signal sent by companies, which affirms:

• We value your time and ours.

• Our approach to recruitment is direct, targeted, and in line with current issues of meaning and performance.

Four ways to improve the quality of recruitment.

1. Take care with the job offer.

A clear offer, with defined objectives, allows candidates to project themselves. To hire a talented person, it's necessary to present a coherent, precise, and promising project. Conversely, generic offers or endless lists of missions—especially those with the "non-exhaustive list" label—can quickly become discouraging.

2. Structure and communicate the recruitment process.

A clear process, announced in the job offer, reassures the candidate. Why would they accept a long, unclear, and uncertain process? According to a study by Hays, the ideal number of interviews for a candidate is two.

3. Go beyond the resume.

Not all positions require the same technical skills. For some, motivation, attitude, or adaptability are much more telling criteria. The key to adopt: identify transferable skills.

Discover: the Uprigs initiative and its evocative slogan “Burn your CV” , which promotes motivation in the recruitment process. Watch the video .

4. Design recruitment as pre-boarding.

The recruitment process is often a candidate's first glimpse of the company. It can reveal a lot about the culture and the employee experience to come. To take care of this step, consider:

• Maintain regular communication between contract signing and day one.

• Invite future employees to professional events (meet-ups, trade fairs, etc.).