Job dating is an event organised by a company to recruit as many people as possible in as little time as possible. For recruiters, this means they can enhance their employer brand while improving the candidate experience. For candidates, it’s an opportunity to meet potential future employers and get an idea of the company’s values.
To stand out from the crowd and make the most of job dating, it’s essential to know how to use it and how to organise it. Intuition Software explains all about job dating :
Job dating in a nutshell
- The job dating is an event that allows companies to recruit quickly and efficiently by meeting a large number of candidates over the course of a day;
- Job dating saves time, increases visibility and makes the recruitment process more humane;
- Several stages are essential when organising a job dating event: communication about the event, organisation, candidate follow-up.
What is job dating?
Job dating, or dating jobs, is an event organised by a company to recruit as many candidates as possible in record time. It generally takes place over half a day or a whole day at a given location and includes short interviews lasting around ten minutes for each candidate.
This method is used in particular for recruiting seasonal workers, for example in the hotel or restaurant industry. Job dating has also become increasingly popular in the industrial and agricultural sectors in recent years, as it removes the IT barriers that can be an obstacle for some candidates.
What is the difference between job dating and recruitment sessions?
Job dating should not be confused with a recruitment session. Although both take place over one day or half a day, unlike job dating, the recruitment session includes a visit to the company, additional tests (skills, personality) and individual or group interviews.
If it’s an event that also allows you to meet a large number of candidates in a short space of time, the recruitment session is more formal. What’s more, the recruitment session generally takes place on the company’s premises and the candidates have already applied for a job beforehand, which is not necessarily the case with job dating.
Why set up jobdating?
Jobdating offers a number of advantages for a company in the recruitment phase: it saves time, optimises the company’s visibility and attractiveness, introduces candidates to each other and humanises the initial application phase. It also has advantages for candidates, who can get to know the company and the recruiter in a more informal and less stressful way.
The advantages of job dating for a company that is recruiting
Job dating offers a number of advantages for companies in the recruitment phase:
- Save time: job-dating allows you to recruit a large number of candidates in a very short space of time. With a series of interviews lasting around ten minutes each, you can meet a large number of participants, recruit the best, and optimise your recruitment process.
- Optimising a company’s visibility and attractiveness: job dating enables companies to promote themselves and the careers they offer. What’s more, a face-to-face meeting, rather than a virtual one, can attract some candidates who prefer to get a concrete idea of the company by actually meeting the people involved.
- Discovering candidates: dating jobs give companies the opportunity to meet candidates and talk to them quickly. For some positions, it may be important to check that the person presents themselves well or expresses themselves correctly.
- A supplement to the CV and covering letter: a CV or covering letter does not always offer a concrete picture of the candidate. Although certain skills are obvious, applicants can also embellish their CVs. Meeting a candidate at a job dating event enables us to determine their real skills, whether hard skills, soft skills or mad skills.
The benefits of job dating for candidates
Job dating also offers advantages for candidates thanks to the humanisation of the recruitment process, the time saved and the opportunities and equal opportunities that this method provides. Some people are more comfortable speaking than writing, and job dating gives them the opportunity to express themselves and maximise their chances of success:
- Equal opportunities: as some candidates are more comfortable speaking than writing, job dating can give them a better chance to shine. What’s more, some people may have difficulty with computers, so job dating helps to overcome this barrier to recruitment.
- Saving time: job dating saves candidates time and energy, as the recruitment process can be long and tedious.
- Humanising recruitment: some candidates favour job dating because they find it less stressful than a formal first interview. This gives them the opportunity to meet their future team or potential employers and get a real feel for the job and the company.
- Developing your network: even if a candidate is not selected for an immediate position, job dating can offer future opportunities. By meeting companies, they can build up their network and recruiters can keep their profile so that they can be contacted again when a new position opens up, for example.
How do you organise a job-dating event?
To organise a job dating event, you need to communicate in advance about the various positions to be filled, collect registrations from participants, plan a programme of interviews and answer any questions candidates may have. Then, on the big day, you’ll need to welcome participants and monitor them throughout the day, before accepting or refuse their application.
Communicating on the various vacancies
First and foremost, you need to communicate about the vacancies within your company using different distribution channels:
- Your careers page or recruitment site: if you have a web page dedicated to your company’s job offers, you absolutely must update it and announce the organisation of a job dating event so that interested candidates can register.
- Your website: job dating is a topical event for your company, so you need to present the information on your website to reach as many participants as possible.
- Your social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn): you can target a wider audience by using social networks to communicate about your job-dating. What’s more, sharing will be easier on this type of platform, where information circulates very quickly.
- Other paper media: it may be important to communicate on paper media too, so as not to leave out people who don’t use digital media. You can therefore use the press or street posters to publicise your job dating event.
Collect registrations from participants
It’s simpler to ask participants to register for job dating in order to organise it, but, in that case, you’ll have to manage these registrations. You can simply use an Excel file to list all the candidates registered, or take a recruitment software to make your job easier.
Plan an interview programme
Planning an interview schedule is essential if your job dating event is to run smoothly. Held over a day or half-day, the aim is to get as many interviews through as possible in as little time as possible, so the schedule must be well thought out and the time slots realistic.
It is therefore essential to set aside time for interviews (between 10 and 15 minutes) and for breaks (around 5 to 10 minutes), so that you can move from one candidate to another or take time for a short debriefing before moving on.
Finally, recruiters attending the job dating event will need to prepare well for their interviews to ask the right questions and avoid wasting time. You need to be able to assess the skills, experience and personality of candidates quickly and effectively.
Communicating with candidates
You need to answer participants’ questions beforehand to improve the candidate experience and enhance your employer brand. It is also essential to communicate certain information to candidates:
- Confirmation of registration: so that participants can block their day;
- A reminder of the date: a few days before the event, you should remind candidates that the job dating will take place on such and such a date to make sure they don’t forget;
- Practical information: the venue, the time of the event and the essential documents for interviewing ;
- Human resources contact details: so that participants can ask questions before the job dating.
Welcoming participants
On the big day, you’ll need to welcome participants and make sure they feel comfortable and valued. Your organisation must be beyond reproach to make it easier for candidates to get around throughout the day and to relieve them of any potential stress.
The candidate experience is essential to projecting a positive image of your company. This means that even unsuccessful participants will be able to promote your company at a later date and apply for a new position.
Keeping track of candidates
Candidates need to be monitored throughout the job-dating process, but also afterwards. During the recruitment day, you’ll need to make sure you’re available to answer questions or guide participants.
Then, after the event, it is essential to give feedback to the candidates. Whether the feedback is positive or negative, it will help them to move forward and maintain a positive image of job dating and your company.
Example of job dating
The more original your recruitment, the more candidates you will attract. One example is the job dating organised by Lidl in Rennes in January 2024. The recruiters offered a coffee in exchange for a CV to provide information about the positions available and to show interested people around the company.
It’s a great way of attracting candidates while making the recruitment process fun and entertaining. The live meeting and the information about the company make it easier for participants to project themselves.
Job dating allows companies to save time in their recruitment process while improving their employer brand and making it easier for candidates to find a job.
