Biggest Challenges Faced By a Director of Recruitment and Operations at Galileo Learning
Shayne's biggest challenge as Director of Recruitment at Galileo Learning is recruiting entry-level seasonal employees; the company's inability to offer "top of market" pay, coupled with high "attrition" due to candidates ghosting or accepting other offers, creates significant difficulties in filling positions, even with a large applicant pool. This necessitates constant adaptation and "trial and error" to find committed candidates passionate about STEM education.
Recruitment, Entry-Level Hiring, Seasonal Employment, High Attrition, Employer Branding
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Shayne Walton
Director of Recruitment and Operations
Galileo Learning
UCLA
Relay Graduate School of Education - MA, Teaching, UCLA Anderson - MBA
Political Science, American Studies
Education
Human Resources (HR)
Worked 20+ Hours in School, Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. Recruiting entry-level talent is challenging due to high turnover and short-term contracts.
2. The company faces competition from higher-paying employers, making it difficult to attract and retain employees.
3. Many entry-level applicants lack commitment and may ghost the hiring process, leading to high attrition rates and wasted resources. The company is constantly adapting its recruitment strategies to address these issues.
Transcript
What is your biggest challenge in your role as director of recruitment?
Recruiting entry-level talent is a significant challenge. This is a macro-level problem with many factors involved. People don't typically stay in entry-level or minimum wage jobs for very long.
Our roles are seasonal, and Galileo is a growing company. We can't offer top-of-market salaries, though we do pay competitively. Because our positions are only for up to six weeks, people are quick to leave the interview process if they receive another offer.
There isn't much allegiance to a company when you're hiring for such short periods. In recruitment, we call this "attrition." This refers to people who ghost or leave the hiring process without notice.
It can be challenging when you receive 400 applications in a day, and you don't know if those candidates will complete the hiring process or show up on the first day of camp. Last summer, 10 to 15 people didn't show up for camp on the first day because they found other jobs and didn't inform us.
Hiring entry-level talent presents many difficulties. People often don't know how to communicate with recruiters and find it easier to ghost than to decline an offer.
There's a lot of trial and error involved in finding the right candidates. We're looking for people who might be more committed because they're passionate about STEM education, rather than just anyone needing a job.
Much of this process isn't pre-defined; we're figuring it out as we go. I'd say that's a pretty significant challenge in this role.
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