30 Successful High Volume Recruiting Strategies for 2025

Employers looking to fill multiple vacancies may resort to high-volume recruiting.

However, without the adoption of effective strategies, this approach can lead to sub-optimal results, including high turnover and diminished morale.

Based on our experience collaborating with organizations throughout the U.S., we’ve written this guide to assist employers in successfully implementing high-volume recruiting and hiring efforts.

What is High-Volume Recruiting?

High-volume recruiting involves hiring many applicants over a short period.

By contrast, traditional recruitment refers to hiring one or a few individuals as positions open.

Effectively managing hiring at high volumes requires the use of smart automation and analytics tools.

Most businesses do not have to manage high-volume recruiting very often. It depends on your company, its growth, and its objectives. Typically, high-volume hiring is necessary in the following circumstances and business models:

• Businesses that operate seasonally or have higher demands during specific times
• During periods of growth through expansions or following investments
• When opening one or more new locations
• Following a mass restructuring
• Hiring following a large turnover

Industries that undergo high-volume hiring and recruiting regularly include retail and hospitality employees during busy or holiday seasons.

During these times, job postings typically attract a large number of applicants, making it important to have strategies to streamline your recruitment and hiring processes.

7 Common Challenges of High-Volume Recruiting

It’s never easy to hire a large number of people in a short time.

As a result, recruiters often face the following challenges during high-volume recruiting and hiring:

1. Sifting Through a Vast Number of Applications

If your company has to fill numerous roles simultaneously, it can be challenging for hiring teams to sort through the numerous applications received.

You must implement effective strategies to quickly assess applications and identify candidates with the right qualifications.

2. Assessing Numerous Candidates

When you have a large number of applications, you’ll need to evaluate each qualified applicant.

Those who pass the initial cut will need to be interviewed and notified about the status of their application.

Working at volume can make it difficult to ensure qualified candidates are fairly and efficiently evaluated.

Using structured techniques and recruitment technology can streamline communication and improve your recruitment and application processes.

3. Poor Employer Branding

Your company’s brand is important because a strong brand helps attract quality candidates.

If you have a poor employer brand, talented applicants will likely look elsewhere.

This is especially true when you are undergoing high-volume recruiting and hiring.

During those times, you’ll recruit on numerous channels where your company’s reputation will be important.

4. Tight Deadlines

Tight time constraints are common with high-volume recruitment and hiring when a company must hire many people at once.

The tight deadlines can make it more difficult to manage all aspects of recruitment from advertising, sourcing, evaluating, interviewing, making offers, and onboarding new hires.

Automation tools can help to streamline some of these tasks, including screening applications and resumes, pre-hire assessments, communication, and interview scheduling.

5. Poor Applicant Experiences

It’s difficult to provide a great candidate experience when you’re dealing with high-volume recruiting and are involved with assessing hundreds of applications simultaneously.

However, you must focus on delivering a positive candidate experience for your brand and reputation.

Personalized outreach and automation can help to keep your candidates up-to-date and improve their experience during the hiring process.

6. Time-to-Hire

If you’re relying on manual processes while trying to hire at volume, your time-to-hire will suffer.

A long time-to-hire and time-to-fill slow down your recruitment process and can lead to a high drop-off rate.

To retain the interest of the best candidates, you must streamline your processes and reduce your time-to-hire and time-to-fill.

7. Compromised Quality

When your hiring team is under pressure to quickly fill numerous positions, there’s a risk they will focus on quantity at the expense of quality.

You must ensure your recruitment and hiring processes are thorough and that every candidate is properly vetted even with large applicant volumes.

To ensure you maintain the quality of hire, you can conduct pre-hire assessments, strong screening processes, and comprehensive background checks.

Anticipated Industry and Recruitment Trends in 2025

Several anticipated changes in industry and recruitment are expected to occur in 2025, including:

1. Increased Digitalization of the Hiring Process

When dealing with high-volume recruitment and hiring, more companies are turning to digitalization to effectively manage their processes.

Researchers have found that 99% of Fortune 500 companies already use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to streamline the applicant screening process, and their use is also growing among mid-sized and small companies.

2. Reliance on AI and Algorithms for Candidate Selection

Artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced algorithms have affected many aspects of employment and will become even more widespread in 2025 in high-volume recruitment.

Advanced algorithms and AI can be used to quickly scan a large volume of applications to identify candidates with matching qualifications and skills with roles.

While just 12% of companies reported using AI in hiring in 2023, this number should be expected to rapidly increase as the technology continues its expansion.

3. Increased Focus on Candidate Experience

With a continued historically low unemployment rate of just 3.7% as of Jan. 2024, competition is stiff for key talent.

This will encourage more companies to prioritize candidate experience during the hiring process to attract and retain quality candidates and build a positive employer brand.

4. Move Away From Manual Processes

With more tools available than ever, companies will continue to move away from manual processes to accomplish administrative tasks, including interview scheduling, document management, and updating applicants about the status of their applications.

30 Effective High-Volume Recruiting Strategies

As you can see, high-volume recruiting can present multiple challenges. The following tools can help to make the job more manageable, however:

• AI-powered recruiting software
• Social media recruiting and hiring platforms
• Automated email and tracking software
• AI chatbots
• ATS systems

Below are some recruitment strategies your company can implement to improve the outcomes of your high-volume campaign.

Automation and Technology Strategies

1. Use Automation Tools

You can streamline repetitive, administrative tasks by using various automation tools, including ATS, document management, scheduling, and notifications.

2. Leverage Programmatic Job Advertising

Programmatic job advertising involves automating advertisements on different platforms to target the desired audience.

For example, if your company needs to hire numerous writers, using software to place job advertisements on writing job boards can help you reach people who have the qualifications you desire.

3. Use Matching Technology

Candidate matching technology screens profiles and matches candidates for jobs and cultural fit by using a series of tailored assessments and videos that are both engaging and help identify which candidates have the characteristics you are searching for.

4. Leverage the Right Candidate Selection Platforms

You should choose the right candidate selection platform by evaluating its features and how it meets your recruitment needs.

By choosing a platform that harnesses advanced algorithms and AI to identify qualified applicants, you can enhance your company’s selection process.

5. Use Video Interviewing Technology

Video interviews became a necessity during the pandemic, but companies have also recognized their utility when engaging in high-volume recruiting and hiring.

When you schedule video interviews with video technology, you can save your hiring team’s time and your company’s resources.

Video interviews are also ideal when you are hiring a remote workforce or to staff a new location.

They are also more convenient and cost-effective for candidates and can improve their experience.

6. Check Your Company’s Existing Talent Database

By maintaining a database of talented applicants who have shown interest in the past or have previously applied, you can identify qualified candidates who meet the requirements for your open positions.

You can then reach out to individuals in your database and encourage them to apply during your high-volume recruiting and hiring phase.

High-Volume Recruitment Marketing Strategies

7. Build a Strong Employer Brand

As previously discussed, building a strong employer brand is critical for your high-volume recruitment success.

If you have a strong brand, you’re more likely to attract key talent and retain quality employees.

8. Source Talent From Personal and Professional Networks

Don’t overlook your personal and professional networks when searching for qualified candidates.

You likely have multiple personal and professional contacts in your networks who are qualified for positions in your organization.

9. Organize Branded Recruitment Events

You can attract and recruit qualified talent by showcasing your company’s culture at branded recruitment events.

Make sure to effectively promote your events and ensure you communicate your organization’s vision and culture.

10. Use Relevant Marketing Channels

Carefully choose channels that help you reach your target audience when you advertise positions.

This helps to improve the suitability and fit of your applicant pool.

11. Communicate Your Company Culture

When you craft your recruitment messaging, take care to ensure it communicates your company’s values, mission, and culture.

Well-crafted messaging can help candidates assess whether your organization meets their needs and matches their values.

12. Improve the Candidate Experience

Focus on ways to improve the candidate experience throughout your recruitment and hiring process.

Make sure your applicants remain updated on the status of their applications and understand the next steps.

Be proactive in answering questions when they arise by using AI chatbots and other tools.

13. Develop a Candidate-First Application Process

Simplify your applications to make them easier and more accessible to applicants.

Complicated, extensive applications can lead to high drop rates.

14. Specify the Requirements of Each Job

When creating job advertisements, clearly define your organization’s requirements for each position.

Defining job requirements helps potential candidates assess whether they have the necessary qualifications and increases the suitability of those who apply.

15. Offer Realistic Job Previews

Create job previews that provide candidates with a realistic picture of what working at your company and in the open role would be like.

Like your other recruitment materials, your job previews should communicate your company’s culture and values.

16. Keep Your Candidates Engaged and Informed

After candidates have applied, make sure you regularly update them on the status of their applications.

This helps to keep them informed and facilitates retaining their interest in your organization.

17. Accept Walk-in Applicants

Some people still prefer to apply in person.

Don’t close off a potential source of candidates by disallowing walk-in applicants.

Have materials available in the office that allow applicants to apply on the spot.

18. Offer a Fair Selection Process

Make sure your selection process is fair and unbiased by establishing policies that comply with anti-discrimination laws and regulations.

Review how your candidates are selected to ensure the methods you use do not have a disparate impact on protected groups.

19. Improve Your Application’s Accessibility

Don’t bury your application on your website in a way that requires potential applicants to click through multiple tabs and screens.

Allow applicants to apply directly from platforms and emails.

Make your application easy to find, and ensure you provide versions that are accessible to all applicants, including those who are visually or hearing-impaired.

20. Engage Independent Professionals

Don’t overlook independent contractors, freelancers, and consultants when you are trying to fill numerous positions over a short period.

You can likely find talented professionals by reaching out to these prospects to meet your needs.

Assessment and Selection Strategies

21. Leverage Pre-hire Assessments

You can narrow down your applicant pool by implementing pre-hire skills assessments.

These help you to evaluate your candidates’ fit for the job so you can screen out those who do not have the requisite skills.

Prepare candidates for assessments and choose ones that match your requirements.

Explain why you are using pre-hire assessment tests and how your organization intends to handle the data.

Tell them the relevance of the information and what they can do to prepare.

Provide assessments in multiple languages for international applicants.

22. Conduct Pre-Employment Background Checks

Once you have narrowed your list of candidates and conducted interviews, you should conduct pre-employment background checks on the finalists for your jobs.

These checks allow you to confirm the qualifications and history of your candidates and ensure they have been honest on their resumes and during their interviews.

23. Avoid Compromising on Quality of Hire

When you’re under pressure to fill numerous open roles, it can be easy to focus on quantity vs. quality.

However, if you only focus on filling positions as fast as you can, your company won’t gain employees with the skills and qualifications it needs.

Always maintain your organization’s high standards when recruiting and selecting candidates.

Doing so helps to reduce turnover, improve employee morale, and increase productivity.

24. Define and Maintain Standardized Steps in the Hiring Process

To ensure the consistency of your hiring process, establish standardized steps for each type of role.

All candidates for a specific position should undergo the same selection and assessment process.

This helps to reduce the potential for unconscious bias influencing the process.

Retention and Onboarding Strategies

25. Improve Your Employee Retention Rates

Once you have completed a high-volume recruitment and hiring process, you must implement strategies to retain your employees and reduce turnover rates.

By minimizing turnover rates and retaining your employees, you can avoid the costs of continuous recruitment and training to get new hires up to speed.

Retaining employees also means your organization should benefit from increased productivity and better morale.

26. Strengthen Your Onboarding Process

You shouldn’t view your recruitment process as over once your new hires start their jobs.

Instead, it’s important to streamline the onboarding process and facilitate continued engagement.

Introduce each employee to their new roles, your organization, and their team. Think about assigning mentors for new hires to help them adapt, learn their jobs, and quickly get up to speed.

Metrics and Analysis

27. Leverage Metrics

It’s important to track metrics in your high-volume recruitment efforts to understand how well your campaign has worked and what needs to be changed.

Tracking metrics helps your organization refine and improve its processes to achieve better results.

Some of the metrics you should track include:

• Number of candidates per source – This can tell you which sources and channels are the most productive and which are not so you can focus on those that work.
• Applicant-to-hire ratio – This metric allows you to see how many applicants you had vs. how many were hired, so you can make adjustments to make it more balanced.
• Number of hires per source – This allows you to understand how many applicants from each source were hired, allowing you to focus on sources that provide the best candidates.
• Conversion rate – This metric tells you the percentage of applicants who were hired. This helps you identify issues that might cause candidates to drop off, including complicated or long hiring processes.
• Interview-to-hire ratio – This metric allows you to see the percentage of interviewed candidates who were hired. You can use this data to determine whether you might be choosing too many people to interview or if another issue might be causing candidates to drop out.
• Applicant satisfaction rate – Surveying applicants to learn their satisfaction with the hiring process can help you identify problems that might be turning people away.
• Time-to-hire – Tracking your company’s time-to-hire is critical because if your process is too long, you can lose key talent to the competition.

28. Conduct a Business-Impact Study

Conducting a business impact study involves investigating how your assessment results relate to actual performance.

You can also look at assessment results and compare them to other challenges, including engagement, attrition, job satisfaction, or absenteeism.

A business impact study verifies whether your organization is using the right assessments to make good selections.

This can help you measure their impact and success.

29. Keep Your Talent Pool Updated

During and after recruitment campaigns, take time to update your talent database and add new potential candidates you identified who are suitable for your needs but were not hired.

An updated talent pool allows you to quickly respond when your organization experiences hiring needs in the future.

30. Engage in Talent Rediscovery

As new positions open, review former applicants in your organization’s ATS by using machine learning tools or AI to quickly search through the database to identify suitable candidates.

This approach can greatly speed up your hiring process because the former candidates are people who have already demonstrated interest in working for your company.

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Needing to rapidly fill open positions can lead recruitment teams to focus on quantity over quality.

However, this approach can backfire and lead to lower productivity, high turnover, and the need for continuous hiring.

Organizations should maintain the quality of hire by thoroughly evaluating candidates and conducting background checks before making hiring decisions.

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DISCLAIMER: The resources provided here are for educational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Consult your counsel if you have legal questions related to your specific practices and compliance with applicable laws.