How to Improve Your Recruitment Process in 4 Easy Steps
Guest post by Maria Espie Vidal
Hiring the right set of people is never an easy process, but it is an indispensable step in business growth. So, how do you recruit candidates that will fit perfectly with the roles you're trying to fill? Well, it all comes down to the recruitment process you have in place.
Unfortunately for many employers, their recruitment processes aren’t optimized for attracting and keeping the best talent and that can be a real problem. So, here are four easy steps you can take to improve your recruitment process, and employ the best candidates for every role.
1) Start with a clear job description
Believe it or not, a job description can make or mar your recruitment process. How so? Well, the quality of the job description is what determines whether a candidate will apply in the first place. And if your job descriptions discourage the top talents from applying, then you’re clearly at a disadvantage.
So, how do you write a great job description? First off, you need to be clear about the job title. Posting a title like “great job opportunity for recent graduates” is too vague to attract any sort of attention from the right people.
Similarly, you need to be clear about the specific tasks/roles the candidate will be taking on. Differentiate between “must-haves” and “nice-to-haves” in order to allow the candidates decide whether or not they are who you’re looking for.
But most importantly, why should they work with you over your competitors? What can you offer them? Do you offer a competitive salary and other bonuses? Let them know. You need to convince your candidates you’re right for them just as much as they need to convince you they’re good enough.
2) Simplify the application process
If you want to maximize response rate from quality candidates, then you need to simplify the application process. Overly long and complicated application process has been shown to discourage candidates. In fact, research has shown that 60% of job applicants abandon application forms that are too long or complicated.
So, what do you do? Keep things simple. A resume, cover letter and a few supporting information is usually sufficient to learn about an applicant's qualifications. If your application process only takes a few minutes, you’ll definitely have a larger talent pool to draw from.
3) Make a quick hiring decision
As meticulous as it may seem to comb through applications for months before making a hiring decision, it’s not always the best approach. Why? Well, there’s a good chance that candidates who applied to work for you have also done the same elsewhere. So if you take too long before reaching a decision, you might end up losing them to other employers.
Interestingly, according to Office Vibe, the best candidates usually get recruited within 10 days of job search. So, if you’re interested in a particular applicant, then you should act fast by keeping in touch with such an applicant, even if you haven’t made a final decision. That said, do your best to reach a decision within a week of interviewing applicants.
4) Look beyond skills
As tempting as it may seem to employ a candidate purely based on skill, it’s not always the best. Sometimes, attitude makes all the difference. And the truth is -- skills can be easily acquired, but the same cannot be said for attitude.
Hiring a savvy candidate with a crappy and incorrigible attitude is a recipe for disaster. So, avoid being blown away by a candidate's resume and look a little closer into their personality.
Create a personality profile for the role you're trying to fill and go for the candidate the fits the profile best, even if they're not the most savvy. With the right attitude, any skill can be learned.
The bottom line? Hiring the right people isn't as tough as it seems. All you need is an optimized hiring process. Incorporate the above tips into your recruitment process and you'll be on the right path.
Author Bio: Maria Espie Vidal writes for Time Doctor—a time tracking and productivity monitoring software designed for tracking hours and productivity of remote teams.
