If you’re a candidate, you’re in a great position to move your career forward – there’s still loads of jobs and in fact we see people being recruited beyond their abilities.
The really capable candidates are not around for long – the savvy recruiters are snapping them up. There is loads of advice on being flexible, remote working etc. But the key thing to recruiting the best candidates are getting your recruitment processes right. I see many internal recruitment processes which are hopeless and people lose candidates by not thinking ahead and planning.
Hopefully, you have HR and recruitment staff who are proactive and take an entrepreneurial approach to finding staff – and don’t just have a tick box attitude of “that’s the way we always do things”
Winter 2023 -launch your recruitment searches – ready, steady -Go!
Take a look at how many jobs are out there with similar titles to the one you’re recruiting for. Possibly more than at any time in the past 20 years – particularly in your job title has the word manager or officer included within it.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Remove barriers – if you use a Recruitment Portal – then suspend it. At the best of times these are not candidate focussed, they are for your organisation. And if you don’t use the recruitment portal properly then you probably have it because someone brought it thinking it was going to revolutionise recruitment at a massive cost and you’re lumbered with it.
If a candidate needs to go through the hell of a recruitment portal as opposed to just sending an email, guess which one they will do.
If you do need the information “Portalised” for some reason, get a member of staff or an intern to do it once you’ve received the application.
- Drop the Application Form – a CV and a detailed supporting statement will do. Application forms put candidates off from applying. A CV has most of the information. Prescribe what you want on a supporting statement e.g., “please address these 7 points with 2-3 paragraphs of your tangible experience”
- Get someone to review your applications on a daily basis. Can be a well briefed junior member of staff – then fast track strong candidates to the recruiting manager daily. Send an email saying we particularly welcome your application and we will be back in touch soon. Perhaps a 5-minute online call or a phone call the next day to show that you are interested and keeping them warm in the process.
- Interview as soon as possible – the smallest gap possible between deadline and interview. No later than the following week.
- Do you really need a second interview? Ok, schedule it for the day after the first interview.
- Interview decision making process – ideally you should schedule this in for the next possible moment as the last interviewee is walking out of the building. Make sure everyone is available and make a decision. And make it. Know what the offer is salary and ideal start date and make the offer.