A Quick Guide to an Effective Recruitment Process

So you want your business to be successful, right? Well, you need an effective recruitment process in place. One that will attract, engage and impress top talent. But how do you go about putting one together?

Well, we’re bringing you a quick guide to effective recruitment and selection so you know exactly what to do at each stage, and what to expect if you choose to work with us. Let’s get going.

What is a recruitment process?

The clue’s in the name. A recruitment process is the steps businesses make when hiring a new employee. Generally, this process starts with attracting candidates and ends with onboarding them (if they accept the job).

Depending on the type of business you run, the process is often led by the human resource manager, though recruiters and other team members from the hiring team will likely chip in to ensure everyone is clued up on where they’re at and what they need to do.

Throughout the process, there’s a lot of resumes and applications to collect and review and interviews to arrange before selecting and onboarding an employee to start working with you. So, it’s something you’ll want to get right.

What makes a good recruitment process?

The better your recruitment process, the quicker and easier you’ll find and secure top talent — that’s what it’s all about. Getting there requires a fair bit of planning, and you’ll need to constantly evaluate your processes to ensure you’re on track.

Above everything else, your processes must be streamlined, and your staff have a big part to play in making sure this happens. As well as knowing and understanding the part they play in the recruitment process, they must have the tools and resources they need to do their job.

For example, the person tasked with conducting interviews must have a copy of the resume and background info on each candidate before they start interviewing. That person must also be prepared to inform the candidate of what to expect after the interview so they aren’t left wondering what happens next, which might put them off.

What are the benefits of strong recruitment and selection processes?

There are so many policies and procedures to follow when recruiting that it can feel as tedious as being stuck in traffic without music. While you want to fill the vacant position in your time quickly, it’s not always as simple as that.

Having an effective recruitment and selection process in place relieves a lot of the stress and hassle. It also ensures a transparent and fair recruitment process that helps you find the best talent.

Here are the benefits to having good recruitment and selection processes in place:

Increased productivity: Following a process can free up space for HR teams to invest time in training new or existing employees. This can boost engagement and productivity which can bring lasting results.

Transparency in the process: Having a process in place means that those involved know exactly where they are at, giving everyone peace of mind that the end result will be met. Being transparent and keeping the candidate informed can boost their confidence in the business they are about to join too.

Reduce cost-per-hire: Because you have a plan, you can hire proactively, which means you’re less likely to spend money on things you don’t need out of panic or impulse.

Fill positions quicker: As well as speeding up the actual finding of candidates, having an effective recruitment and selection process speeds up the interview, hiring and onboarding phases too. In turn, this reduces the time and cost spent on recruitment.

Better talent through your door: Proper recruitment and selection processes will help keep talent engaged and could be the determining factor between them picking you over a competitor.

Steps to the recruitment process

Now you know what a good recruitment process looks like, let’s see what it includes by giving you a brief look at our process and everything we can help you with.

1. Identify your needs

What skills are you looking for? Does the candidate need to have a set number of years of experience? Is it a remote or in-house position? What type of salary are you looking to offer? These are all questions you need to ask yourself that will help you identify the needs for the role.

As well as this, it helps you to distribute the recruitment tasks between your staff. If each team member has a task that is best suited to them, they’re able to make relevant decisions throughout the hiring process.

2. Prepare the job ad

Creating a job description is next. Using the list you created in the previous step, outline the duties and responsibilities of the job. Be as specific as possible and paint a clear picture for the candidate(s).

Avoid what a lot of companies do and repurpose old job descriptions. It’ll only go against you and top talent can easily see through this type of thing.

3. Create recruitment plan

Plan, plan and plan some more. Figure out who’ll be doing each task, whether it’s reviewing applications, scheduling interviews or onboarding. This will save you time and ensure you’re organised which will keep you in the candidates’ good books.

4. Start searching

Switch your job ad to live and get proactive in seeking out passive talent. Using our keyword recruitment tools, we can cut down on search time during the recruitment process by weeding out unqualified candidates, whilst our expert resourcers look under every rock and skillfully persuade prospective employees who aren’t even looking for a job to take interest in this one.

5. Virtual screening

So you have a list of candidates you like the look of, now it’s time to call them up for a quick chat or even better, to invite them to complete a pre-recorded video interview. Keep it relaxed and aim to get to know them a little bit more beyond what a boring old-fashioned resume can tell you.

6. In-person interview

In-person interviews should be within a week of a phone screening. It’s key to keep the process short to avoid the candidate losing interest. You might be one of a few companies interested in the candidate, so it’s important to move quickly to keep them engaged.

Provide as much info about the interview as possible, i.e., where it is, how long it will be, what they should bring, who they will meet with, and the dress code. And make sure you let them know when they should expect to hear a response, good or bad.

7. Offer the job

Congrats! You’re ready to offer someone the job. But not so fast. Make sure you go to the table with an unignorable offer, one the candidate won’t pass on. Oh, and prepare to negotiate on salary and benefits. An in-demand candidate will likely want to do a little wheelin’ and dealin’ before accepting.

8. Onboard the new employer

This is where the real work begins. You want to make the onboarding process as seamless as possible so the candidate can jump right into the role. Aside from paperwork, think of things like assigning a mentor or buddy and setting up one-to-one time with managers during their first week.

So there you have it, a quick guide to an effective recruitment process. Of course, if you needn’t worry about putting a process together for your business, we can handle your recruitment needs for you. Reach out and we’ll be happy to take the load off.