Many times, when it comes to successful corporate recruiting, hiring the right fit is much more important than hiring the candidate with the most experience or best record. Meshing with company culture and how things are done are sometimes much more critical than raw talent. So, while the pool of potential hires can be immense in scope, finding the perfect candidate to fill a particular role is not as easy as one would think. After all, choosing the wrong person to fill a vacancy costs an organization time, money, and effort that can adversely affect its bottom line.
As such, the following guidelines should be mastered if one wishes to recruit the best possible candidates for a corporate position:
Keep Application Processes Simple
It is never in a company’s best interests to force job applicants to fill out stacks of boring and repetitive forms. To maintain a potential worker’s interest, keep applications easy to complete and simple to understand. Remember, talented candidates are usually high in demand, and wasting their precious time filling out monotonous forms can definitely be a turn-off, and also give them a bad impression that the corporation cannot afford to make.
Instead, create a hiring system that is sensitive to the needs of applicants and respectful of their time. For instance, if an in-person interview is scheduled, a candidate should be given as much pertinent information ahead of time as possible. He or she should know exactly what to bring and who to ask for. The receptionist should be expecting the person and he or she should never languish in the lobby.
Afterward, set the expectation of future communication. Let the potential hire know exactly when to expect to hear from the company and follow through with contacting him or her within the projected time frame.
Use Social Media to Advertise Openings
As technology continues to improve, the majority of job seekers have been looking to social media as a means of searching for fitting job openings. Corporate recruiters find that posting on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin are not only a convenient means of locating qualified candidates, it is also much more affordable than listing openings on paid job boards. After all, postings can be free, or they can be boosted through much more cost-effective targeted ads.
If a company already has a social media presence, it can use the platforms as a way of reaching out to possible hires. Another interesting advantage to posting job openings on social media is that the content is basically posted to be shared, which means a dramatic increase in the reach that a business will have.
Also, another benefit companies will get is the opportunity to track the results that an ad is getting in real-time. Most platforms will provide users with analytics that track views and clicks and the time spent on a particular page.
Make Sure Listings are Precise
While this may sound like nothing more than common sense, describing a job accurately and completely is a crucial step in attracting the particular applicants that a company seeks. Requirements listed in ads should be clear and concise and provide specific information regarding all responsibilities and the scope of the role in the organization. Hours, pay, and other deal breakers should be spelled out ahead of time and will help to narrow down the number of candidates that apply.
Recruiters can use a quick questionnaire or application with knock-out questions to get straight to the point. For example, ask about post-secondary education, criminal backgrounds, or clean driving records upfront, if they are imperative to the employment decision.
Remember, even if an applicant does not fit the particular role applied for, he or she can be a great prospect for future vacancies. So, it is best to establish a system where candidates’ information is secured for future use.
In conclusion, while it is true that no company can avoid all bad hiring choices, following the general ideas discussed in this article can minimize the likelihood that a potential hire is overlooked or a candidate that just does not fit is on-boarded. The right people are out there, but the methods that corporations are using to find them are now being improved and refined so the best person for any job is chosen the first time.
