5 Tips For Improving Your Company’s Hiring Process
Hiring is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. After all, your employees are what makes your company tick. But finding the suitable candidates and ensuring they’re a good fit for your company can be challenging.
For one, you need to make sure you’re attracting the right candidates in the first place. Then you need to ensure that your hiring process is efficient and effective so that you can make the best possible decisions about who to bring on board. But how can you do that?
Here are five tips to help improve your company’s hiring process:
1. Define The Skills And Qualities You Need
To make the necessary improvements in your hiring process, it helps to take a step back and evaluate what you’re looking for in a candidate. Failure to do so can result in wasted time and effort.
Think about the specific skills and qualities that are critical for your hiring role. Are there certain personality traits that will help them excel? Once you clearly understand the skills and qualities you need, you can start narrowing down your pool of candidates.
Make sure to reflect these criteria in your job postings and throughout the rest of your hiring process. This will help to ensure that you’re attracting the type of candidates you need from the start.
2. Write Detailed Job Descriptions
Once you know what you’re looking for in a candidate, the next step is to craft a detailed job description. This might seem simple, but this is where many companies make a critical mistake.
According to reports, today’s job seekers are more particular when analyzing job posts. Up to 65% of applicants say job postings without a specified salary range are the most unappealing. Postings follow this with a low base salary (60%) and experience requirements being too high (50%). You can avoid turning off potential candidates by being more detailed and transparent in your job postings.
When writing your job descriptions, be sure to include the following details:
- A comprehensive list of duties and responsibilities
- The qualifications and experience you require
- Any special skills or knowledge that would be beneficial
- Information about your company culture
By including all of this information upfront, you’ll give candidates a better idea of whether or not they’re a good fit for the role – and save yourself time in the long run.
3. Use Multiple Recruitment Channels
Another mistake that companies make when trying to improve their hiring process is relying too heavily on one recruitment channel. Suppose you’re only posting job descriptions on your website or using an online job board. In that case, you’re not going to reach as many qualified candidates as you could be. Instead, cast a wider net by utilizing multiple channels.
Some other recruitment channels to include on your list are as follows:
Career Portal
A career portal is an online space where job seekers can learn about your company and browse open positions. If you don’t have a career portal, now’s the time to create one. This will make it easier for candidates to find you – and make it more likely that they’ll apply for a role at your company.
Consider investing in a career page creator to start from scratch or integrate a career portal into your existing website. It would be better if you could find an easy-to-use recruitment platform that offers a career portal as among the offered features. This way, you can use other tools like an applicant tracking system and interview scheduler to further streamline your hiring process.
Social Media
This is where many people, especially millennials, go to find out more about potential employers. When using social media for recruitment, be sure to have a presence on the platforms that your target candidates are most active on. Research the hashtags they use and follow relevant industry leaders.
When posting job descriptions, include a link to your career portal or website so candidates can easily apply. In addition, try to engage with potential candidates by replying to comments and messages. This will help to create a more personal connection and increase the likelihood that they’ll apply for a job posting that accurately reflects the role you’re trying to fill. Include all the relevant information discussed earlier, like duties and responsibilities, qualifications, etc.
Posting your job on multiple online job boards will help you reach a larger pool of to work at your company.
Referrals
Another great way to find qualified candidates is through referrals. According to studies, employees hired through referrals tend to perform better and stay longer than those applicants hired through other channels. Use your current employees to source referrals by offering incentives, like bonus payouts.
You can also reach out to your professional network and ask if they know anyone who would be a good fit for the role. Using multiple channels to recruit candidates gives you a better chance of finding the right person for the job.
Online Job Boards
Online job boards like Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn are some of the most popular ways to find jobs. So, if you’re not posting your job descriptions on these sites, you’re missing out on a big pool of qualified candidates.
To start, create an account on each site and post your detailed job description. Posting your job on multiple online job boards will help you reach a larger pool of candidates.
4. Conduct Thorough Interviews
Once you’ve narrowed your pool of candidates, it’s time to start conducting interviews. This is where you’ll get to know the candidates and decide whether they’re a good fit for your company or not.
When interviewing candidates, be sure to ask about their:
- Previous work experience
- Motivation for applying skills and qualifications
- Work style
- Goals and aspirations
The interview is also an excellent opportunity to assess a candidate’s soft skills, like communication, problem-solving, and teamwork. These are critical skills you can’t always quantify on a resume. Be sure to give each candidate the same questions so you can compare their answers side-by-side.
5. Check References and Backgrounds
After interviewing all the candidates, it’s time to start checking their references. This will give you a better idea of each candidate’s work ethic and performance.
When speaking with references, be sure to ask about the following:
- Work ethic
- Communication skills
- Problem-solving skills
- Leadership qualities Creativity
- Ability to work in a team
Doing so will save you time and energy in the long run. Don’t forget about performing background checks on all of the candidates. This will help you weed out applicants with a history of criminal activity or poor performance at previous jobs.
To do a background check, you’ll need to collect the following information from each candidate:
- Full name and current address
- Social security number
- Date of birth
- Previous addresses
- Employment history
- Education History
You can then use this information to run a criminal background check, credit check, and drug test. These results will help you make your final decision.
By following these steps, you’ll be well on finding the best possible candidates for your open position. Just remember to take your time and don’t rush the process. After all, hiring is a big decision that can have a major impact on your company.