Tips for Successful Recruitment

5 TOP TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL RECRUITMENT

1. PRODUCE A GOOD JOB SPECIFICATION

In an ideal world the job spec will have three constituent parts:

The Job Description
This should contain the job title and the main job duties with a guide listing what proportion of the work will be allocated to each of the duties. The alternative to this would be a full description of a likely working week.

It should also contain the working hours, whether those hours are likely to be varied for any reason, the size of the team, who the employee reports to, who the team reports to, the size of the department, a guide on salary, a guide on company benefits for the position, training opportunities and where the next step would take the candidate in the event of a promotion.

The Person Description
What skills are essential for this position?
What skills are advantageous for this job?
What the likely career background of the individual will be?
What work experience is needed to undertake the position?
How much work experience is needed to undertake the position?
What educational background is expected from the individual?

Recruiting Information
This should contain information like:

  • The location of the position
  • where to send Cvs
  • why is the job open
  • opening and closing dates for applications
  • likely time scale for getting the job filled
  • reasons to join your company
  • the relevance of the position to the company
  • tests on interview
  • the interview procedure

2. USE ALL METHODS OPEN TO YOU TO FILL YOUR POSITION

Place the job spec on your website.
Consider advertising the job.
Use agents (including us of course!!!).
And use the grapevine -
Don't underestimate word of mouth when recruiting. Put the word out that you're looking and you may find the right person is recommended to you.

Ask existing staff to recommend likely candidates. They may know of former colleagues who would be ideal. Consider offering a bounty payment if someone is referred to you by your existing staff and they subsequently fill the job.

If an intermediary is needed to approach a recommended target candidate, we would be happy to offer that service.

Keep things formal even if a candidate comes from an informal recommendation. Ask them to apply through the usual channels and conduct a proper interview.

3. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

Can the job be filled using existing resources?

Can someone internally be promoted to fill the job?

If the work load is high now will it remain high or can you employ an experienced contract or interim person to take up the burden for the short term allowing you the flexibility to look at the longer term picture as it emerges?

Would part time workers or job sharers be suitable for the job?

Would a part time office based recruit combined with a home worker solve the problem?

4. PLAN YOUR RECRUITMENT STRATEGY

Plan well in advance to avoid costly mistakes.

The more urgent a position becomes, the less time the employer has to recruit the right person. Mistakes made by poor planning can lead to very costly errors by hiring the wrong recruit just because the need to hire immediately is so crucial.

Furthermore, the more urgency to fill a job the less manoeuvrability on recruitment costs, the less choice of recruitment methods and therefore the less choice of candidates.

5. BEWARE THE OBVIOUS RECRUITMENT TRAPS

Here are some common traps that employers sometimes fall into -

a) Failure to spot the habitual job hopper. Their experience is good enough to get the candidate the interview and job hoppers are always good at interviews because they get so much practice.

b) Failure to examine reasons for leaving previous jobs with a very fine tooth comb. Reasons for leaving often offer the employer a crucial insight into the new recruit and how they are likely to behave if they join you.

c) Failure to recognise that location is vitally important when recruiting. A 2 hour commute each way for a new employee means your newcomer won't put up with too many bad days before they want to move to a new company. 2 hours each way is a long time to think about greener pastures elsewhere.

d) Failure to recognise that what a candidate says on interview may not fully reflect their true thoughts. For example a candidate will usually give a lower salary expectation figure in the pressure of an interview situation than what they actually want.

e) Failure to quiz a candidate fully on their outside interests. Not only could this lead to the new recruit not blending in well with the existing team but also it could lead to a job mismatch if, for example, the recruit has to leave on time every day to complete their out-of-work obligations.

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