Successful recruitment and staffing is heavily based on having the right steps in place and an effective recruitment process order.
Regardless of whether you utilize a big tech stack, a couple apps, or even none, the order of your process matters. If your recruitment process is out of order, you’re going to miss opportunities, lose business, and miss qualified candidates.
The good news is, the process doesn’t typically change; it’s the mechanics that need improvement.
The mechanics are the way in which you fulfill the foundation of the process. For instance, communication is a necessary part of the process, but how you communicate is a mechanic, such as via email, text, phone, video, etc.
Mechanics are important, but because they can change and still yield the same results, it’s most important to focus on finding your successful process and then trying and testing additional mechanics.
The benefit of using tech in your processes are plenty. Not only does tech save recruiters time in the tedious tasks, but tech can allow you to add or enhance elements of your process to increase your results and get better-qualified candidates faster.
Just like your company and industry are unique, so too can your mechanics. But the fundamental pieces of the process that need to take place still need to be in a certain order to be most successful.
So, what’s the right order for recruitment? And how can tech support the process? Optimize your recruiting process with these tips.
1. Sourcing
You’re not going to be successful if you can’t find the best candidates for your open positions. Sourcing is the obvious first step in your recruitment process, which entails a few other key elements.
Job Descriptions
Your job descriptions need to attract attention, especially when people are viewing possibly hundreds of jobs (or looking for something very specific). It’s important to write (and structure) your job description not only for algorithm and SEO, but also for the human reader. Are you writing what candidates want to know?
According to one survey, while 72% of employers believed they provided clear job descriptions, only 36% of applicants agreed with their statement.
Wondering what to include in a job description? Check out these tips from LinkedIn.
Job Postings
It’s not only about what you say, but where your job posting is placed. Job boards, social media, your company website . . . the opportunities are endless. Tech is a fast and efficient way to get your open positions in front of your audience fast.
Between descriptions, posting and distribution, it is necessity to not only be spot on with descriptions but also optimized for views while being discoverable. Using a robust ATS/CRM like Tracker allows your recruiters to effortlessly optimize postings and distribute them instantly to thousands of job boards, as well as your own website and even social media channels.
Application Process
While you may not have full control over your clients’ application process, you can support them in ensuring it’s not a deterrent for candidates to apply. Don’t ask redundant questions or for the same information more than once. Walk through the process from the candidate’s perspective to understand where adjustments can be made.
60% of job seekers gave up on their application due to its complexity or length.
2. Building Profiles
Once you have candidates, the next step in your process should be building out your profiles and sorting your prospects.
While this can be done manually, tech like Tracker’s Resume Parsing and Skills Profiling can reduce hours upon hours of manual data entry and provide you with lists to quickly work from.
No matter how someone sends in their resumes, you want to extract all information quickly. That’s exactly what Tracker’s resume parsing feature does (including photos), to build candidate profiles instantly.
A candidate’s skills should help you get a better picture of them. An effective skills profiling algorithm takes a multifaceted approach to sorting skills. From quick “yes/no” skills to ranked and dated skills, you’ll better be able to quickly search and find the best candidates.
To enhance your process even further through tech, use long and shortlisting to quickly identify candidates (privately or publicly with team members) for specific job specifications.
3. Screening
Screening is one of the most important aspects of your recruitment process apart from getting your job description spot on and distributed.
Screening can also become one of the most time-consuming tasks between conflicting schedules, no-shows, and the time to conduct the actual phone call or video interview.
The mechanics of screening have greatly improved over the years with the use of technology. While phone calls are still common, video is quickly taking over.
Tracker wanted to take video interviews to a new level of convenience for all parties involved. Video interviewing allows recruiters and clients to create unlimited interview questions and send them to candidates. Candidates can then reply via video in their own time and on their own devices and upload for review.
Of course, having a multilevel approach to screening is important for identifying soft skills as well. Don’t discount the in-person or phone screens in addition to getting a better overall picture of your candidates.
4. Selection
While the selection is a simple task if you and the client have found the best candidate and an offer has been accepted, there’s another aspect to the process that is often overlooked during this step.
And that is communication.
To all of the candidates who applied.
Why? Because feedback is important to candidates, even if they weren’t hired, and it keeps the doors open for future opportunities. Not to mention, it makes your company look great and can increase retention with candidates for other opportunities.
According to LinkedIn, 52% of candidates who were given feedback were more likely to continue a relationship with the company.
And the reality according to LinkedIn: Only 7% of candidates receive a phone call from a recruiter or hiring manager about a rejection.
Communication
Communication is vital in every step of your recruitment process, from your job descriptions and transparency on timing and status, all the way through onboarding. Using tech like Tracker can allow you to easily implement communication to ALL candidates, building better relationships. An ATS with built-in CRM means customized templates and personalized messaging to keep candidates in the know, and automation allows you to do just that effortlessly.
According to a Talent Board Survey, 63% of candidates say most employers do not communicate adequately.
5. Onboarding
Forgetting the follow-through of onboarding in your recruitment process is a big mistake. The most successful recruiters ensure that the transition from candidate to employee is smooth and frictionless. The handoff needs to be seamless, or else you’re going to have no-shows when it comes to their first day.
From signing important docs to building out workflows and activities that need to be completed before their first day, a robust (and integrated) Onboarding suite of features allow for a smooth transition with greater client and candidate confidence.
6. Re-Engagement
The last step of your recruitment process should always be the follow-up. We like to call this re-engagement or redeployment, but you can name it what you want. The purpose is to continue those relationships with candidates for future assignments or opportunities, especially if there is an end date to their contract.
This step also allows you to ask for feedback, which is important to improving your processes for future success. In a candidate-driven market, like it is now, the candidate’s experience is critical. Using an ATS/CRM with connected web forms allows you to send surveys out to candidates (and clients) for feedback to improve. Trust us, this will be appreciated on all fronts.
In Summary
As you look over this 6-step process, it’s important to identify within each step what mechanisms you’re using to implement or enhance each process. Tracker’s cloud-based recruiting software was built on the mission to build better relationships. We believe recruitment should be seamless and enjoyable for candidates, clients, and recruiters alike. Our suite of features is built to save time and money while growing relationships that thrive.
To learn more about our industry-leading software, schedule a demo to see our all-in-one recruitment solution for yourself!
