Take control of your recruitment process

Do you worry you’re losing out on good candidates to other companies? Or struggling to attract enough talent to make a strong hire?

Every recruiter knows the importance of hiring the right people, but sometimes it feels like the right candidates are just out of reach. With the market leaning in the favour of candidates, this may not come as a huge surprise to anyone. What it does mean however, is that it’s time recruiters took back control of the recruitment process. Get it right and you can give yourself a winning edge.

Here’s your six-step plan to reclaiming that control.

Be clear about what you are offering

Your number one aim in the recruitment process is to attract the very best talent. In order to do so, you need to paint a clear picture about the role. Why is the position available? What’s the timeline? What makes the role appealing?

Reeling off a tried-and-tested spiel about how great the company/culture/benefits/opportunities are simply doesn’t cut it anymore. Think about how you can sell the role and the company to a potential new hire. Unless you have something unique to offer, candidates are likely to look elsewhere.

Make a strong connection

It is important to form strong bonds with all candidates right from the get-go. You want them to feel a synergy with you – if not, they may lose interest in the role (and the organisation as a whole). Dig deeper when making these connections and always put the candidates’ needs first.

Concentrate on the key stages

The recruitment process is far from simple. From creating job adverts and scrutinising CVs, to vetting candidates and conducting interviews, it all takes a significant amount of time and resource.

If you are using a recruitment agency, be sure you are making the best use of their time. Let professional recruiters take care of the time-heavy tasks at the beginning of the process. This will free up your time to focus on the tasks that really matter: assessing and interviewing top talent.

At Stopgap, we can manage the advertising, filtering and screening phases of your recruitment. We can put in the leg-work to source the very best talent and compile a list of skilled candidates which you can consider, invite in for interview, and potentially hire.

Offer feedback

There are several common issues with the recruitment process that can be easily remedied. One is a lack of feedback once the interview has taken place. Although this criticism is repeated by many candidates, it is also easy to avoid. Remember that candidates put a huge amount of effort into preparing for an interview – the least you can do is provide constructive feedback at a later date.

Your key priority when giving that feedback is to ensure all candidates (successful or otherwise) take away a positive impression of the business. Equally, those who are progressing to a second interview may raise their own questions at the feedback stage – which could help to further inform your decision.

Finally, be sure to provide the recruiter with feedback too. The more information you can give about the candidates they have put forward will improve their performance delivering talent in future.

Add technology to your search

There is an increasing number of companies using recruitment technology to enhance their search for the perfect candidate. You may not be ready to make that investment just yet, which is why the services of a recruitment agency are so useful.

Give applicants a great candidate experience

When recruiting for marketing roles in particular, you must show candidates you are experts at promoting the business. And one of the most effective marketing tools out there is offering an amazing candidate experience.

An advertised role may attract hundreds of applicants but you still need to treat each person as an individual and show them respect. In doing so, you will present you and your company in the best possible light.

If you would like to find out how to take back control of the recruitment process at your company, get in touch with the Stopgap team today.