By Lee Biggins, Founder and CEO of Resume-Library.
We may be in the midst of a global pandemic, but for many businesses, now is a good time to evaluate existing processes and discover whether they’re still fit for purpose. Especially as a lot of organizations have had to scale back operations during these challenging times.
One of the key areas that employers should be focussing on is their hiring process. After all, a long and drawn out process can cost businesses a huge amount of time and money; both of which could be used in other areas right now.
In this guide, we’ll explain how you can improve your hiring process from start to finish; highlighting some key areas that you could make more efficient.
Reassess Your Job Adverts
Every hiring process starts with a job advert. After all, how else can you expect to get your role out there and attract great candidates? But, you can potentially fall at the first hurdle if you don’t ensure that it ticks all the right boxes.
In fact, candidates have told us that they won’t apply for a job if the description is unclear, or if it doesn’t mention any perks or benefits. For this reason, it’s a good idea to stick to a basic structure when writing a job advert.
The opening paragraph, or introduction, should give a brief overview of your company, the role you’re hiring for, and why you’re hiring for it. For example, it might be that it’s a completely new role that’s been created because the team is growing; that’s a positive point to highlight as it shows the business is heading in the right direction.
Try not to go into too much detail as large chunks of text can be difficult for readers to digest. This brings us onto the next point – providing an overview of the responsibilities and then requirements for the role. Use bullet points to break this up as that way, candidates can easily see if they match the criteria.
Finally, be sure to include a closing paragraph that highlights some of the awesome benefits of working for your company. You should also advise on any next steps. For example, will there be an initial video interview? When will the job be closing? Being as clear possible at this stage can help massively with your employer brand.
Invest in the Right Tools
Next, you need to think about where you’re advertising your jobs. Whether it’s your career site, on social media, popular job boards, or a combination of all three; you’ll want to give them as much exposure as possible to drive a good amount of applications.
Alongside this, because the unemployment rate has been so low in recent years, many hiring professionals have turned to resume databases to actively source relevant candidates themselves.
The market is shifting because of the pandemic, which means there are more active job seekers looking for work right now; and, they’ll be more open to job opportunities you approach them about.
A lot of recruitment technology providers are now working together to help make the hiring process more seamless. Here at Resume-Library, we’ve partnered with Bullseye Engagement to give its users the ability to easily search for relevant candidates through a resume search tool on their site, that is powered by Resume-Library.
This means, if you use an Applicant Tracking System to manage your hiring process, it’s worth checking what other providers they work with to see how you can benefit.
Consider How You Communicate with Candidates & Hiring Managers
A huge factor that can slow down the hiring process is a lack of communication. Because there are so many elements to consider when it comes to recruitment, if you don’t keep all parties up to date then this can lead to serious inefficiencies.
Communication is key at every stage. Think about how long you’re taking to get back to candidates, how many stages of interviews you’re conducting and how long hiring managers are taking to make decisions. These are just a number of examples – so try and map out your current hiring process and each relevant touchpoint to see where you can improve.
Research shows that the average hiring timeline is around 38 days from the point the job is advertised, to when the offer is made. Of course, this can vary depending on the industry you’re hiring in, or the role you’re recruiting for; but it’s important to understand how a lack of communication can make the process longer than necessary.
Remember, how you treat candidates will reflect positively on your employer brand. And a good employer brand is crucial when hiring.
Improve Your Hiring Process Today
These are just some of the ways to improve your hiring process; and now is a great time to see how you can tweak yours to make it more efficient. Remember, your job adverts are super important when it comes to candidate attraction.
Then, you need to think about where you’re advertising them and what other tools you’re using to manage your recruitment. Alongside this, don’t underestimate the power of good communication – both with candidates and hiring managers.
We hope you find these tips useful during these challenging times!
Thank you to Lee Biggins and the Resume-Library team for contributing this week’s article.
Our partnership with Resume-Library enables BullseyeEngagement users to access millions of resumes from every industry without ever leaving the Bullseye platform.
