6 Valuable Tips for HR Responsible for the Recruitment Process
HR, as a function, is broad in its scope and encompasses HR Strategy, Development, Acquisition and Rewards and the function is evolving constantly, aligning its strategy to business objectives.
Many HR departments are very much involved in the recruitment process.
From advertising new vacancies on job portals, seeking referrals from internal staff or engaging third party recruitment firms to assist with the process.
Often a big challenge for a HR involved in the recruitment process is that the actual job can be quite difficult to understand, especially if you have no experience in the specific industry you are now working in.
Very often HR are passed a Job Description and asked to assist in the recruitment process. After the initial invitation for applications HR need to ensure that the CV’s passed onto the hiring Managers must to be the very best profiles of 100’s of applications received. But this can prove to be a daunting task and a challenge if the key skills and competencies are difficult to understand.
And what about the urgency of a start date? Can a Hiring Manager wait 3 or 4 months for these new candidates or do they need to hire immediately?
Is the remuneration budget cast in stone or is there reasonable flexibility to increase salaries in order to “pull” talent with very specific skills and competencies?
Recruitment Consultants should meet with HR and Hiring Manager to share market information.
These are just a few of the questions that should be answered in order for an in-house recruiter or HR person to streamline the recruitment process.
These 6 valuable tips will help you overcome these pain points when recruiting.
You’ll receive a JD requiring specific skills, competencies and relevant experience. You don’t need to feel overwhelmed as it’s very easy to gather some further information to ensure only the best profiles reach the Hiring Manager.
If there are 5 or even 10 points, then consult with the hiring manager on the “most important”, “have to have” and the “nice to have” requirements of the skills and experience required by the candidate. You may be asked to source a candidate with specific experience, with a specific language skill and 5 years’ relevant experience in a specific job.
Check with the hiring manager what the “most important” requirement is.
Check whether the language skills is a must. Often Spoken fluency in a specific language is sufficient and written language skills is a “nice to have”.
Once you feel confident you understand the “most important skills, “must haves” “nice to haves”, then this information will help shortlist relevant applications.
When briefing a third party recruiter, pass over this list of the “most important skills, “must haves” and “nice to haves” skills and competencies.
Very importantly, your third party recruiter should summarise these points for you in a profile summary and if you have confidence in your recruitment specialist, you really shouldn’t even have to read a CV in order to have the confidence to pass a profile over to the Hiring Manager for his or her review. I would strongly encourage you not to work with third party recruitment Consultants who don’t understand the industry.
If you don’t have the experience and full understanding of specific skills and experience required on a JD, then ask your recruitment service provider to work with you and prioritise skills and experience. Your recruitment service provider speaks to many candidates and the best way to learn is for your consultant to ask and learn from candidates and share it with you if needed.
There is never a perfect candidate that 100% matches a job description, but by understanding “key” requirements, then this process will often speed up the process and eliminate unnecessary pain points for you and the Hiring Manager when recruiting.
If Hiring Managers are not providing feedback on why candidates are being rejected or not coming back on CVs submitted, check if the position is still a priority or if something has changed. HR typically has its own KPIs to meet and keeping a position open with no feedback is also not a good reflection of your own performances, we understand.
Always share feedback with your consultant so that you are not wasting time having someone sourcing for the wrong fit.
If Hiring Managers have different expectations of what is needed in a role from what is available in the market, it may be good to get your consultant to put together some information to share with the hiring manager or get the Consultant to sit in a meeting with you and the Hiring Manager to share market information. This will be of mutual benefit to all in ensuring that you can move forward in seeking the best person for the job!
If you’re in HR and you are facing challenges in getting the best CV’s and profiles through to Hiring Managers, please contact EQ8 Recruit for a complimentary half hour Consultation. With the combined experience of 20 years, one of EQ8 Recruit’s senior management team will consult with you and guide you with valuable hints and tips, with absolutely no obligation of engaging our services.
EQ8 Recruit | Specialist Talent Acquisition Services