Boost Your Recruitment Process with these 6 Tips

The recruitment process spends a great deal of time and costs — two valuable resources that businesses can’t afford to waste these days. Research shows that the average cost per hire in the United States is a whopping $4,000. Couple this with the 23 days average interview duration and recruiters are looking at serious investments. This is why for recruiters who want to make sure they can hire candidates faster while maintaining quality-of-hire, optimizing the recruitment process is necessary. 

Moreover, the competition for qualified talents remains strong, and businesses who want to thrive in a post-pandemic era know the importance of building a team of resilient and skilled workforce who can strategically navigate through any crisis. Your recruitment process directly impacts this, and if you want to retain a competitive edge, it is more important now than ever to redefine your recruitment procedure. 

We’ve listed six tips to help you save time, improve your hiring process, and deliver a better candidate experience: 

1. Stay up-to-date with the latest HR tech.   

First things first, make sure you’re utilizing Human Resources (HR) technology. It can’t be stressed enough how important it is for HR leaders to take advantage of the benefits that HR tech offers. Reports show that for 68% of recruiting professionals, investing in HR tech is the most optimal way to improve hiring performance in the next five years. With the latest technological trends, there are a handful of HR tools suited for your every need: candidate engagement, soft skills assessment, talent market analysis, video interviews, candidate database, and reputation management.  

When you automate processes, you speed up hiring time and decrease costs. This also has the added benefit of allowing your recruiters to focus more on the candidates leading to a more positive candidate experience and better employer brand reputation. 

2. Trim down your job description to just the essentials and leave room for diversity. 

A candidate will spend an average of 49.7 seconds reviewing a job posting before deciding whether it’s a fit for them or not. That means you have approximately less than a minute to communicate the criteria you have without losing valuable talent engagement. A hefty list of role qualifications might be drastically narrowing down your talent pool and decreasing the opportunity to attract a more diverse and inclusive set of candidates fit for the job.  

Right now, the persistent challenge of filling in talent gaps is attributed to the difficulty of attracting the right candidate to apply for the job. One way to address this by being concise in your job description. Sort the non-negotiables and negotiables of the job requirement, then eliminate any unnecessary details and biases on “required” skills, which can be developed later on through upskilling and reskilling. Include only the must-have requirements needed to get the job done.  

This way, you end up with a job description appealing to candidates from a diverse set of backgrounds without compromising your criteria. As you encourage diversity, you improve your talent pool’s quality and increase the chances of finding the right talent. 

3. Use tests to pre-screen candidates and identify the best ones for further assessment. 

HR leaders are recognizing the benefits of using tests to pre-screen candidates. The premise is simple: a compelling and well-crafted test can screen candidates on the fundamental and technical skills required for the job and help recruiters identify the best candidates for further assessment. This allows for more efficient use of the hiring manager’s resources and time. 

The best tests are short and contain all the necessary questions and exercises needed to measure the candidate’s performance in executing the required task. Before the actual test day, make sure to inform the candidates ahead and communicate helpful details like the duration of the test and the number of questions included so that they can prepare accordingly. This small gesture will not go unnoticed and help contribute to a positive candidate experience. 

4. Stick to strategic questions when interviewing and create a comfortable environment. 

Interviews are meant to help you learn what you can about the candidates in just a few minutes, so how you maximize that time is critical to ensuring the quality of hire. Make the most out of it by preparing strategic questions that will help you assess their critical thinking, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and work ethic. Questions like these are meant to identify those who can make an immediate contribution to your business with minimal training, have good potential for long-term growth, and are culturally fit for your organization. These individuals are most likely to yield good ROI to your business. 

Another thing to be mindful of is how you deliver your questions. Creating a friendly and comfortable environment can make a difference in encouraging their true personality and honest answers to come out. Putting them at ease will make it easier to assess their character and, at the same time, help you make a good impression about the kind of employer you are. You not only get an insightful assessment of the candidate, but you also improve their candidate experience and strengthen your reputation. 

5. Include social media platforms in your background checks. 

Social media is gaining traction as a recruiting tool, and HR leaders are using them even in conducting background checks. A survey shows that 70% of employers in the United States use social media to research more about a potential candidate. When you use social media screening, the candidate’s humanity is made more evident, and they become more than just the things written on their resume. This will give you an insight into helpful information that you won’t potentially see in an application or during an interview. 

6. Be intentional in asking and analyzing candidate reviews. 

One of the most innovative strategies you can use for recruitment improvement is a candidate review base. Feedback from candidates, especially those you have turned down, can give you practical insight into how the hiring experience was like for them and how your employer brand was perceived. By taking the initiative to gather feedback, you gain a two-fold benefit: First, you communicate that you value what they have to say and demonstrate that you are an employer who listens. Second, you end up with valuable information you can use to identify areas of improvement. 

Reputation management software like Great Recruiters can help automate your review management. This tool automatically solicits feedback from candidates and generates a report that allows you to analyze your recruitment process and the quality of candidate experience delivered. On top of this, it automatically converts feedback into testimonials that you can share on your social media profiles and website to boost your employer brand. With tools like this, building a review base has never been easier and more efficient. 

Boost your recruitment process today. 

Great Recruiters provides an automated solution to helping you identify potential improvements in your recruitment process. Want to find out how you can optimize your recruitment procedure and strengthen your employer brand through our reputation management platform? Request a demo today.