The First Step to Building Your Recruiting Process
If you haven’t read it already, check out the first part of this series, Why Your Reliance on Job Boards & InMails Is Sabotaging Your Recruiting, before diving into this piece. In that blog, we define the problem that we will address in the next series of posts.
Now that we have identified the culprit behind why your recruiting technologies are making you a less efficient and effective recruiter, we can move on to the next step. Right?
Wrong! We’re not ready for that just yet, but don’t worry. We’ll get there soon. Before you rebuild or revamp your existing process, you need to set yourself up for success. You need to truly understand the importance of what you’re about to undertake and the potential long-term value. Most importantly, you need an open mind.
No one likes to admit they’re not perfect, myself included, but the only way to improve is to confront the issue head-on. You need to be prepared to listen, question your instincts, be open to new ideas, and change your way of thinking.
I promise it’s not as challenging as it sounds, but if you’re willing, I guarantee you’ll come out of this process a better recruiter. Now that you’re on board, let’s define the expectations.
What does success look like?
I have probably used some variation of better, smarter, faster, or more effective recruiter at least dozen times by now. To be honest, the thesaurus tab on my browser could probably use a break. Instead of repeating myself yet again, let me give a clearer picture of what you can expect.
- Less volume. Better quality. You’re going to cut your talent pipeline in half, and learn how to find the best candidates sooner. This will free up the time you spent on unqualified candidates so you focus on building stronger relationships with the right candidates and an overall more enticing candidate journey.
- Be an asset to your candidate. Recruiters today have a bad reputation with candidates, resulting in low overall engagement across all channels. While we can’t guarantee that every communication you send will be met with a reply, you will achieve a notable increase in your engagement rates. This will allow you to position yourself as an asset to candidates, someone they look forward to talking with instead of clutter in their inbox.
- Reduce your time to fill. Every minute you spend trying to fill one role is time you could have spent on a different opportunity. A clear process will reduce the time from your first contact to the offer by days, if not by more, depending on the timeline of the hiring company.
Highlight Potential
Building a thoughtful, clearly defined process is only the first step to becoming a better recruiter, but it’s the most important step. This isn’t going to happen overnight. Take the time to carefully map out your process. Implement, assess, and then do it all over again until you have something that is robust, scalable, and effective. Remember, it’s better to be great at one thing than be average at a bunch of other things.
Once you’ve honed in your process, then you can start layering in new pieces such as recruitment marketing, thought leadership, and employer branding. The possibilities will be limitless once you have a solid foundation.
Note: Making It Work With What You Have
You’re almost ready to build your process. I promise. Seriously, it’s the next step. But, before we dive in, I want to take a moment and put you at ease. It can be extremely overwhelming to think about what you’re about to undertake.
Take a moment to pause and draw a deep breath. We’re not going to dismantle what you have already built or push unfamiliar technologies or approaches. This is about building a process centered around all of the resources and tools currently at your disposal. Think of it like a puzzle. With each piece, the picture will get a little bit clearer until you get to your desired result.