Recruiting in a candidate driven market can be tricky. With the help of developing technologies like AI, automation and mobile apps, candidates can apply to multiple positions at many different organizations in no time at all. So, why is this tricky?
With candidates applying to more places more quickly, you either keep up or you miss out on the ones coming through your talent pipeline. What are you doing to screen the candidates coming through your pipeline and how can you improve your practices? If you’re not sure, here are some best practices to get your screening process buffed, polished and ready to roll.
To get the right candidates, you have to understand who the right candidates are for you. To do this, you and your team should set up a candidate persona to really understand what your team, company and long terms goals are and what kind of person is going to be able to meet them. Doing intake calls and creating calibration profiles are a perfect example of this, plus they help hiring managers understand their needs.
If you have certain goals, you’re going to want to look for candidates who have a good track record of meeting similar goals. In the same way, if you notice an IT skills gap, don’t only search for candidates who are experienced in IT. Instead, look for the intangible qualities of candidates that show they would be able to learn the ropes of IT fairly quickly. Not every candidate lists everything they've done or want to do on their resume or various social profiles. Sometimes, you look for 75% of the characteristics, work experience and skills you need from a candidate, then screen people in or out for the remainder. These can be based on role, company, industry and even geography.
Recruiting in a candidate-driven market can be tricky! @IQTalent has the best practices for candidate screening processes for even the busiest of #recruiting seasons.Click to TweetAI is here to stay. If you’re not using chatbots to at least engage your candidates during the first steps, you’re losing candidates to companies that are. Use automation to screen through candidates who don’t know where they fall in your pipeline and who can be moved to a different position if need be. If your ATS functions have the capabilities, assign relevancy scores or ask questions to help filter the right candidates. These weed through the candidates who just aren’t going to fit into the position while also keeping great candidates from slipping into the ATS black hole.
Give candidates a chance to show you what they’ve really got by letting them complete a sample project of something they might encounter. This is an opportunity for them to get a feel for what type of work your company does and what they can produce in a deadlined situation. It also enables you to gauge their adaptability to specific projects that would be sent their way in the event they do end up getting hired.
It’s also important to note that this is not an opportunity for you to get work done for free. Pre-hire projects are to help you streamline the process and see what your candidates have to offer. While this concept is still relatively new, it never hurts to simply ask for a portfolio, share their business media profile like LinkedIn and Github or have candidates take a code assessment if that works better for your process.
Having a strong recruiting plan and recruiting technique is what sets your company apart from the rest. It also helps get more candidates through your pipeline! One way companies are starting to do this is by implementing business profiles like LinkedIn into their screening process. But, before you do this, there are a couple of things you should keep in mind:
Prepare. A lot. So much that your time to hire is cut down enough to beat the competition’s time to hire and get the best candidates first. Doing background checks or checking up on a candidate's social media can help you sort out who’s a good fit before an interview happens. But make sure you don’t lose good candidates at the first sign of trouble. If a candidate bombs a phone screen or an interview, take the time to re-calibrate with the hiring manager and interviewers. Do your homework on who the candidate is before taking unnecessary steps.
To get the right candidates, you have to understand who the right #candidates are for you. Find out what else @IQTalent says are the best practices for your candidate screening process!Click to TweetOnce you’ve done your homework and you feel you have a preliminary line up, get ready for the interviews the best you can. Ask questions designed for the candidate and listen and observe their answers. General questions are a great starting point, but if you did your homework right, you should be able to dig in deep and ask the right questions to see if they’ll fit.
Just because a candidate isn’t an automatic yes doesn’t mean they’re a definite no. Think of them as more like “not right nows” and keep the relationship building. Continuing relationships with candidates who didn’t hit the mark in their interview are an opportunity to bring them back in for a second interview or an interview for a different position down the road. Give
Continuing on that last point, not every candidate is going to be right for the positions you have open right now. But, they might be great for a position you know is going to open up in the future. Save these candidates for future opportunities. Having a talent pipeline with candidates you’ve already interviewed once will give you a head start on the candidate screening process later down the road and, in turn, cut your time to hire and beat the competition.
Your candidate screening process isn’t going to be perfect the first time and probably not even the second time. With each new round of hiring, take the time to see what worked and what didn’t, make the adjustments and make the next screening process even better. Creating personas that are right for your company, using tools like social media and AI and saving candidates for future opportunities are just a start to having a perfect screening process.
IQTalent Partners can make the process even easier with our team of recruiting experts and a unique outlook on recruiting. Get in touch with us today to see how we can perfect your candidate screening process!
