How Can You Be More Selective with Your Applications and Actually Find the Right Talent?
Today, companies are facing an array of hiring challenges. First, there’s a pervasive labor shortage, limiting employers’ access to candidates while increasing competition for the best and brightest. Second, wages are generally on the rise. Couple those with shifting job seeker expectations that come with a candidate’s market, and successful recruitment may seem hard to achieve.
Some organizations are responding to these difficulties by functionally lowering their hiring standards. However, that strategy brings problems with it, as an ill-fitting new hire can potentially do more harm than good.
Fortunately, there are ways to be more selective with your applications and find the right talent, all while making quicker hiring decisions to ensure you don’t miss out on exceptional candidates. If you aren’t sure where to begin, here are some tips.
Know Precisely What You Need
Before you begin searching for candidates, take the time to define precisely what a new hire needs to bring to the table to succeed. Essentially, you want to identify the skills and traits that are genuinely necessary on day one when hired into the position, using those to define the must-haves you’ll include in the vacancy announcement. Then, the must-have list serves as a critical part of the screening process, allowing you to determine which job seekers fit the bill quickly.
However, do avoid listing any capability that your company is willing to train as a must-have, as that can mean screening quality candidates out by mistake. Instead, include those as nice-to-haves, and use the list to separate out the exceptional applications while leaving other candidates with potential in the running.
Leverage Your Team
While hiring managers are typically responsible for screening resumes and selecting top contenders, getting insights from other successful members of your team could make quickly identifying top talent easier. Professionals who work in the same or a similar role know what it takes to thrive in the job and at your company. As a result, their insights could make finding right-fit applicants easier.
Plus, existing employees can serve as a valuable source of referrals. Often, they won’t recommend another person for an opening unless they strongly believe the candidate could excel in the position. That can lead to higher-quality matches right out of the gate.
Partner with a Recruitment Agency
Partnering with a recruitment agency creates opportunities to access more talent and streamline hiring, resulting in an improved experience. Recruiters continuously work to refresh their talent pools, ensuring they can support the exacting needs of client companies.
Additionally, recruitment agencies handle the initial candidate vetting as soon as they connect with a job seeker, allowing them to recommend top-quality matches quickly and efficiently. That vetting also shortens a company’s time-to-hire, as many critical steps they’d usually handle internally are already complete when they’re presented with a candidate.
At Hamilton-Ryker, we understand the challenges companies face in the world of hiring and recruitment. We designed our candidate sourcing strategy and hiring process to ensure alignment with client needs, leading to better, faster results. If you’d like to find out more about how our team can help you achieve your recruitment goals, Hamilton-Ryker wants to hear from you. Contact us today.