Recruitment: Is it Rocket Science?
Well it certainly shouldn’t be. And if you’re finding it hard work or it’s like a dark art to get it right then perhaps it’s because (like most businesses) you’re still using the same methods you were years go.
Just like everything else in the world, recruitment is changing. It’s no longer feasible to rely on a person’s CV or even what they tell you in an interview to ensure you not only employ but attract the right people to your business.
When I speak to businesses about recruitment, they all tell me that they find it expensive, stressful, hard work or frustrating. When I ask them what they are doing in terms of something different however, they struggle to answer. And it’s a common theme.
Successful recruitment should be about 3 things:-
Adverts: you need a distinctive advert which talks to and attracts the right people. If your advert isn’t attracting the right people, change it. You may need to re-think the job spec, or the job title or the salary. Remember, you’re competing with 100’s of other vacancies like yours so it has to stand out. Keep it simple: who is the company, what is the job and what experience do you want the ideal candidate to have. Talk about the personal qualities of the individual as well. Human behaviour is just as important as skill set.
Reading CVs: you must have a process for reading the CV’s of those who have applied. Have a list of “must have’s” and “nice to have’s” and stick to it. Have a scoring matrix for the criteria and only short list those who have scored highest in each area.
Assessment: how you assess those you short list is crucial to getting it right. There is a place for the traditional interview but, from my experience, this is where the process usually falls down. You need to see how people work together, how they interact with others, what’s their working style, will they fit in the business and with the team? It’s nigh on impossible to test all that during a 1:1 interview so if you can bring all the candidates together and get them working with people in the business even better.
“They were great at the interview and then turned out to be someone completely different once we hired them”
A variation of this quote is what I hear most. When I ask what they did to test all the important characteristics of the role however they draw a blank. This is about personal qualities NOT skills and it’s absolutely key to making sure your recruitment process is a success. If you ensure that you include a way of testing for “fit” in your process, and find a way to get your candidates “doing stuff” rather than just asking a bunch of questions, it will undoubtedly make a difference to your success rate.
If you’re struggling and want to make a change to your process, talk to us today to find out more.
Claire Farley
Claire heads up each recruitment campaign and is the first point of contact be that client or candidate. Claire is the main facilitator at the Selection Days and is renowned for ensuring the days run as smoothly as possible and precisely to time. Claire is (by her own admission) a huge Take That fan so if you resemble Gary Barlow you may get special treatment!
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