A robust hiring process is critical to the success of any company. Developing such a process is an enormous challenge, though, particularly in a labour market defined by its skills shortage. In order to attract the talent they need, businesses need to identify and select the best candidate for their position before a competitor snaps them up. It is especially true of workers with in-demand skills, who can expect to receive many competitive offers in a relatively short amount of time.
Streamlining the hiring process will improve the quality of applications and allow the hiring manager to screen applicants as efficiently as possible against a clear criterion to evaluate potential hires. Narrowing down qualified candidates will make it easier to come to a hiring decision without dragging out the interview process.
Write Clear Job Descriptions
Job descriptions are often inadequately written with either too little or too much information. In both cases, the prospective candidate is left without a clear picture of the position’s responsibilities or the qualifications needed, resulting in people applying for the role that you would not consider a suitable candidate. A long wishlist of desired skills, qualifications and responsibilities can make it unclear what the core requirements of the role are. Similarly, too little information can leave applicants in the dark about what they’re applying for. As a result, businesses are forced to weed out a large number of applicants who shouldn’t have applied for the role in the first place. This takes time away from the hiring team that could be better used to vet and interview more promising candidates.
A great job description, on the other hand, clearly and succinctly, explains the core requirements of the role which allows potential candidates to quickly and easily understand the position on offer, and to evaluate their fit for the role so they can make an informed decision about whether to apply.
Keep the Hiring Process Efficient
Hiring in large organisations tends to be more complex and procedural than in smaller organisations. Unfortunately, the procedures involved can be counterproductive if they aren’t written with efficiency in mind. Many large companies will force applicants through sometimes months of formal and informal interviews, as they narrow down a large pool of applicants. Often, those candidates will receive no updates as to the status of their application for long periods during this process which provides ample time for candidates to pursue other leads, and to accept an offer from a more agile competitor. To avoid this situation, businesses need to narrow down the number of prospects and set a selection criterion to help them evaluate candidates.
Implement Efficient Screening
Every unqualified candidate that isn’t screened out before interviews mean wasted time and resources for the hiring business. An excellent screening process clearly defines what skills and qualities a candidate should have on paper. Well-Crafted criteria should eliminate anyone who cannot fill the position which allows the hiring team to interview a much smaller number of qualified candidates. Because there are fewer candidates to speak with, the team can spend more time getting to know each of them, so that fewer interviews are needed before a decision is reached.
Set Clear Criteria
It can be challenging to choose between multiple qualified candidates. While it might be tempting to do more interviews to help make the decision easier, it is the wrong approach. By setting and adhering to clear evaluation criteria, hiring teams can more objectively evaluate candidates against each other, allowing them to make a hiring decision much more quickly and easily.
A streamlined, efficient hiring process makes it easier for businesses to reach the qualified applicants they need, and to narrow them down to get to the best possible candidates as quickly as possible.
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