In any job market – but perhaps never more than in today’s workforce – top talent can come and go in the blink of an eye.

Based on the pace needed to secure these top performers, you could make the assumption that the majority of companies are nimble and poised to react quickly and efficiently to ensure they get available top talent.

It can sometimes be useful to use a consultant to help with your hiring process. If you are looking for a career consultant in Sydney, for example, Alex Gotch may be the right person.

But this isn’t always the case; not all organizations wish to speed up hiring.

Some organizations believe that a longer hiring process is helpful because it ensures that a company has adequate time to compare candidates and ensure that they are hiring the best person for the position.

While there is some merit to this argument, it overlooks an important fact: hiring must be equally viewed as both a people decision and a business decision.

Hiring happens when a person is needed to fill a business requirement or gap. When hiring an employee makes sense for the business, then it will happen. If not, then it won’t.

When examining the make-up of a company, it’s not only important to examine all of the components that make a business successful and profitable but to also understand how top talent is an integral part of that equation — a core part of its DNA.

So the aim of this article is to provide you with different tips to help you speed up the recruiting process and equally debunk disc assessment myths. Let’s get into it.

• Why Should you Speed up the Recruiting Process?
• Tips for a Fast Recruiting Process
• How can I Improve my Recruiting Skills?
• How do you Shorten the Recruitment Process?
• What are the 7 Stages of Recruitment?

Why Should you Speed up the Recruiting Process?

Today, employees who were once reluctant to leave a job for fear of losing security are now more likely to make a move. Furthermore, that pool of highly-qualified talent that was rendered jobless is more eager than ever to get back into the workforce.

Read Also: 10 Ways to Hire the Best People for the Long Term

Now that opportunities are available — particularly in sectors like healthcare and professional services where hiring is taking place, people are job searching.

If you look at data issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is a significant difference in unemployment rates between those without a high school diploma and those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Job searchers with a higher education face substantially lower unemployment rates than the national average.

As a result, there is a premium for these candidates and companies need to move quickly to ensure that the best of the best are working for you.

What all of this means is that just as there is a business reason to fill a position, there is a business benefit to filling that position quickly. A drawn-out hiring and onboarding process costs time and money that is too valuable to waste.

For every day a company has not filled a position that solves a business problem, that company is losing money. And, every minute spent on hiring employees costs money that could be better spent in other areas.

How do you Recruit Someone?

Recruiting top talent takes a combination of creativity and diligence, which is why companies like Moore eSSentials teach recruiters how to perfect their skills. Technology makes it easier than ever to publish your job postings to a broad audience — but to really connect with qualified candidates and drive excitement about the role and your company, you have to find ways to stand out from other employers.
 

Here are 10 recruitment strategies to help you immediately captivate job seekers, create a memorable first impression of your company and successfully hire top candidates.

1. Treat candidates like customers

Whether it’s a phone screening or an in-person interview, a candidate’s first impression of your company is critical. It’s important to make them feel like you’re just as excited about getting to know them as they are about being considered for the role.

One of the best recruiting techniques is to treat interviewees the same way you treat your customers.

• Be respectful of their time. Whether it’s a phone call, video conference or in-person meeting, always be sure to show up on time. If you’re running late, let the candidate know as far in advance as possible.
• Be hospitable. When a candidate arrives for an onsite interview, ask if they’d like something to drink and show them where to find the restrooms. Make them feel welcome and comfortable.
• Make yourself available. Provide potential candidates with your contact information so they’re able to reach out with questions and concerns throughout the hiring process.

2. Use social media

Social media is a fantastic recruiting tool. Social recruiting allows you to share job postings with your entire network and encourages a two-way conversation. Even if the people you reach aren’t interested in the role you’re hiring for, it’s likely they may know someone who is a good fit.

Plus, by sharing photos and videos from company events, your workplace and/or day-to-day office life that align with your employer brand, you give potential applicants a glimpse into your company culture.

3. Implement an employee referral program

Great people usually make a habit of surrounding themselves with other highly capable professionals.

While many employees may already be sharing open roles with qualified contacts in their networks, a well-developed employee referral program can encourage even more of your employees to refer the best talent they know.

Consider providing incentives for referrals with bonuses and contests so you can create excitement around the program.
 

4. Create compelling job descriptions

Writing an attention-grabbing and thorough job description is one of the most important parts of the hiring process.
 
Here are a few tips to consider:
 

• Make titles as specific as possible. The more accurate your title, the more effective you will be in piquing the interest of the most qualified and interested job seekers.
• Open with a captivating summary. Provide an overview that gets job seekers excited about the role and company.
• Include the essentials. Write out the core responsibilities, hard and soft skills, day-to-day activities and explain how the position fits into the organization.
• Keep descriptions concise. Job descriptions between 700 and 2,000 characters receive up to 30% more applications according to Indeed Data.

5. Make use of sponsored jobs to stand out

Because there are thousands of jobs posted on Indeed every day, the visibility of your job listing can decrease over time. One of the best ways to make sure your job posting continues to stand out is through a sponsored job.

These paid listings appear more often in any relevant search results and their placement won’t fall back in search results over time like free job listings—which can result in more high-quality applicants.
 

6. Check resumes posted online

Indeed Resume hosts millions of resumes from job seekers across nearly any industry and location. Employers can quickly find candidates by entering a job title or skill and a city, state or zip.

You can narrow down results by criteria like years of experience, education level and more. You can also set up a Resume Alert to receive daily emails with links to new resumes that match the criteria for the positions you’re looking to fill.

To set up a Resume Alert:

1. Sign into Indeed Resume.
2. Conduct a relevant search.
3. Click “Get new resumes by email” at the top of the search result.

7. Consider past candidates

When you hire for a position, there are often a few talented candidates that end up not making the cut due to timing or other external factors.

When you’re recruiting for a similar position, consider re-visiting the resumes of past applicants. These candidates are already familiar with your company and may have picked up new skills and experience since you last spoke.
 

8. Claim your Company Page

Job seekers often take time to research employee reviews, salary data, benefits and more before applying to jobs. All of this information can be found on an Indeed Company Page.

All companies with jobs on Indeed have a Company Page. By claiming your Company Page, you can respond to reviews, customize your page and add your employer branding. 

9. Attend industry-related meetups

While job fairs can be helpful for finding qualified candidates, non-recruiting-specific events are also an excellent opportunity to meet motivated industry professionals who are eager to network and advance in their field.

For example, if you’re looking to hire a software engineer, find a local group, meetup or association focused on software development and attend a local meeting. The most passionate professionals will quickly stand out.
 

10. Include peers in the interview process

Sometimes the best person to interview a candidate is someone already working in the same or similar role. This employee already knows what it takes to excel in the position and can verify whether candidates have the skills and experience needed to do the job well.

Current employees can also give an accurate description of day-to-day experiences and help candidates better understand what they can expect if hired.

Tips for a Fast Recruiting Process

Below are six ways which your organization can implement to speed up the hiring process:

Utilize Your Internal Network​

Your first step in the hiring process is to notify existing employees of the open position. It may seem obvious, but sometimes it’s a step that happens after the job has already been posted publicly.

Internal job postings give employees who may want to make a lateral move or change jobs within the company a chance to apply. They are also encouraged to look at their own professional networks for possible candidates.

Write a Clear Job Description for the Open Position​

It may seem like common sense. But, you would not believe how many times a candidate search goes awry because the hiring manager has not specified clearly enough the skills needed for the position.

Creating a thorough job description that helps Human Resources identify candidates in the first round will ultimately lead to better candidates — and a faster hiring process.

Be More Selective About the Candidates You Bring in for an Interview​

The most time-consuming part of the interview process is often the first-round interviews.

Though many companies have a fairly rigorous screening process, including phone screens, too many bring in anywhere from five to 10 people for an interview when they may only be impressed by three to five of them from their resumes.

Trust your gut in the resume review round to eliminate hours of potentially wasted time for you and the hiring team.

Think Ahead and Eliminate Steps That Add Time to Your Hiring Process​

For example, many companies only ask for references once they’ve decided to offer a position to a candidate. If it takes a day or two for the prospective employee to get the references to you and then another day or two to contact those references, this can add up to a week to your hiring process.

It can cost your company money in lost wages and administrative time. Request references from candidates at the time of the first round of interviews. Check the references for those candidates who make it to the second interviews before you think about extending a job offer.

Create a Long-Term Talent Plan​ ​

Most of the time spent during the hiring process is a result of seeking out qualified candidates to interview. Typically, the search begins when an organization has an open position. It means that your open position will take at least a month to fill.

To cut down time, hold informational interviews with prospective candidates for different areas within the company – in advance of a job opening. It helps to build a pipeline of talent and can even eliminate the first-round HR screening process that adds days and weeks to the hiring process.

Ask for Help or Outsource Portions of Your Hiring Process​

Whether you’re a smaller company with a limited HR staff or a large international organization working on hiring multiple positions, the reason for a delayed hiring process is probably largely out of your control.

Bringing in a staffing company as a consultant to help with the hiring and onboarding process will cost money but save both time and administrative costs. You can also expect a quality screening and hiring process from an outside consultant because you are paying for it.

The most significant benefit, when you speed up the hiring and onboarding process, is that the time saved allows HR departments to pay attention to the initiatives and activities that will help you retain employees.

It’s easy to forget that retention and ​talent management are such an important part of the HR function because recruiting can take up so much time.

As the skilled talent pool shrinks, companies must keep their eye on the prize. Ensuring that top talent is satisfied and engaged, so you don’t risk losing your most valuable people, is imperative.

It’s often said that the most valuable asset a company has is its people – and I couldn’t agree more. Getting high performing people hired and ready to work as quickly as possible is an important contributor to any company’s success – and a key to winning the talent game.

How can I Improve my Recruiting Skills?

Refined recruitment processes are efficient, productive and pleasant for both candidates and hiring teams. Here are a few ways to improve your recruiting process:

Craft clear and attractive job ads

Effective job ads help you evaluate candidates on job-related criteria. Work with your company’s hiring managers to create job descriptions that:

• Provide useful and specific details about open roles. When listing job duties, mention projects your new hire may undertake or teams they will work with. Distinguish between “must-have” and “nice-to-have” requirements so as not to discourage candidates who could learn secondary skills on the job. As a general rule, keep your list of “must-haves” to around 6 bullet points.
• Choose straightforward job titles. Be clear about roles you’re hiring for. Avoid using words like “rockstar” and suspect or clickbait titles and text (e.g. “Great opportunity for recent graduates!”)
• Promote your company. Describe what makes your company unique to give candidates compelling reasons to apply. Be specific: “We opened three new branches recently” is more precise than “We are growing fast.” Also, outline benefits and perks your company offers.
• Use clear and inclusive language. Avoid jargon and complicated sentences and speak directly to candidates (e.g. use “you” instead of “the ideal candidate.”) Avoid discriminatory language (e.g. “salesman”, “young and energetic.”) And if your company actively supports diversity, let candidates know.

Boost your candidate sourcing

Most people who are employed still want to hear about new job opportunities. Discover passive candidates with these sourcing techniques to increase your chances of making great hires:

• Source on social media. Follow conversations and people on popular social media like Twitter and more niche platforms like Reddit. Look for people with interest and expertise relevant to positions you’re hiring for (e.g. if you’re hiring for a data scientist, look into threads or conversations on big data or machine learning on StackOverflow or GitHub.)
• Attend events. Expand your sourcing by going to industry events, conferences and meetups that professionals you’re hiring for might attend (e.g. a UX Meetup to network with UX designers.)
• Use Boolean search. Boolean search helps you discover candidate resumes. Use Boolean strings on Google to find profiles on social media.
• Get referrals. Referrals are often a good way to find high-quality hires. Create and promote a referral program with incentives. Referral software can also help you use gamification methods to drive more referrals.
• Invest in sourcing tools. Sourcing tools help you find qualified candidates for your open roles fast. For example, People Search builds complete profiles, often including an email address, resume and other social networks where your prospect is active.

Build talent pipelines

Talent pipelines are groups of candidates who can fill future roles. By sourcing candidates before roles open, you have ample time to engage them early so you can reduce your time-to-hire when a suitable role opens up.

Here are four main steps to building talent pipelines:

• Determine what roles need a pipeline (usually roles with high turnover or roles that are hard-to-fill.)
• Look to past candidates, former employees and interns to build your pipeline.
• Source passive candidates by combining various sourcing techniques (e.g. Boolean search, events.)
• Reach out to candidates to engage them and stay in touch until you have an open role for them.

Improve your recruitment efficiency

Here are a few ways to increase your efficiency as a recruiter:

• Build checklists for standard processes. Checklists help you organize your hiring. Use them to prepare for interviews and screening calls to ensure you have all the information you need before speaking with candidates.
• Use email templates. Personalized emails are important, but you may not always know where to start. Choose templates to ask for referrals or invite candidates to interviews. Update your recruiting email templates regularly so they rarely become stale.
• Invest in recruiting software. Video recruiting software (e.g. HireVue, Jobma, Spark Hire) saves you time and money when you’re interviewing remote candidates. Applicant tracking systems can also help you manage your hiring stages, keep candidate profiles in a searchable database and collaborate with your team.

Evaluate candidates effectively

An improved recruitment process revolves around screening methods that help you select the most qualified candidates. Here are a few of these methods:

• Review work samples and assignments. Evaluate work samples from candidates’ portfolios or ask candidates to complete assignments as part of your hiring process (e.g. an editing exercise for Editor candidates.) If you’re hiring developers, consider using a tech recruiting platform (e.g. Codility) that supports coding challenges and online technical interviews.
• Try tests. Ask candidates to take standardized tests. This approach can help you reduce the number of candidates you interview, thus saving hiring managers’ time. Tests aren’t perfect, so be sure to combine them with other assessment methods (like work samples) and analyze results before you disqualify candidates.
• Structure (or semi-structure) your interviews. Unstructured interviews can’t predict job performance consistently. To add structure to your interviews, prepare your questions beforehand and tie them to job requirements (e.g. prepare management interview questions to ask candidates interviewing for senior positions.) It’s a good idea to use the same questions for each candidate and score those questions using the same scale. Your ATS’s interview scorecards can be useful for structuring interviews this way.

In addition to these methods, invest in training for your hiring teams. Interview training helps teams evaluate candidates better, which improves the quality of your hires.

Enhance candidate experience

Every interaction with candidates shapes their impression of your company. A positive candidate experience is good for your employer brand and helps you build a healthy pipeline. Here are a few factors that affect candidate experience:

• Shorten your application process. Most candidates quit lengthy application processes. Applications that can be filled out in less than five minutes attract more applicants. Ask candidates to upload their resume and cover letter and complete a few qualifying questions. Stick to simple and relevant questions and avoid asking for information you can find on resumes or online profiles.
• Update your careers page. Both active and passive candidates visit your careers page to learn more about your company. When re-designing your careers page, aim to:
  • Be informative. Use employee stories or quotes and describe your company benefits.
  • Be user-friendly. Include images and videos to personalize your page. If possible, consult a designer to make your page easy to navigate and nice to look at.
  • Be genuine. Present what makes your company a great place to work and avoid overused or empty phrases like “fast-paced environment” and “core values.”
• Keep candidates in the loop. Candidates want to be updated throughout your hiring process. Set reminders to follow up with candidates you screened or interviewed. Your ATS’s built-in email templates can help facilitate communication at every hiring stage. It’s also a good practice to send rejection emails to disqualified candidates and offer to provide interview feedback.

Improving your company’s hiring is an ongoing process. Track useful metrics to assess your improvements and identify ways to revamp your recruiting.

How do you Shorten the Recruitment Process?

When you are in search of a new employee, it is key to act quickly. Otherwise, you run the risk of another company stealing your perfect candidate. Here are some tips that help you shorten your recruitment process.

Optimize your job page

The job page of your company is the most important figurehead in case of an open job, so please pay enough attention to it.

The potential applicant should be able to deduce what kind of culture there is at your company, which values are central, which (extralegal) benefits your employees can enjoy etc. from every vacancy. 

Employer branding can grant you a privilege compared to other recruiting businesses. Try to anticipate the questions that the candidate might have and answer them already in the vacancy.

Finally, make sure that your job description only contains gender-neutral formulations. When you don’t do this, you might chase away potential applicants.

Call in an employment agency

When you’ve been searching for a specific profile for quite a while, it’s always a good plan to call in a temp agency. They come in contact with job-seekers on a daily basis and consequently dispose of an extensive group of strong candidates.

The shortened time to hire and the qualitative suggested candidates make up for the additional costs.

Use video applications

More and more recruiters use video applications. You send the candidates a questionnaire that they should answer in a video, in a limited amount of time if desired.

The big advantage is that you get a good picture of the applicant without losing time to the scheduling of appointments. When you think the candidate is more suitable for another function in your company, you just send the video to the involved department.

During the registration of applicants in Beeple, you can also request a video upload, which helps you to decide whether or not you invite the candidate for a job interview.

Reward referrals

You can appeal to your own team members in your hunt for a new employee too. In this case, you can give your staff a boost by linking a reward to a referral.

At several companies, you receive a bonus on top of your monthly pay when you have taken in a new collaborator. If that person is still employed in the company after 3/6 months, an additional bonus is usually added.

Prepare job interviews

Not only the candidate needs to thoroughly prepare the job interview, the recruiter will benefit from a profound preparation as well. Examine the job description in advance, in order to prevent yourself from mixing up two job descriptions.

Go over the candidate’s work history and write down a couple of key questions that you certainly want to ask. Make sure that the conversation takes place in a comfortable space in which you can talk with each other in peace and quiet.

If you take into account all of these things, your job interviews will definitely go more smoothly and efficiently.

Communicate regularly with the applicants

For candidates that have received several job offers, the way they are treated during the application process might tip the scales. That is why it is important to regularly update them, if only to tell them you have not made a decision yet.

Always discuss at the end of the job interview when you will inform the candidate and stick to it. Once the decision has been made, inform the unchosen candidates as quickly as possible. Bad news is always better than no news.

Digitize the first application round 

Do your employees always have to meet a few specific requirements? For example a maximum commuter distance, the possession of a certain certificate, a minimum number of years of work experience etc.

Then you can easily digitize the first round of the application in the form of an online questionnaire. That way, you can already rule out the first selection of candidates and you can invest more time in the applicants that are satisfactory.

What are the 7 Stages of Recruitment?

Recruitment should incorporate the following steps:

Step 1 – Before you start looking

Put together information about the nature of the job, especially it it is a position being created for the first time. Think about:

• The content (such as the tasks) making up the job
• The output required by the job holder (work hours, number of clients etc.)
• How it fits into the structure of the practice/organisation
• The skills and personal attributes needed to perform the role effectively.

This analysis forms the basis of a job description and person specification.

Step 2 – Preparing a job description

A job description states the necessary and desirable criteria for selection.

Increasingly such specifications are based on a set of competencies identified as necessary for the performance of the job. Include:

• Skills, aptitude, knowledge and experience
• Qualifications (which should be only those necessary to do the job – unless candidates are recruited on the basis of future potential, for example graduates)
• Personal qualities relevant to the job, such as ability to work as part of a team.

Step 3 – Finding candidates

Internal methods:

• Staff referrals
• Succession planning
• Secondments

It is important not to forget the internal talent pool, especially in a larger practice. Providing opportunities for development and career progression is an important factor for employee retention and motivation

External methods

There are many options available for generating interest from individuals outside the organisation.

• Online recruitment
• Press advertising
• Networking
• Open days for the larger organisation

Advertising remains the most common means of attracting and recruiting. Advertisements should be clear and indicate the:

• requirements of the job
• necessary and the desirable criteria for job applicants (to limit the number of inappropriate applications received)
• job location
• reward package
• job tenure (for example, contract length)
• details of how to apply.

Advertisements should be genuine and relate to a job that actually exists. They should appeal to all sections of the community using positive visual images and wording.

Step 4 – Managing the application process

There are two main formats in which applications are likely to be received: the curriculum vitae (CV)/résumé or application. These can be submitted either on paper or electronically.

Application forms

Application forms allow information to be presented in a consistent format, and therefore make it easier to collect information from job applicants in a systematic way and assess objectively the candidate’s suitability for the job.

CVs/résumés

CVs give candidates the opportunity to sell themselves in their own way and don’t have the restrictions of fitting information into a form. However, some candidates include irrelevant material that makes them harder to assess consistently.

Step 5 – Selecting candidates

Selecting candidates involves two main processes: short listing and assessing applicants to decide who should be made a job offer.

Shortlisting

Shortlisting depends on the number of candidates.

When deciding who to shortlist, it is helpful to draw up a list of criteria using the job specification and person profile. Each application can then be rated according to these standards, or a simple scoring system can be used.

Assessment

A range of different methods can be used to assess candidates. These vary in their reliability as a predictor of performance in the job and in their ease and expense to administer. Typical methods include:

• General interview
• Competency based interview
• Role play/demonstration
• Sample presentation (for jobs needing presenting skills)

Step 6 – Making the appointment

Contract

Offers of employment should always be made in writing. But it is important to be aware that an oral offer of employment made in an interview is as legally binding as a letter to the candidate.

References

A recruitment policy should state clearly how references will be used, when in the recruitment process they will be taken up and what kind of references will be necessary (for example, from former employers). These rules should be applied consistently.

Other checks

Checks such as working with children or vulnerable adults, police checks, fit to work checks are necessary according to the job.

Step 7 – Induction

Induction is a critical part of the recruitment process, for both employer and new employee. An induction plan should include:

• A clear outline of the job/role requirements
• Orientation (physical) – describing where the facilities are
• Orientation (organisational) – showing how the employee fits into the team, along with details of the organisation’s history, culture and values
• Fair Work Information Statement

Final Thoughts

Sometimes it’s necessary to hire someone as quickly as you can, but try not to rush the recruiting process. Hiring the wrong person will waste more time and money in the long run.

Read Also: Enhancing Your Business Success With Recruitment Automation

You could always consider hiring temporary support if a role needs urgently filling and/or asking other staff members to step up on a provisional basis (if they don’t want to take the role full time).