4 tricks to unlocking your company’s recruitment potential
While everyone whines and cries about the highly cumbersome process of job hunting, people tend to forget the four-fold pains that recruiting managers have to endure. One in every 10 of your friends may be an HR professional and you’ve probably heard the hilariously cringe-worthy tales of the many interviews they hold in a day. But just because they don’t rant about it on social media it doesn’t mean that the struggle isn’t real.
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The entire recruitment process is difficult, because not only is the company relying on your expertise to ensure that they don’t miss out on a potentially excellent candidate, you have to address their every concern with tact and caution. One slip and the company’s name will be marred in the muddy terrains of impressionable platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
While there isn’t a universal fool-proof mantra to fall back on during the hiring process, there are a few measures that you, as a recruiting manager, should adhere to, for a greater outcome. On that note, here are a few simple tips to help you unlock your company’s recruiting potential:
Update your job-description
Despite the many technological changes in terms of recruitment, most job descriptions still look like they’ve been recycled from our parent’s times. Phrases such as ‘strong sense of integrity and communication’ are a given for any potential candidate and do not need to be mentioned in the same words in a formal job description. Managers should ensure that JDs are short and direct in describing profile requirements instead of long-winded complicated sentences that could scare the potential candidate. At the same time, they should get their tech and design people to make these descriptions mobile-friendly for easy access.
Skills and language
As mentioned above, times are changing and your requirements should as well. Whether you run a startup or a 150-year-old business, a strong understanding of social media and basic technology is a must. As a result, you should be calling for candidates who are skilled accordingly. For instance, ‘should be comfortable with basic Photoshop and Flash’ works better than ‘should be willing to learn on the job’. At the same time, you should use the most simple and basic language to address your company’s requirements to make the content relatable and, most importantly, understandable as candidates may hail from various social backgrounds. You don’t want to be marked off as a company still suffering from colonial hangover.
Improve on candidate interaction
While the traditional meet-hand-shake-speak-leave routine has been the call of hirers through the years, there is a certain degree of impersonal forces that kick into play here. As a recruiting manager, you need to make the candidates walking into your office feel welcome and comfortable so that they do not let nervousness and intimidation shroud their unlocked potential. Ask them questions about themselves outside the job descriptions and give them anecdotes about your team so they can have a few minutes to calm their pulse before you begin your formal interview process. Also, for a better understanding on what works in the long run in these cases send out automatic FAQs to candidates wishing to enrol themselves in the online application process.
Work on your company brand name online
Most of today’s job hunt involves scouting social media for leads. Today, pages like Naukri.com, Monster and TimesJobs have over a million subscribers because they use platforms like Facebook to advertise their services. Hence, you need to ensure these same people definitely click on ‘apply’ for the open position in your company by making sure that enough people talk about it. To this end, having a strong presence in platforms like LinkedIn will also definitely work to your company’s advantage in the long-run.
As recruitment managers, you are the unofficial coach to your team because it is your job to spot real talent and bring it to the table. Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below!