6 Step Strategy That Will Simplify Your Recruiting Process

Filling up talent shortages while saving company revenue is not easy. Recruiting is hard enough with the multi-layer interviewing process, candidate unavailability and the competitive market. So, a complicated recruitment process adds insult to injury. You need to simplify your recruiting process to get the best candidates.

Unfriendly recruiting practices waste candidate’s time. It can even confuse applicants causing the best ones to run away from you, delaying the hiring process even more. Simplifying your recruiting process is key. Doing this will speed things up and get you the right candidates, on time.

Step #1. Ease Application Process

Have you checked how your online application process works? Due to server issues or bugs in the system, there may be steps in the application process that trouble the potential candidate. The resume upload may take so long that the candidate drops out of the application process! Don't miss potential candidates this way. Simplify these aspects:

• Job Description - Design a simple, easy to interpret and an engaging template that excites the candidate.
• FAQ on the company website - Let the candidates know how many positions are open, the timeline to close them, location, etc.
• Quick response to an application - As soon as you get an application, make sure you have a natural automated response acknowledging the candidate.

Step #2. Identify & Remove Bottlenecks

When it was time to select that's when you find out your potential hire has accepted another offer! It could be a sore miss for you. Lengthy recruiting process is a bottleneck. Here are other bottlenecks that complicate your recruiting process:

• Insufficient information about the company culture.
• Your career page is not user-friendly.
• You have a long drawn application process, some of it may even be outdated.
• No follow-up on application or interview.

Step #3. Engage Hiring Panel

Hiring managers are key to a successful recruiting process. Engaged hiring panel of managers drive speed in the overall recruiting process, affect the quality of hires and makes your life fantastic as a recruiter. If you don’t have the buy-in of hiring managers, you are in a lot of trouble. Namely:

• They don’t see this interviewing time as valuable or important.
• May not give you their time, delaying the hiring process.
• They may show bias, overlook key information on resumes.
• Don’t give you feedback.
• Or the worse - select the wrong candidates.

You need to improve your skills to engage managers. Get to know what is important to the manager. What is their pain? Speak to the pain. Influence them by highlighting their power in the dynamic of speed and quality of hires.

Step #4. Improve First Impressions

Recruiters can be picky about candidates. And interviews often feel they are doing a favour to the candidates just by interviewing them. It is actually the candidate who is doing you a favour by choosing you over your competitors. Candidates have the leverage to interview you and ask you questions about the company. And so, try your best to give the candidate a great first impression. These useful do’s and don’ts may come in handy:

• Don’t leave the candidate waiting for too long.
• Do make eye contact and give a firm handshake.
• Do have an approachable body language.
• Do have a neat interview area.
• Don’t look at your phone or your watch often during the interview.
• Do give your full attention to the candidate.
• Don’t rattle
interview questions like a script.
• Do keep the conversations flowing freely.
• Do have something to share about the potential team the candidate will be working with.
• Don’t be rude to your colleagues in front of the candidate.
• Do communicate about the next milestones and timeline in the interview process.

Step #5. Enrich Candidate Experience

Think about what do candidates actually need? They need to know whether they made it or not. Your end-to-end application and interview process needs to be simplified to enrich candidate's overall experience. Here are a few ways:

You can invest resources to update your career page.

Audit your application process and streamline it to make it more efficient.

Make sure the resume or documents are uploaded easily and do not take up a lot of time.

Establish a clear follow-up process where every applicant receives a follow-up or a feedback on the process.

Step #6. Gracious Communication

You cannot leave your candidate high and dry. Candidates hate the silent treatment. They need to be in the loop at every turn in the recruiting process. Here’s how to simplify this aspect of your recruiting process:

• Use candidate’s most preferred mode of communication.
• Text them and have them call you.
• When you leave a message, leave your contact detail.
• Connect after the interview, if only to say goodbye.

A simplified hiring process attracts those who aren’t even looking. Do you have any tips to share? Comment here.