While reports of a “rebounding economy” are still mixed, the fact that so many companies are hiring is an indication that things are beginning to turn around. With 2.5 million people looking for work, hiring managers must be prepared for a massive influx of resumes for each open position they post. For the first time in a decade, employers are in the driver’s seat with an abundance of qualified candidates who can, and have done, the job before.
However, employers must be certain to have a system in place to advertise, receive, review, interview and select the most qualified candidates. If not, be prepared to be overwhelmed! Here are 20 tips to help you manage all phases of the recruiting process to help you hire the most qualified candidate, without losing your mind!
1. Identify the needs of the job.
- Make sure the job description is accurate and clearly reflects the needs of the position
- Is the need temporary or full time?
- Check the salary ranges
2. Advertising for the Position
- Make sure jobs are posted to high quality, reputable web sites – you get what you pay for
- Post jobs to industry specific sites when necessary for more qualified candidates
3. Selecting Resumes
- Set some immediate disqualifiers (i.e., don’t consider candidates asking for more money than allotted in the budget, don’t consider candidates who live 100 miles away, etc.)
- Don’t try to keep up with all the resumes as they are delivered – they will be hitting your inbox fast and furious, and it’s the easiest way to become overwhelmed!
- Let the bulk of the resumes come in for about a week and then set aside a few hours to go through everything in one sitting.
4. Conducting Interviews
- Don’t rush the interview process!
- Don’t let the need to fill a vacant position lead to a hasty hiring decision you will almost certainly regret
- Conduct a phone interview first to make sure everyone is on the same page regarding salary expectations, job duties, hours, etc.
- Have a different purpose for each interview (i.e., pre employment screening during 1st interview, job specific role playing scenarios during 2nd interview, etc.)
- Never hire someone after just one in-person interview
- Involve trusted members of the potential new hire’s team in the latter stages of the interview process
5. Selecting the best candidate
- Consider the person’s strengths and don’t just focus on imperfections
- Consider more than scores and numbers – personality counts!
- Select the person who wants the job the most –
o Views the job as an opportunity
o Is happy to be there
o Will work hard in the position
And here are a few final tips:
- Don’t treat an open position as a thing that needs to be handled, but rather a need for a person to join, or perhaps be the start of, a new cohesive unit
- Update the needs of the position to accurately reflect the company structure in 2011 and not years past. This includes, but is not limited to, reevaluating job descriptions and salary ranges
- Don’t be afraid to tread lightly and slowly when filling an open or new position.
Here’s to great recruiting in 2011!
As we begin 2011, many employers are entering the new year with renewed, yet reserved, optimism. While unemployment remains unchanged, December sales figures beat all analysts predictions, Wall Street is at two-year highs, and the SBA increased small business loans in Q4 2010 to unprecedented records. During the single week of Dec. 18 to Dec. 24, the SBA guaranteed a record high of $1.95 billion in small business loans – the highest amount since the SBA began tracking weekly loan volumes.
The latest numbers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (October 2010) places the number of unemployed in the United States at a staggering 14.8 million people. That equates to a 9.6% unemployment rate, which remains unchanged since August. With one of the tightest and most competitive job markets in more than half a century, job seekers cannot afford a single mis-step in their search for a new job.
Last month, CPEhr’s Training Manager Linda Robinson presented a webinar entitled “How To Legally Interview Employees”. In this webinar she reviewed the entire interview process, from identifying candidates, to legally compliant interview questions, to proper follow-up etiquette (the webinar can be found on CPEhr’s corporate website). In this post we briefly list the top 4 tips to consider when interviewing and hiring the most qualified candidates:
Guest post by Angela Showell, CPEhr’s Recruiting Manager
On March 18, 2010, President Obama signed the Hiring Incentive to Restore Employment Act (HIRE Act) which, among other things, offers a payroll tax break for businesses that hire unemployed workers. The worker must be hired into a new position, or into a position vacated by an employee who voluntarily resigned or was terminated for cause. The newly hired employee must certify by affidavit, signed under penalty of perjury, that he or she has not been employed for more than 40 hours during the 60 day period ending on the date employment begins.