Attract the Best Talent
As a business, you want to make sure you are attracting and hiring the top talent for your company. In order to get quality candidates, your company needs to have successful hiring practices. When your company follows these best recruiting practices, then you are more likely to be matched with the correct candidates and be able to bring them on board.
Spot the Winners
When you create a new job posting, you could be flooded with lots of applicants. A wide pool of applicants can be great; however, you must identify a smaller pool of potential winners who are a good match to your specific jobs. Winners are not just better at one part of the job; they do every part of the job a little better than others do. Your ultimate goal should be to hire a winner.
Be Specific
One of the first steps to spotting potential winners is to write a job specification, not a job description. A job specification outlines the characteristics of the position and identifies the skills, knowledge, and abilities the candidate must have to succeed. It paints a clear, comprehensive picture, so you know exactly what to look for when sourcing and interviewing applicants.
Get Social
Another practice to implement when looking to hire is to Google each candidate and review their social media accounts. You may learn some interesting things that could help you decide whether to move forward and interview a candidate. Social media accounts can give a glimpse of how a person interacts with others or gain more insight into their personality.
See the Bigger Picture
Additionally, you might consider having candidates complete a personality or psychological assessment. These tools can be helpful in creating a more holistic picture of a candidate. However, an assessment should not be used to make a final hiring decision. Assessments are most valuable when you compare the results of the assessment with your own impression of candidates during interviews. Some candidates are good at interviewing, and a skilled interviewee may be able to mask or hide issues that an assessment tool would bring to light.
Lastly, consider using the TORC technique when checking candidates’ references. The method suggests asking the candidate what he or she thinks a reference would say if contacted. The TORC approach accomplishes two things. First, it lets candidates know you’re serious about them and plan to ask their references specific questions (of course, a reference may decline to answer). And second, it sheds light on what a candidate thinks the reference will say. Both are very valuable.
Always be on the Lookout
Consider hiring a full-time, on-staff recruiter for your company. Finding and hiring employees has become a full-time job for many companies—Recruit fifty-two weeks per year. When you have a full-time recruiter, you are less likely to miss out on a strong talent for your company.