At a time when job applicants are scarce, an efficient recruitment process is key to securing a great candidate.

If your recruitment process is cumbersome, lengthy or outdated, your chances of finding (and keeping) your ideal candidate is greatly reduced.

Here are our tips to streamlining your recruitment process to ensure you’re in a great position to secure the best talent in the market:

Create a checklist including each part of the process; position description, job ad, screening questions, interview guide and reference check template (if you aren’t using a 3 ^rd party service provider).

Establish approximate timeframes for advertising, interviewing and the job offer, working backwards from your ideal start date ensuring you have allowed for a notice period of at least 4 weeks (longer for a senior level position).

The ability to be flexible with this plan is however crucial. If you’re lucky enough to come across a great candidate early in the process, it’s important that you take them through the process immediately so as not to lose them part way through while you hold out for more candidates.

A well written job ad can be the difference between receiving 6 applications or 60. Taking a little extra time to make sure your ad clearly details the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities and includes sufficient company information is essential to attracting your ideal applicant.

We all know some applicants look great on paper but are less than impressive in person so make sure you don’t skip the screening process! Spending an extra 10 minutes on the phone to determine an applicant’s suitability is much better than finding out 5 minutes into a face-to-face interview that they’re definitely not the right fit.

Some of the key areas to discuss during a telephone screen are:

The biggest mistake we see employers make is that their recruitment process is too long and involves too many steps. While you may have gotten away with this 12-18 months ago, it won’t cut it in today’s market! With so many jobs available, candidates are moving quickly and if they’re asked to jump through too many hoops they’ll move on to the next role.

In a candidate tight market such as the one we’re in, it’s the employers who are agile and adaptable that win the talent!

Communicating with job applicants throughout the recruitment process is key to retaining their interest. Every day that goes by with no contact from you increases the possibility that you’ll lose them to the competition. A quick update over the phone is often all it takes to keep them engaged in the opportunity that you have available.

Equally important is asking the candidates you have interviewed to keep you updated on their job search and to notify you immediately if their situation changes. There’s nothing more frustrating than making an offer to someone who turns it down because they accepted another position only hours earlier.

As difficult as it can be to achieve a successful outcome when it comes to hiring in the current market, sometimes it only takes a couple of small tweaks to get great results.

5 Simple ways to streamline your recruitment process

Mansfield & Co Recruitment