Your recruitment checklist

The country is currently experiencing the highest employment figures in over a decade and it’s a candidate’s market.  It’s a challenge for recruiters, so what can you do?

The first option should always be to look internally and develop the existing team but if that is not an option then please take a look at ISME’s guide to recruitment.

Are you attracting the right candidates?

The first thing to do is to look inwards and review the company’s approach to recruitment from an external standpoint.
Is the company an attractive employment proposition and if the answer is yes – are you marketing that strongly enough.

The company should consider its position as a potential employer for any candidates that apply to work there. What type of culture is associated with the organisation – is there scope for employees to progress and build careers that elevate them to the next stage of their development or are they cannon fodder – just there to get the job done. If it is the case that it’s the latter, then culture is even more important and it is crucial to ensure that the team feel valued and appreciated.

Are employees supported, listened to and given encouragement to offer input?

It may seem that these are not questions directly linked to recruitment but more and more candidates seek insight from company reviews, social media and company profiles on Jobs.ie before even applying. This makes your internal culture and how it is presented crucial in attracting (and keeping) top talent.

The presence of Corporate Social Responsibility schemes and Social Events teams are becoming increasingly important and offer a great source of material for companies to market their on social media.

If you have completed your internal review, and it appears that working at your company is not as attractive an option as it could be, then all is not lost. You will still find employees, however, you may struggle to get the top talent and could you find yourself paying over the odds for candidates or requiring the assistance of external agencies. But, it would be worthwhile to re-examine how the company is perceived amongst the existing team.

When you do decide to go to the market it is important that there is an appropriate process in place to make sure that all candidates are playing on a level playing field.

ISME’s top 5 tips

Advertising the Role & Shortlisting Candidate

• Develop a job description that actually fits the needs of the role and identify the criteria required to fill the role.
  • If you don’t know what you are looking for, how will the candidate know what you need?
• Advertise the position
• Identify the most suitable market for your candidates – Online / Local Media / Educational Facilities / Unemployment Centres & Schemes
• Have a defined period for accepting applications
• The recruiting manager should review the applications to determine the suitability of the candidates, not a member of the admin/support team

Interviewing Candidates

• Ensure that the Date & Time are communicated and that the room is booked in advance. Also, be prepared to provide accessible services if the person needs an accommodation.
• The panel needs to the same for every candidate to maintain an objective and consistent opinion on the candidates. Also, you need to ascertain if there will be a second-round interview at the outset.
• Plan your questions, ask all of the candidates the same ones and score the interview at the end before meeting another candidate. The process needs to be consistent and fair and if you are meet six people in a day, without considering and noting their responses individually, by the time you get to number six, the first candidate will be a distant memory
• Decisions need to be based on merit, not if the candidate went to the right school or is from the best part of town.
• Avoid nepotism – politely. How will you manage an underperformer that is there as a favour?

Reference Checking

• Apply suitable reference checking to verify statements made on CVs or during interviews and if necessary, validate qualifications.

Regret Candidates

Remember, it’s about your brand. You need to establish a pipeline of talent and just because an individual wasn’t the star applicant today, it doesn’t mean they won’t be tomorrow.

The First Day

Don’t put all of that work in to find someone and then forget about them on their first day. Make sure their equipment is available and that they aren’t left to roam the halls unattended. Have someone meet them and then get them out and around the building to meet people. There’s nothing worse than not knowing where to get a cup of tea on the first day.