Recruitment Problems That Make You Miss Out On Great Candidates

If you’re a recruiter that’s measured on speed to fill open positions, then you probably already know that you’re in a game that puts a higher price on quantity and not as much on candidate quality. You may also be facing a double-edged sword when your hiring managers are complaining that the candidates you deliver don’t really measure up for the role at hand. A dangerous path as it can have your peers’ trust in you and your capabilities diminish over time if you can’t turn things around. So how do you meet your goals for speed, improve candidate quality and retain the confidence of your peers all at the same time? We dive into three areas that highlight the biggest recruitment problems you face. Sometimes what it takes is a moment to slow down so that you can speed up later on.

Recruitment Problems

You never scheduled a sit-down Recruiters who consistently recommend candidates that are not a good match for the job may not have a deep understanding of the needs of the team or individual who has hiring needs – let’s call this person the “team lead.” One of the biggest recruitment problems is a lack of open communication early on. Schedule time with the team lead as soon as the position opens and be ready with a list of questions to help you really understand what the team needs to have vs. hopes to have. This upfront conversation should be your most in-depth conversation. It’s not only a time where you should be asking as many questions as possible but it’s also a time to set clear expectations with the team lead for how this process will go. Setting expectations with the team lead should include details on where the job will be posted, what the team lead and team can do to help support the search, and what they can expect from you in terms of regular updates as to how the search is going. Updates are vital as they help you manage expectations along the way. This is an easy way to avoid one of the biggest recruitment problems. You didn’t think about your employer brand and reputation Today job candidates are hungry for information, not just job listings. With access to so much information online, candidates are turning to the web to find jobs, research companies and negotiate reasonable salary and benefits packages. One of the issues and recruitment problems we commonly see is that candidates are turned off by what they find online. This means two things for a recruiter: 1) You need to research the jobs and companies you’re working with through the eyes of a job seeker. 2) You need to know where the conversation is really taking place and join it. For example, while LinkedIn is a great resource for researching people, candidates are three times more likely to turn to Glassdoor profiles to research a particular company. Note there are 400,000 employer profiles on Glassdoor and more than 36,000 employers have already signed up to claim their Free Employer Account which allows official company representatives to claim their profiles. And of that, 2,100 employers are advertising their jobs and enhancing their profiles on Glassdoor to offer a much richer job seeker experience. Through your company’s employer branding efforts, job seekers should get a good idea of your company’s values and what it’s like to work there. If your blog, social media posts, videos and Glassdoor profile are not conveying the true culture of your workplace effectively, candidates who are not good culture fits may be expressing interest in your positions unnecessarily. You thought you could do it on your own When you need to hire someone, you likely have a lot of great tools at your fingertips (like Glassdoor JobAds and Enhanced Profiles), but this can often mean that you’re thinking about recruiting as a solo sport, not a team sport. You’ve heard it and you know it, but employee referrals are an incredibly effective way to garner great applicants for your open jobs. Employee referrals shouldn’t be limited to an employee’s network, but should include folks they don’t know as well. When it comes to traditional employee referrals, this looks like employees sharing the open job via email, social networks and at social events. When it comes to people employees don’t know, this looks like a company review they can share on Glassdoor. Company reviews offer countless interested candidates insights into what it’s like to work at your company and often what it’s like to work in a specific role or in a specific department. Employee referrals today aren’t limited to introductions, but now include elements of employee engagement – in order to step up an employee referral program, consider asking for help in sharing the job and their story to help attract great people to your company. If you’re continuing to receive candidates who are not high quality or well matched to the positions you need to fill, don’t simply settle for less. Take a fresh approach to your recruiting efforts and outline a clear action plan using the points above to help attract the right talent for your company.