Times have been tough in the past few years as the financial crisis, which has put a great burden on so many individuals and organizations alike, has also wrought a number of negative effects on the job search process. With so many people out of work and companies clinging desperately to their most talented employees, those companies and their hiring managers now having to conduct their hiring processes are finding it a more than challenging task. In response to these difficulties many have begun to turn to new and somewhat radical executive search and hiring strategies for their answers. However, given the current state of things, now does not seem to be the time to be experimenting with untested tactics when the old tried and true methods still prove that they can be just as effective today as ever if employers would simply take the time to reassess their application of these practices.
To continue building on the previous steps listed in the first portion of this article, here are three more stages to the hiring process as outlined by executive search firms.
- When it comes to the evaluation of resumes most employers have a tendency to just skim through these documents. They glance over the more important facts listed here, the applicant’s work history, skills, and knowledge, make a snap decision on whether or not this is someone they would be interested in talking to in person, and move on. However, if the employer would merely take the time to go over these documents with a more careful eye, they might discover small hints of information between the lines, information that could better inform their decision, such as clues to the individual’s thoroughness and professionalism.
- Once resumes have been browsed and assessed, next the employer will need to make contact with the candidate for a second time, and despite what you might think it is still not time to conduct full interviews. For starters, if they are wise, the employer will make use of some kind of automated email system to let those whose resumes are being declined know that their interest is appreciated but that the company is looking at other candidates. For those candidates who pass the initial inspection, the employer should seek to carry out brief phone interviews with these individuals. This can allow the employer to save themselves a great deal of time and effort by further weeding out undesirables without the investment in time that a full interview requires.
- Now, finally, once the candidate pool has been even further narrowed through a preliminary round of phone interviews, now the employer can begin calling in candidates for proper in-depth interviews. Perhaps the most important thing that the employer should remember at this point is that the candidate’s time is just as valuable as their own and that by failing to carefully plan out and conduct these processes this time is just being wasted. Before entering the interview the employer should have first taken the time to carefully plan out a line of questions and follow up questions targeted at effectively determining if the candidate would be a good fit for the position, and also, just before the interview, setting aside a few minutes to review each candidate’s resume.
For the final set of steps in the traditional hiring process look for the last portion of this article.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
