Given the changes and challenges that have faced the corporate world over the last decade, and with no foreseeable end to this shifting uncertainty, companies are now finding that they need to take even greater care than ever before when investing time and money into those greatest of their resources; their employees. However, with the influx of unqualified candidates into the job pool as a result of the current economic decline, it has become more difficult than ever to recruit quality candidates. To help employers begin exploring newer and more creative modes of hiring, here is a list of the top ten recommended search tactics as outlined by executive search firms to simplify this matter.
1. Additional Screening Measures
To help refine the hiring process and cut down on the time wasted in interviewing candidates who are clearly a poor match for the position being offered, employers should begin using an additional step in their recruiting process to weed these individuals out. This can be done through a fifteen to thirty minute phone call to the applicant which should be used to roughly assess their skills and . . .
2. Group/Team Interview Process
Another valuable tool to make use of in a more in-depth applicant assessment is to include the team of individuals with whom the candidate would be working if hired. Bringing in this team of employees to help conduct the interview process can offer a number of benefits, such as allowing for a more thorough evaluation of the candidate’s skills and work history, as well as being able to assess the exceedingly important matter of whether or not this individual will be a good fit within the company’s corporate culture.
3. Actively Sell the Position
All too often employers will find themselves in the situation where their ideal candidate is already employed and may not be as active in their job hunt. When such an eventuality arises, it will become the job of the hiring manager to make an active effort to sell the candidate on the position and win them away from their current employer.
4. Expanding the Search
Employers should also begin considering extending their executive search efforts to look for talented and qualified individuals in less obvious places. The simplest means of doing this can include broadening sourcing efforts to reach out to new networks and markets that the company would not traditionally use. This can be achieved by reaching out through the organization’s employees for their professional contacts, through web based forums and public and private job posting boards.
5. Scouting Nontraditional Events
Many companies, when trying to tap into new sources of talent, will include job fairs in their search efforts. These however, tend to be far less effective than would be hoped for. Instead, some employers have been known to send employees acting as recruiters out to organized industry meet ups, conferences, and other such gatherings relevant to the open position, in order to scout for highly qualified candidates, or, at the very least, tap into new networking opportunities.
Five more creative hiring tactics can be found the second half of this article.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
