Finding one-in-a-million employees isn’t easy, but if you let go of some recruitment industry myths you may find you don’t need to dig through 999,999 CVs to unearth those hidden gems.
1. Keep the job description vague and you won’t limit your candidates
Oh no! Go over your job descriptions carefully to make sure they’re accurate. Review them with the CEO to find out if there’s anything missing or superfluous.
By making sure that everything you’d like a candidate to be able to do is there in black and white, you will find a candidate with all the skills you’re looking for, as long as you know what you’re looking for.
2. I’ll know it when I see it
You can’t come up with quality candidates without having a clear idea of the sort of person required. If you’re creative about how you search for candidates, you may have some extra criteria, but you should know exactly what you’re looking for and then see who matches.
Do you think the best match for the position would also be someone with excellent writing skills, or a knowledge of marketing? Do you think the post would fit a jack-of-all-trades, or someone with a seriously specialized skillset.
Generic job descriptions won’t get you anything but generic applicants.
3. The more applicants there are for the post, the more likely I am to find the right person
This topic ties directly in with #2. Over the past 15 years, it’s become easier and easier to apply for many jobs. The internet makes your job as a recruiter much more difficult because there are so many more applicants firing off so many copies of their digital CV.
If your job description is specific enough, the search will be narrowed down by your parameters. Otherwise, you will be sifting through too many applications to be effective.
4. The skills just aren’t out there
In recent years, employers increasingly comment that the skillset they’re looking for just isn’t available. Lower skilled workers are hired into jobs that would normally pay more to someone with the correct qualifications.
The workforce over the last 30 years, however, is the most educated that it’s ever been. It’s more likely that stagnant wages mean that highly skilled workers are not motivated to seek out other jobs.
Make sure that the description is realistic, and that there is a good match between pay scale, experience, and qualifications.
5. This won’t take long
An expectation to hire within about 25 days is the new normal. This is the highest average that the US has seen since the figures have been tracked, about 15 years ago.
Jobs in the financial and health sectors are taking the longest to fill. Make sure your process is a well-oiled machine.
6. You’re in charge of recruiting this person – no one else should be involved
As much as possible, discuss the vision of the company and new hires with your boss. Keep him or her involved so that you can stay on the same page as you find new employees to boost the company and keep it healthy.
7. We’ll never find anyone just like good ol’ Bill
But you don’t want to! Most of the best, most loyal and productive employees came to their position by years of experience, guidance, and mentoring from within the company. By seeing the potential in a less experienced person, you are giving the company an employee whose skills and attitude they can shape.
Each time you decide on a new hire, it’s a risk, but, hopefully, that risk pays off. Getting a diverse range of people into a company and getting that company to invest in them is one of the best ways to ensure a loyal and productive environment.
There’s nothing worse than someone who thinks they have nothing to learn.
If you recognize these fallacies, you are not alone. By letting them go, you can increase the success of your recruiting and your business.