There are many mistakes that hiring managers and companies make when it comes to their recruiting process. Today, I want to break a few of them down.
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Today, I’d like to talk about come of the most common mistakes that we see hiring managers and companies make when it comes to recruiting new talent. By discussing these, we can hopefully help improve our internal recruiting processes.
First, you need to consider how critical the role is, how time-sensitive filling the role is, and what the margin for error is. These factors should be addressed when it comes to making the decision to use a search firm. If it’s a confidential search, we could obviously benefit from using a firm. However, if it’s a high-level role, a company can oftentimes get a lot of applicants by simply posting an ad. They might get more applicants than they ever thought they could otherwise, so you need to be aware of whether or not you have the internal bandwidth to do that kind of recruiting. Can you handle 500 applicants in a week?
A great search firm can vet the entire marketplace. They can narrow in on a very targeted list of people that have the skills and experience needed and can save you time and energy in the process of finding the best of the best.
What is the right amount of people for a shortlist? In my view, five to seven people is just right. Companies that only have two or three people in play will put the whole search on hold. It’s putting all your eggs into too few baskets. If something goes wrong and one or two fall apart, you’re back at square zero. Having five to seven strong candidates helps you to avoid that happening; you can still bring in the top two or three candidates, but be sure to have some backups.
First, you need to consider how critical the role is, how time-sensitive filling the role is, and what the margin for error is. These factors should be addressed when it comes to making the decision to use a search firm. If it’s a confidential search, we could obviously benefit from using a firm. However, if it’s a high-level role, a company can oftentimes get a lot of applicants by simply posting an ad. They might get more applicants than they ever thought they could otherwise, so you need to be aware of whether or not you have the internal bandwidth to do that kind of recruiting. Can you handle 500 applicants in a week?
A great search firm can vet the entire marketplace. They can narrow in on a very targeted list of people that have the skills and experience needed and can save you time and energy in the process of finding the best of the best.
What is the right amount of people for a shortlist? In my view, five to seven people is just right. Companies that only have two or three people in play will put the whole search on hold. It’s putting all your eggs into too few baskets. If something goes wrong and one or two fall apart, you’re back at square zero. Having five to seven strong candidates helps you to avoid that happening; you can still bring in the top two or three candidates, but be sure to have some backups.
A great search firm can vet the entire marketplace.
Finally, I really hope that companies and hiring managers understand the most excited an A-player will be is during the final interview. The more days that go by after that interview where the candidate doesn’t hear from you, the more negative thoughts they will have. Maybe the company isn’t interested in them, or perhaps they’re pursuing someone else. The quicker and sooner you can get back with an A-player after that final interview—within two or three business days is best—the more acceptances you’ll get right.
Bring your best offer right off the bat. Don’t lowball candidates in the marketplace, because that will really impact your brand—and people talk.
Hopefully this has given you some ideas on how to improve your own internal recruiting process. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us. I hope to hear from you soon!
