10 Tips for Effective Hiring in Today’s High-Tech Market

The phrase “having too many irons in the fire” can be somewhat of an understatement when it comes to recruiting and hiring. Take a look at InfoQuest’s list of tips to hone down your process to make hiring easier and more effective.

1) Put the Candidate Experience First:

The internet age has widened the audience for potential applicants. What many may not realize is that this is a two-way street! First impressions are key for both companies and applicants, and according to iCIMs over 68% of applicants who have abandoned a job application have done so because the application process was too long or required too much information.

A few areas to address in attracting candidates to apply:

• Make sure the application isn’t too long.
• Ask for information that a candidate would have easy access to.
• Regularly check your system to prevent unexpected technical difficulties.
• Only include questions you would be comfortable answering yourself. (Put yourself in the candidate’s shoes).

2) Look for Ways to Integrate Your Systems:

Redundant data entry is a gigantic time killer in any job. The more integration you have, the less manual entry you will have to worry about, and the more time you will have to focus your efforts on building relationships with your candidates. Ask your current vendors what solutions they offer.

3) Seek Opportunities to Automate Your Process:

Applicant Tracking systems save significant amounts of time, especially for those still using manual processes, spreadsheets, or outdated software. Loading all of your processes into a cloud-based system is a great way to increase efficiency.

4) Don’t Use Stock Questions:

No two positions are alike in different organizations, so why do so many hiring managers ask the same few questions to see if someone is a best fit in an interview? The best strategy is to align the questions you ask a candidate with your company’s core values and the key duties of the position in question.

5) Assess Your “Heavy Hitter” Job Posting Channels:

The most effective strategy in any position is to go for the low-hanging fruit. Pay attention to which job boards, social media, and career sites produce your most consistent high quality candidates and adjust your focus accordingly.

6) Look Inward to Find Great Talent:

Who are your top performers? Do they have friends? Would they refer those friends? These are such easy questions to ask and yet many organizations make the mistake of skipping them. A great way to find that referral talent is to create an employee referral program.

7) Begin a Passive Sourcing Process:

Obvious passive sources are internships and social media, but an incredibly strong one also comes through applicant references. Outstanding candidates associate with outstanding people, and solutions such as SkillSurvey leverage technology to capture those references and turn them into warm leads for potential future hires!

8) Look to Technology for Compliance and Minimizing Risk:

FCRA’s Adverse Action and I-9/E-Verify are areas that create common confusion among many HR Professionals. Ask your background screening vendor if they are able to act as advisers in keeping these processes rigid in case of audit.

9) Communicate, Communicate, Communicate:

Recruiters are known to spend at least 1/3 of their day on scheduling. Sometimes dates and times are tough to pin down between Candidates, Human Resources professionals, Hiring Managers, etc. Consider sharing specific calendars among these parties so everyone is literally on the same page.

10) Keep Your Own First Day In Mind, and Remember the Golden Rule:

The best way to turn a qualified candidate into an excited and productive employee is to engage and get to know them before they ever begin working, and in so doing they will be excited to get to know you and your organization! Company values, mission statement, and culture are all just words to a candidate unless they see them in action. Why wait until they’ve started to show them what your organization is made of? “Do Unto Others…”