Job recruitment may seem fun – until you get an influx of applicants and don’t know where to begin with the pre-screening. After all, you need to cut down the number of applicants to a group of candidates that you think are qualified for the interviews.
What has been your tactic so far? Many try to “weed out” unqualified applicants. However, you should consider doing it the other way. Look for a person that’s worth hiring and not someone you can eliminate. That means you should screen in instead of out.
But how do you do that exactly? Here are some tips from Start In Recruitment:
Read Résumé
You need to develop a system to cross-check your job requirements on your posting and what the applicants have on their résumé. Because these are mostly written in reverse chronological order, you can start reading from back to front and assess their career path. Don’t forget the cover letter, too, as this gives you an idea of whether or not the applicant can express themselves in a way that you would like your employees to.
Do Some Phone Screening
Even a short 10-minute conversation on the phone can give you insight into the potential candidates who have gone through your résumé screening. Come up with critical questions that will address your primary concerns. Ask the same set of questions to every applicant so you can compare more accurately.
Here are some of the questions you could ask your candidates:
- Why are you interested in this particular position?
- Why do you want to work in this company instead of others?
- We need (particular skill) for this job. Can you share some experiences showing you have this skill?
- Why did you leave your last position?
- What do you expect to gain by getting this job?
- What’s your expected salary for this position?
- What kind of culture do you like in a company?
Of course, you can add some follow-up questions or ask some resume-specific questions, too.
Interact Via Email
If you need employees with excellent writing and communication skills, you can test that by having email exchanges. This will also give you an idea of how potential employees communicate – whether they sound professional and polite or dismissive and rude.
Come Up With a Game Plan
Your plan likely ended with the job post you made. You might not have anticipated the number of applications you got. While you can’t do anything about that now, what you can do is plan the rest of your actions. You can create a database to rank applicants and take notes of the specific qualities that you like. Alternatively, you can jot down notes during the phone interview and as you go through the resumes. You should also keep going back to your job description to ensure that your applicants meet your requirements.
Conclusion
Job recruitment can be anything – from frustrating to overwhelming. It can be frustrating when no one qualified is applying for the job. However, you can get flooded by applicants, and the whole thing can be overwhelming. It’s nothing that you can’t conquer with a good game plan, though. Plan your strategy and determine how you can find the best candidate or candidates for the job. Ask questions that will help you know the applicant and figure out if they’re the right fit for your company.
If you are a business owner or manager who’s already taking care of a lot of things in your company, the task of recruiting new people can be too much to handle. Consider getting help from professionals who specialise in this.
Start in Recruitment can handle your job recruitment process. We can find you the best sales and customer service applicants in Australia who meet your requirements. Contact us today to find out how we can help you!