License To Hire: 3 Tips For A Great Recruitment Drive

If you're in a managerial position, the time will come when you are asked to hire (or fire!) staff to work under you or alongside you. Obviously, to get to the position you're in (unless you're extremely lucky and are headhunted), you will have been through the recruitment process yourself. It's a very different ball game to be sat at the other end of the recruiting table, and here are three tips to make sure you get the best out of the recruitment process.

Target the correct industry areas

If you take a look at the local paper's classifieds, you'll probably find job vacancies in every sector. This is an example of a cheap way of recruiting, but not a very targeted one. If, for example, you are in the IT or software business, then it would be much more beneficial to advertise in the trade papers or related magazines. This helps cut out the wheat (people already interested in your sector) from the chaff (the entire public - i.e. in the paper) before you even meet any potential candidates.

Read CVs and resumes very carefully

As you will know yourself from job applications, people embellish, bolster and 'pad' their CV with information they think they want potential employers to hear. When you start the process of shortlisting for interview, looking through CVs will be the most important element in getting good candidates.

Forget mission statements, photographs, and so on - and concentrate on the real 'meat' of the CV. What experience have they had? Do you know the companies they have previously worked for? Are there any gaps in employment and if so - why?

Also, references are a key element of any CV. If someone misses them out, it may be intentional instead of an error. Feel free to follow them up at any stage if you feel the need. It could save you a lot of work further down the line.

Concentrate on content during the interview

If someone appears smartly dressed and smooth talking, we can sometimes forget that they haven't answered an interview question. Being charming is a nice trait in business, but it can also be a symptom of someone who floats along on their personality instead of their knowledge.

Make sure you make notes during the interview of how a candidate answered the questions - otherwise you're more apt to remember their face rather than their suitability for the job.

Needless to say, be aware of any tendency you have to discriminate (subconsciously or not) based on your own experience. If a woman is beautiful, that's fine, but is she qualified for the job? If someone works for a company you hate, don't hold it against them - and so on.

If you follow these deceptively simple rules, then you will have a much easier recruitment drive. The bulk of the work isn't at interview, as most people think, but at the preliminary sifting stages in shortlisting candidates. Soon, you'll get the hang of it, and the process will get faster, easier and more streamlined every time.