Helping you make better hires, faster.

It seems a little counterintuitive that, even though unemployment levels in the US are still hovering over 5%, companies are still struggling to hire the right people. One thing is clear - the skills gap isn’t going anywhere. If anything, it’s getting worse, thanks to the radical shift to digital brought on by COVID-19.

Last week, we discussed how to know your offer to a candidate will be accepted here, so this week's part of the conversation was the final step. "So once we make the hire, how do we make sure we repeat this successfully?" She asked. "Then it's time for Hiring CSI," I said; with Who are you.. who who, who who? echoing in the background in my head. I mimed snapping latex gloves onto my hands. "It's time... for a post mortem."

Last week, we discussed knowing the best interview questions to ask here, so this week's part was the next logical step. "Ok, so now that we're asking the right questions, we tend to lose a lot of people after the offer. How can we fix that?" She asked.

Last week, we discussed how you have to ingrain branding into your entire hiring process to turn candidates who don't get the job into brand champions and referral sources here, so this week's part of the discussion turned inward. "Ok, let's say we've gotten to the point where our hiring partners are passing us qualified candidates. How do we know that our teams are asking the right questions?" She asked.

Last week, we discussed the specific lessons we learned with examples here, so this week my HR friend and I's discussion turned to looking at her entire hiring process holistically. "What does that even mean?" she asked. "Well, have you ever looked at the hiring process through the lens of someone applying for your jobs? Have YOU ever applied for one of your jobs?" The looks she gave me was a combination of daggers and flushed panic. "It's ok! You have a lot of people in the exact same boat. Here's what I learned about why company branding is so important in your hiring process."

Last week, we gave specific examples of screening questions and how using job profiling will help your jobs succeed here, so this week continuing on the thread of my discussion with my HR friend, it was at this point she turned to me and said "How do you know all this?"

Last week, we discussed tackling the number one concern in recruiting and hiring here, so this week we are taking a deeper dive with screening questions. Which ones should you be asking everyday? Which ones should you avoid?

Last week, we discussed marketing your jobs here, so this week we come to the biggest challenge for you, your recruiters and your hiring partners: candidate quality and sifting through the sheer number of applicants. According to SHRM, many companies do not have advanced ways to deal with the number of applicants that will be applying as the global pandemic wanes, which could lead to recruiters taking shortcuts that could not only exclude portions of the talent pool and potentially perpetuate bias, but most importantly could lead to the *right* person not even getting a chance at the job.

You’ve profiled the job you are wanting to fill as per our last best practices discussion here, so now what? The answer is marketing the job. This is where a lot of companies stumble. According to SHRM, hiring a diverse workforce is the number three item of importance AND concern by most recruiting leaders in most companies (behind #1 sifting through too many candidates, which we will discuss next week and #2 making onsite work environments safe). Many companies say they want to hire diverse candidates, but push/market their jobs to places that only cater to certain demographics. We work with and have performed a comprehensive study of most partner platforms out there, so you and your team can be informed where you should post and promote your jobs to meet your diversity goals. You can find that study here – Reach for Diversity in Your Hiring.

There are a multitude of reasons why your organization may need external recruiting capacity – the question is with so many options out there from contingency to retained/executive search to agencies to marketplaces, what is the most important criteria should you base your selection on? Most people would think it might be cost - but top headhunters charge up to 30%. How do you know what’s the right price?