Home»Top Five Ways to Simplify Recruiting

Top Five Ways to Simplify Recruiting

| November 12, 2015 1:00 am

When first approached with writing this blog post; I had no idea what to write about. I took a look at my life and asked; what am I passionate about? What motivates me to get up every day and give it my all? Then it came to me….the simple things. Allow me to clarify.

My husband and I bought our house two years ago. One of the first things we did was start our own garden. We planted a variety of vegetables and herbs.  Having never gardened before, I spent hours reading countless articles, books, and online blogs trying to understand what it takes to have a plentiful garden. Before we knew it, we had enough tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers to start our own little farmers market. The reason I bring all this up is how fulfilling it was to be able to experience just a piece of simple living by being able to pull a large haul from the garden with little work. The garden didn’t ask for much, just some sunshine and water. Can’t get any simpler than that!

So how does this relate to recruiting?

In the words of Confucius, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” Now, how can this be applied to recruiting? Let me break it down with my Top Five Ways to Simplify Recruiting:

  1. Referrals As any good recruiter will say, your network is a gold mine. Once you build your network, you gain respect and your inbox will overflow with referrals. On Monday of this week, our company had a big push to target 10 folks in our network for referrals. The result: in one day I had about 8 referrals! Those referrals were there for the taking and if I wouldn’t have taken a few minutes to pulse my network, I would have missed out on placing some great candidates.
  2. Build a Strong Candidate Relationship One thing I pride myself on is the relationship I build with my candidates. Being a recruiter of recruiters, it’s easy for me to relate to the people I speak with and truly understand their pain points and/or motivating factors. Take the time to get to know your candidates and understand their individual circumstances. This will lead to mutual respect and a trusted candidate who will keep coming back, and be a source of great referrals.
  3. Listen & Understand Most of the time, we get stuck in a pattern of asking the same qualifying questions and making sure the candidates background checks all the boxes the hiring manager is looking for. Don’t get in this rut! Take the time to listen to what the candidate wants in a new opportunity or what motivates them to look in the first place. By successfully listening, you will place the candidate in the right position for their specific needs and desires, rather than sticking them in a position that will have them going back to the drawing board mere months later.
  4. Templates Ever have a hiring manger contact you and say they want the perfect candidate yesterday? One quick and simple method is to screen multiple candidates concurrently by creating a standard screening template. This template should include the basic background and qualifying questions, but don’t forget tips two and three. A template will allow you to stay on track and be more efficient during your initial screening process. A simple template can be created in 5 minutes or less and will save you tons of time.
  5. Time Management This is something that’s been drilled into our minds since grade school. Prioritize your daily schedule. I like to break my day into blocks of morning, mid-day, and afternoon. In the morning, get warmed up. Maybe take 10 minutes to catch up on the latest trends in your industry or catch up on the news. Review e-mails and address any urgent needs. Then prepare for the rest of the day. Mid-day, take this time to get your tasks done. Screen, interview, present candidates, schedule next round interviews, etc. Finally, close out the day. Schedule screens or interviews for the remainder of the week, follow up on missed calls or e-mails that came in mid-afternoon and schedule for the following day. This will simplify your day and you will know what to expect the following day.

In closing, do what works best for your unique personal style. Simplify your life. Like our garden that only requires nothing more than sunshine and water, but the bounty is plentiful. Use your established network to uncover hidden gems, build lasting candidate relationships, take time to listen, prepare for the (un)expected, and manage your time. I’ll leave you with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

-Mandy Vitto is an Internal Recruiter at NSS RPO, a consulting firm that provides on-site and virtual recruiting professionals. Contact NSS RPO to learn about how we can help your organization meet and exceed its hiring goals.