Think hiring a new employee is as simple as posting a job ad and then conducting an interview? If only it was that easy!
Unfortunately, the long process in recruiting new team members is often only realised once you’re in the thick of it, scratching your head, and wondering where the time’s gone.
There is a reason there are large agencies dedicated to recruitment – it is complex and time consuming.
It’s often best to save yourself the frustration and leave the hard task of recruitment to the specialists. Here are just a few reasons why …
Writing a job advertisement can be difficult
Writing a job advertisement is a fine balance between telling candidates about the job and presenting the right picture of your business.
The job advertisement should list what is required in the role, as well as salary expectations, benefits and any qualifications that may be needed.
It’s important the job advertisement is crafted in such a way that reflects the voice of your business, so you attract the right sort of applicants.
The ad should also include keywords so potential candidates can easily find the advertisement, while verbs should be used to describe the job’s responsibilities.
It’s not hard to see why some recruiters hire copywriters to perfect job ads for them – there is skill in getting it right to ensure a high calibre of candidates apply.
There are so many job boards
Once you’ve written the job ad, you’ll need to post it on job boards.
Seek’s website immediately comes to mind for many, but did you know there are 20 job boards out there in Australia alone?
Some of these job boards are industry specific so it’s important your job ad is on all of the job boards tailored to your industry, and getting them on all of them can seem like an overwhelming – and time-consuming – task.
At Simplified Recruitment Solutions, we make your investment work harder with our automated job board posting, which gets your ad on all the relevant sites in minutes, not hours!
Software to manage candidates is a thing
Recruitment agencies use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to manage the sheer number of applications sent in for each role that is listed.
In the COVID-era, when many are on the hunt for work, businesses are getting swamped with hundreds of resumes each day.
If you’re trying to do all of this work on your own, it’s easy to feel as though you’re drowning in paperwork. And when you are sent so many CVs, it can be difficult to find the shiny diamond in the rough.
Sorting through applications takes time and patience. It’s important you go through elimination rounds to get rid of any CVs that don’t meet minimum requirements.
Phone calls are as important as face-to-face interviews
Recruiters spend a lot of time on the phone, speaking to candidates ahead of initial interviews, asking them basic questions.
This additional legwork allows them to weed out any applicants who might not be the right fit for the organisation’s culture, or who might not be that enthusiastic about the role.
The main benefit of this behind-the-scenes process is that by the time the face-to-face interviews begin, only the crème de la crème list of candidates is put forward.
As more and more businesses move online, video cover letters are also becoming popular as an initial screening process, although sifting through these can also be highly time consuming.
Police clearances and reference checks are vital
Background checks on candidates are important so you fully understand who it is you are hiring to do the job.
A complete background check should include asking the candidate to provide a police clearance, as well as calling the referees listed on their CV and asking for feedback on their previous performance.
It’s not unusual to check out the candidate on social media either, and if the job position involves tasks such as forklift use, then a drug test might also be warranted.
You need to know the ins and outs of recruitment law around these background checks so as not violate privacy.
Days can be spent on finding the right talent
It’s clear that the recruitment process isn’t always an easy one. For a professional, it takes around 25 hours to hire a new staff member, but for someone who has never hired before it can take more than 40 hours of work.
Depending on the nature of the role, it can take four to six weeks from the submission of the ad on to the job board to getting someone onboard and ready to be trained.
Feeling overwhelmed with the recruitment process? Get in touch with us today and see how we can help take some of the weight off.