Let's recruit successfully

When a position becomes or is due to become free you need to look for new candidate to fill it and as everyone else you too want the best on board. How this can happen? Easily if you know what you want. Let's not forget that in the followings I am going to mention steps to in house recruiters  (Director, HR manager, HR Assistant or other Appointed person -can vary depending on company's structure and size) focusing mainly on small to medium companies but of course if anyone else is interested please feel free to use it. First and most of all make recruitment plan (draft) with deadlines that you can/are able to and will follow and should contain:

 1. Time* & budget for recruitment process (yes, needed because: you need to advertise one way or the other and on a multinational market almost everything costs money and specially if you involve outsiders; you need to give bonuses to your employees in case of successful referrals if that applies at your company; you have to deal with administrative costs such as printing and document filing - this isn't that relevant but still exists, etc.)

•  *Time required for the role begins as soon as you start working on the project - including this plan - and should be defined depending of the type of role (assistant or senior role), the ways** how you'll let prospective employees know about the opportunity to work for you and urgency of filling the position (if you need someone to start in two weeks time then you won't start advertising the role a week before start date - unfortunately this happens but hey, is never too late to learn). You need to calculate in the time process the interview (depending how many people you plan to interview and how many levels the interview is going to have will define the length of it), decision taking till the first day of work commences. 
• *As we know - if not we will learn now -  that as higher the position as harder to fill the role. Highly experienced professionals in most cases already work or they hardly bother themselves looking for work. Agents/companies mainly look for/get in touch with them and not vice versa. In case of those working for longer period in the same position/at same company a career/work place change can be done easier because they already have the relevant connections to swift. On the other hand the market on the supply side of assistants is packed. Demand for work is high, lots of young and old people as well are looking for work; lots of professionals at the early/late beginning of their career are looking for career change and consider assistant roles as the best possibility to start from. Of course in case of each industry and position there are factors such as need for that role generally, number/ possibility of qualified and experienced people, salary paid, company reputation, etc., that increases/decreases the desire/demand to fill the specific role. But as the recruiter knowing your market and company you should be able to easily filter these factors as well determine the rough/min. amount of potential applicants within certain period depending where/ how you advertise. 
• ** We can advertise a role in a lot of ways. Now which one we use will depend on which is most important to you: quality (finding the most experienced and qualified candidate), price ( keeping costs of recruitment process low, at this part mainly advertising costs, because that can be the highest) and time ( how fast you wish to fill the place). If you want to keep costs low you have the possibility to search for example websites, forums that offer the possibility to advertise free - advised to find and use as much as possible in the same time and don't forget to keep track of it <ex. just to mention a few: indeed, jobsafari, freeads, jobtube, bestjobsuk, freeindex>. These might not get you the most desired (quality) candidate but will keep your costs low also advertising on more pages gives you the possibility to reach more applicants, perhaps to find someone right + fast. Advertise on your own website which if you are a small company won't be so successful as maybe lots of people don't even know you exist but if used together with other options can boost your chances. You can advertise for free by letting your connections know on your social media pages <ex. the most common ones: linkedin, facebook, twitter etc.> you have the specified "position available and if interested or their friends are then get in touch" on contact details provided. Asking your colleagues to ask around doesn't harm nor does assure someone very experienced or qualified but still can be useful. If your colleagues don't have a long list of connections or aren't interested in helping you that will be tricky but if you really want to keep costs low use as much of the free options simultaneously as possible. Don't forget this can take up from your time by posting the ads but in the same time with more ads posted in more sites, more job seekers will be reached and bigger the chance to find someone suitable. If you desperately need someone really good then pay for your advertising. Will costs you but certainly will reach quickly your target audience. You can do this by posting ads in newspapers (always decide which is the most related to your role/ industry and/or reaches lots of possible jobseekers), well known websites with high number of readers (theguardian, metro, gumtree), or look for yourself in CV databases (always check the CV is up to date) very last involve agencies (I am certain your company can and is able to manage so challenge and teach yourself and just do it you won't regret it and you/ the appointed person dealing with the process can only learn, a lot, whilst the possibility that agencies get you the right person are as high as you doing it for yourself). 

2. Full description of position you want to fill. Define relevant job title, contract type (temp/ perm, part or full time work), probation period, responsibilities/ & duties (job description) - if you want an assistant then don't write the manager's responsibilities/ duties in the job spec; budget for the role (what is the salary you are going to pay and what are the bonuses? Check the market salary range if you aren't sure and then see what extras you will/ can offer such as phone, commission, training, paid traveling costs, money compensation for a task delivered, etc.), progression & development measurement policies, working days & hours.

3. Application and Interview process: 

• The most commonly used way of applying is when your request a Curriculum Vitae (I know there are people who don't tell the truth but you know your market, interview is there to screen, the option of asking for references was invented to filter again and not everyone is making up things; besides uncertain employers generated the uncertainty with poorly communicated desires) with or without motivation letter (motivation letters are great if yourself know what your purpose of it is <you want someone to show you how well spoken they are, or how good their grammar is, or you want to know what their motivation is applying for that role - trap of Ctrl+C & Ctrl+V, etc.>), some companies use CV style online formula with prescreening surveys (make sure if you use one like this just pay attention to which position you apply the survey too and is relevant) and other application formulas (google: types of application forms). Which one you'll use is entirely up to you but try to keep things short, to the point, "sweet" (friendly and professional) and relevant. Most commonly used interview stages are two, but big companies sometimes can have up to five. 
• At the first stage of interview what I think nowadays should be used and "brought in fashion" is online face-to-face interviewing. This can be useful because if you have more relevant applicants than you were expecting you can filter after an online interview who are the ones you actually want to see   in real. By this technique you can ensure you keep the timings, really get those for a personal interview you think are eventually more relevant and also you can help the jobseekers to save traveling costs & time. Phone interviews as a first stage interview are commonly used too but online face-to-face interviews can be much more effective as you can see peoples faces, their reactions to certain questions and ensure you really speak to the person who is applying for the role. This is the 21st century be innovative :). Second stage is face-to-face interview at your office's/ place on a prearranged date which can count as first stage if phone/ online interview isn't applied. In case you organize second stage which follows any of the previously mentioned ones (I would like to mention that it might be that more different senior staff at the company would like to repeat the first stage)  should serve the purpose to measure certain skills and abilities of an applicant (get to know them better) so organize it that way and let lucky applicants know about it and the process. Here at this stage you should discuss the job package as well to ensure there are no confusions and both parties agree or negotiate if required of terms. This stages can be mixed and matched as I said can depend on the seriousity of the role, the size of the company etc, can be longer or shorter which ever is most suitable just plan it in advance. When all is done good analyzing and common sense to pick the most suitable candidate. 

When your plan is ready to go it's time to build your professional ad that should stand out and to show how professional you are.

On the job market there is a theory floating round: "That employees won't spend more than 10 seconds on applicants CV". Stop following theories and start acting, unless you are a multinational company getting in 1000 of applications for one role in 2 days you don't need to follow this. Take your time and read the CVs, you have time and you want to know who you get on board. If you think that it is unnecessary then it means you don't have time for other things either so if I am a serious applicant and see this I will be very disappointed and won't take you seriously. I faced so many times this issue: I got to an interview and apart from my name the interviewer didn't have a clue of what's in my CV then when we start talking of the content  turned out that she/ he is astonished how many things I can actually bring to the company of what they are looking for and they didn't know and I was like :O? "It is in my CV... :/". 

What you need to bear in mind your recruitment plan should contain whether you are looking to fill a volunteer, intern, apprentice or a part/ full time employment on temporary/ permanent basis. According to that know what regulations are out there that you need to prepare for.

For ex.: if you wish to fill an internship position that you wish to run for a year but divided to 4 x 3 months periods don't tell applicants that you want to offer them a real job at the end of their internship because if someone doesn't perform and you keep them working for you for three months and then off you go that person might think you were unfair. The reason behind this is because people tend to focus only on good things that benefit/ motivate them and in this case is the job for which they should, will work hard to get. It might turn out that doesn't suit their skill set or they aren't actually performing that good as you hoped, but in the same time they think they are really good which can be the case comparing things to their past experiences so they make hopes too. And as quite few establishments are on it to still exploit, miss lead them to get someone who does the job for free if you have this case that is hmm... I know this sounds hard to say and the intern idea mentioned easy to accomplish and well ready to go but in long run it will harm big time your company/-reputation if you are irresponsible, don't plan and communicate well. Dear to be honest and fair there are people out there who will appreciate it, need your honesty and understand that. You have the power in your hand use it wisely ;).

Planning the recruitment process might seem hard but if you as the recruiter have good people, communication skills and real interest in the position you want to fill this shouldn't be hard at all in contrary.

Basically the best doesn't necessary mean a graduate from a top notch university, or the best sales man next door, or the most good looking guy/ girl who has the best connections on the whole world. It means getting someone on board that you see has the drive/ passion, has the relevant idea/ experience and is a person that you can mold while still leaving her/ him intact and see the opportunity in the person to be a great ambassador for your company and have that gut feeling about the whole situation and faith this will work out. 

My aim is to give ideas and point of views according to my knowledge and experiences for those who are interested and the above written are my ways of dealing with a recruitment process in this case if it matches anyone else's description that is pure coincident and well that proves the possibility that more people think the same way which is just brilliant :). Good luck to finding the best and keeping him/ her.