Recruiter's Essential Tips

Candidate sourcing is one of the most crucial elements in a recruiting process. You need to follow a few things for effective candidate sourcing. Try the following: Try and find out the sourcing strategy that works best for you. Do your homework – get more information about the job, candidate, company, industry, etc. Prioritize your sourcing tasks based on the requirements. If there is an urgent requirement, prioritize it. Do not stick to one source, use multiple resources such as internal database, job boards, social/professional networks, etc. Fulfill your commitments – If you commit something, make sure that you fulfill it.

If you want to hire the top talent and become a great recruiter, try the following: Don’t post job descriptions; instead publish an attractive job ad that increases the response rate. Attract as many top talents as possible and select the best from them.   Candidates consider a lot of things before accepting the offer. Bridge the gap by focusing on the long-term benefits. Network with passive candidates, build a talent pool and engage with them. If a candidate is not interested, get referrals. Encourage your employees to connect with the best people and try leveraging their network. Streamline your sourcing, interviewing and hiring processes that helps you to get better results while dealing with top talent.

An effective job description is one of the most vital tools for a successful recruitment process. It helps you find the right people and saves you a lot of your time. So, before you write your next job description, try the following: State clearly what is expected out of the candidate – roles, responsibilities, goals, etc. Get these details from the hiring manager. So only candidates with the above-mentioned description will apply. Also, you can be at sync with the candidate and the hiring manager right from the beginning. It helps a lot during the interview and the reviews in the future as well.   Look for similar positions on job boards to find if you have missing something and add if necessary.

Hiring the right candidates has always been one of the biggest challenges for recruiters and hiring managers. You cannot term someone as the “right” candidate based on her qualification and skills alone. You have to do a lot more than that. Here are a few tips that will help you hire the right candidates. Decide upon the qualifications that are mandatory and skills that can be learnt on the job. Have clear objectives for various stages of your interview process. Hire candidates who fit into your company culture, understand your company’s core values and help you achieve your long-term goals. Always build a talent pipeline of qualified candidates – tap into social media / professional networks and make use of employee referral programs.

Successful recruiters often wear many hats such as salesman, career counselor, consultant, advisor, and many more. However, they also got to be strong in their basics. Here are 7 basic things that every recruiter should do: Source candidates from search engines, job boards, social networking sites, internal databases, etc. Call the candidates, ask about their needs & wants, tell them how she can help and select candidates for interview. Convey the job expectations and interview process (number of interviews, duration) to the candidates.  Stay in touch with the candidates and guide them through the next steps. Spend time with the candidates answering questions & clarifications. Perform background checks, handle rejections & counteroffers. Once the offer is made, follow up with the candidates and ensure effective onboarding.   Source: eGrabber Newsletter

Social media recruiting is the order of the day in today’s recruiting landscape. A lot of candidates prefer companies and recruiters to be on the social media. Here are top 3 reasons why recruiters should be on social media: Ease of access – Candidates can reach recruiters 24x7 and they can get themselves clarified before or after the interview. Information - Candidates look for company profiles to know about the history, company culture, etc.  Updates on future openings – If the candidate isn’t fit for the job currently, she can receive updates on future job openings. Source: eGrabber Newsletter

Smart candidate sourcing always results in better hires. Your recruiting success depends a lot on how effective your candidate sourcing strategy is. Try the following: Have a clear candidate sourcing strategy that works best for you.  Get to know more about the job, candidate, company, industry, etc. First things first. Prioritize your tasks.  L ook for candidates from multiple sources - internal database, job boards, social/professional networks, etc. Always keep your promises. Source: eGrabber Newsletter

Interviewing candidates is one of the most critical phases of a recruiting process. To be successful, you got to know the do’s and don’ts. Try the following: Ask relevant questions and ask tough questions if there is a necessity. Don’t be afraid. Don’t boast about your company just for the sake of attracting your candidates. Ask for information that you don’t have - information that is not mentioned in the resume. Allow your candidate to speak more and listen. Provide detailed information about the job requirements. Plan your interview, short or long, as necessary. Respect your candidates’ time and keep up your time. Source: eGrabber Newsletter

If you want to hire great people, you have got to be proactive. You cannot just post your job ads in a couple of places and wait for candidates to come to you. Try the following: Post your job ads in as many places as possible – job boards, social networking sites, professional networks, etc. to gain more visibility on the Internet. Don’t restrict yourself to active job seekers alone. Look for passive candidates also. Ask your colleagues, friends, partners, etc. to refer people who are looking for a change. E xpand your network, be active and make the most of it.

Being proactive and reaching out to prospective candidates is one of the best ways to attract top candidates. Try the following: Write a detailed job description with optimized tags & keywords. Search engines and jobseekers should easily find it. Provide quality content that is interesting and engages your prospective candidates. Find where your top candidates are and connect with them - Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, user groups, etc. Make the most of social media interactions to increase employment branding. Accessing career sites via mobile devices are on the rise. So leverage mobile technology to provide great candidate experience. Ensure that you always provide positive candidate experience. Source: eGrabber Newsletters

Successful recruiters possess certain skills and qualities that make them stand out from the rest. Here are the 7 skills that every recruiter must have: Remember, recruiting is like selling. You got to sell opportunities to your candidates. So you need to have strong sales skills. Look for various sources to hunt for candidates – job boards, social media, Boolean searches, professional networks, etc. Learn to listen first and then talk. Be friendly and build great rapport with your candidates. Candidates love to hear back from you. So follow up diligently. Be approachable to your candidates – answer phone calls & reply emails promptly. K eep yourself updated on the latest tools, technologies & trends. Source: eGrabber Newsletters

Google+ is one of the fastest growing social networking sites and it offers recruiters a new way to get connected with job candidates. Try the following: Circles help you to organize your contacts. You can create unlimited number of Circles to group your candidates, clients & other contacts. It helps you to easily and effectively communicate with different groups of people. Hangouts enable you to interview candidates online. The group video chat feature helps you to have multiple interviewers from multiple locations. The update feature doesn’t have any text limitation. So you can post the full job description and share it with your desired Circles. Google+ Sparks help you to keep you updated with the latest industry news & trends. Source: eGrabber Newsletter

Time is one of the most crucial elements of the recruiting process. With fierce competition all around, it is essential that you deliver the goods on time. If you don’t, chances are high that you might lose a potential candidate or client to your competitors. Try the following: Find out the target date to fill the position and plan your activities accordingly. Use automated tools to pace up your recruiting process – sourcing, screening, background check, etc. Ensure that the process is moving or else your candidates might move on. K eep in touch with the candidates throughout the process, especially between offer date & start date.

Building a talent community on social & professional networking sites is an integral part of sourcing strategy. However, you need to ensure that you provide valuable & interesting information to keep them engaged. Try the following: Post company news - press releases, publications, acquisitions, awards, job fairs, walk-ins, etc. on Facebook or Twitter. Provide tips/advice for job seekers. Latest tips & trends on the industry, technological advancements, resume tips or interview tips can help job candidates a lot. It improves the chances of more engagement. P ost photos/videos of your recent company outing, facilities/ infrastructure, employee testimonials, etc. These things will help you improve employer branding. Source: eGrabber Newsletter

 Source: eGrabber Newsletter SHL is one of the leaders in talent management solutions that offer better business results for clients through top-class people intelligence and decisions – from hiring & recruiting to employee development & succession planning. SHL has its presence in over 50 countries and it delivers more than 25 million assessments a year in over 30 languages offering clients the benefit of global expertise & local insight. SHL is known for its world-class consulting practices, a strong 24-hour global support system and an easy-to-use technology platform that helps their clients immensely. For more details, visit  http://www.shl.com/us

Source: eGrabber Newsletter If you want to hire and retain the best talent, you need to use job success profiles in your recruiting campaigns. A job success profile enables you to match the skills and competencies of the employees against the expected outcome. So unlike job descriptions, it explains the role in detail and how to do it by going into the details of the job profile, and provides an overview of the organization’s direction and culture, etc. A job success profile helps you to build a strong talent pipeline. In addition, as employee skills and competencies need to be aligned with the changing demands of the organization, job success profiles help you to map the path for employee development programs.     

 Source: eGrabber Newsletter         EngineeringCentral is a niche job board that focuses on all types of engineers – chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, manufacturing and industrial engineering. It helps job seekers to submit their resumes and search for jobs. Employers can post their jobs and look for suitable candidates. The job board also offers various resources such as relevant information related to various industries, related software, free publications, etc. that are helpful to both job seekers and employers. http://www.engcen.com/engineering.asp

Social media recruiting is one of the most effective recruiting strategies that help you to hire the top talent. But, you need to follow a few things to make the most of it. 1.     Engage with job seekers – When job seekers connect with you and ask questions, answer them. This helps you to build a relationship with your prospective candidates. 2.     Create a brand profile – You are the official representative of your company. So ensure that you have your company name / logo on your profile or bio. It helps job seekers to easily engage with you on career-related stuff. 3.     Update regularly – Post content that is relevant & useful to your target candidate pool and also encourage them to post content. 4.     Use multimedia – Use videos and other media content to job ads to improve engagement.

The Network is a formal alliance of 36 leading recruitment job boards from over 80 offices committed to online recruitment in more than 70 countries. The Network is now the biggest online recruitment solution in the world, used by more than 1 000 customers. With access to a pool of over 82 million jobseekers across 70 countries, you won't need to look anywhere else to meet your recruitment requirements. http://www.the-network.com/

Healthcare Source is the leader in talent management services for the healthcare industry. It helps hospitals to acquire, develop and retain the best talent in order to increase the quality & efficiency of patient care. The company offers performance management services, applicant tracking services and a job board exclusively for healthcare professionals. http://www.healthcaresource.com/