Do you need to update your recruitment practices?

Recruitment technology REFFIND

When choosing recruitment solutions, business owners must ensure whatever technology they’re using will allow them to adapt to changing market conditions.

The impact of online technology on SMEs’ recruitment efforts has been incredible. From mobile to social media, everything is happening a breakneck pace, leaving some businesses struggling to keep up.

A blanket approach to recruiting, where hiring companies post an ad on a job board for the whole world to see, will leave business managers dealing with an influx of irrelevant candidate resumes. It has now become better practice to target your ideal candidate with much more precision.

Job board advertising is not enough

Job boards have become just one of many options to recruit and may become superfluous. Soon, companies will stop placing their job ads in third-party media in a blanket approach, and be more granular, as better tools enable them to proactively target candidate skills.

This is the future of recruitment: harnessing smarter, sharper tools – such as targeted advertising online and in social media – to find the perfect talent, rather than waiting for them to knock on your door.

For a solid recruitment strategy, businesses need to think bigger picture, rather than just placing an ad in a generic media. Think about what tools are available to you for targeting talent, databases that you can tap into, or even networks to get word-of-mouth referrals.

Experience vs attitude

Sadly, a lot of employers still think the jobs a candidate has done in the past will inform the jobs they can do in the future. But what if you miss out on someone who is perfect for the role and has the right attitude, determination, tenacity and ambition, but just hasn’t had the opportunity to prove it before?

Thankfully, this mindset is shifting to looking at the competencies and skills a candidate has that suggest they can do the job. Employers must refrain from pigeonholing candidates, at the risk of missing out on the perfect person.

Skills testing

You can check a candidate’s suitability to do the job via online skills or aptitude testing as part of the application process.

That way you’re not just relying on previous work experience to make a judgement on whether someone is right for a position. And it provides you with a three-dimensional view of each applicant – a CV, an interview, and a skill test – and enabling you to truly assess their suitability.

Managing applications

If you’re still managing job applications via email, you need to get with the times. Candidate management systems are a lifesaver to manage applications quickly and efficiently. Candidates are ranked in order of suitability as they apply, allowing you to shortlist faster. You can easily acknowledge applications, shortlist, decline and request more information at the click of a button.

When choosing recruitment solutions, business owners must ensure whatever technology they’re using will allow them to adapt to changing market conditions. Technology should make hiring more effective, faster, easier and with reduced costs, not more difficult. Make sure to shop around before deciding on one provider.

Recruitment strategies have come leaps and bounds since the bygone days of newspaper ads. Focusing on precision rather than a blanket approach, and backing your choice of candidate with skills testing, will mean that you’ll access the best talent available in your industry.

Sharon Davies, Founder and Managing Director, Talent Propeller