Hiring is possibly one of the most difficult and riskiest discipline in any organization. Don’t believe me? Check with your human resources manager or the recruiter-par-excellence who’re going bald over the perfect hires that they won’t ever find. And even if they do, the candidates are either going to quit within the next three months or would be “let-go” because they weren’t a great fit in the first place. Of course, your mileage may vary. But that’s not the point.
I think the biggest challenge is recruiters not taking ownership of the hiring process. And this begins with screen the resume followed by a thorough interview of the candidate before passing it on to the hiring manager. Most recruiters are hired on a contingent basis (which, honestly is the root of all problems) and are fixated on hitting the quota. Therefore, it’s natural that they’re in a rush to close the requistions as soon as they possibly can. After all, competition is fierce and no sane organization would ever want to cling on to a single recruiter.
That’s one fundamental problem recruiters have to solve themselves by setting the right expectations and doing their due diligence to ensure that they screen the candidates and only recommend qualified ones to the hiring manager.
This slow and methodical approach, ironically, does wonders to establish (or restore, in most cases) trust and position you (the recruiter) as the go-to advisor. Not just for the hiring managers/leadership but also the candidates. Because you being thoughtful will let you have an honest evaluation, conversation and assessment to guide the candidates seek better opportunities elsewhere. A place where their skills, aptitude and experience are more valuable.
Now, that’s powerful. Right? You not only get to impact a candidate’s career but also the organization that they join and all the while ensure that you just recruit rockstars at your workplace. All because you decided to give a little thought to your hiring process. Thankfully, now you know where to look. And it always goes beyond the paper…