How to run a successful recruitment campaign

It was great to speak to HAI Members in October about some of the recruitment challenges we’re facing in the industry at the minute. We outlined some of the very effective and practical ways you manage your recruitment campaign to increase that likelihood you’ll keep candidates engaged throughout the process, and ultimately bring your recruitment campaign to a successful conclusion.

Adopt the right mindset
What you find in a candidate driven market, with a shortage of talent, is that candidates are speaking with more than one employer. They know that they are in demand, and for a talented and skilled candidate there are a lot of job opportunities available to them.

We advise entering into all recruitment with the mindset that you are in competition for candidates. While we don’t advise rushing through the recruitment process, we do encourage our clients to conduct the process in a timely fashion and engage with the candidate in a way that makes them view you as their preferred employer.

One of the main reasons we see that employers are losing candidates throughout the process is leaving long gaps between the interview stages and in their communication with the candidate. When candidates are talking to different companies, it tends to be the company that offers first, gets the candidate.

Think about the candidate journey
A recent survey found that 84% of job applicants said they judge a company based on its recruitment process. It is worth giving some consideration to the experience a candidate will have with you. Ideally, even if a candidate isn’t successful with you, they will speak very positively of you as a company. As much as you can, avoid:

• Cancelling interviews
• Rescheduling interviews
• Sending video meeting invites at the last minute
• Changing the interview panel and not letting the candidate know

We encourage our clients to map out the recruitment process at the start, so that our candidates are fully aware of timelines and what to expect. This means that if they are speaking with other companies, they can manage those conversations more easily while they continue through your process.

Getting the best from the candidate
Interviews are about striking a balance between testing and challenging a candidate, but also getting the best from them. Most interviews will focus on the candidate’s CV for part of the interview. The more familiar you are the CV, the more able you are to drill into the detail with the candidate.

We always recommend that you include some competency-based questions. These focus on behaviours and attributes and will tell you a lot about how a person approaches their work. They require the candidate to give you examples to demonstrate their experience. It may be relevant to ask the candidate about the industry or their profession in general. This will show how interested they are in your industry and allow you to judge their commercial awareness. Presentations are typically used when interviewing for more senior positions. Quite often, what you are looking to see here, is the candidate’s approach to the topic, rather than their presentation skills.

You can let the candidate know that’s the case so they know what to focus on. When letting the candidate know about the presentation, remember to include details like the technology arrangements (e.g., should they bring their own laptop), the time they have to present and if there will be questions afterwards.

Hiring for potential
When it comes to selecting the best candidate, especially in a market where there is a skills shortage, you may be hiring for potential. When you look at the CVs and the types of candidates that are applying for your job, it can inform the direction in which you take the role. Sometimes, you may not get the ideal profile of applications you anticipated, and this may mean you need to revisit your job description or remuneration package, or maybe it is indicative of the types of candidates available to you in the market.

If you find yourself hiring for potential, consider what that means for the settling in period, training and development. Often, you may need to allow more time for your new hire to get up to speed with the role. Ask yourself, how long can you afford to have the role vacant, versus, how long you can devote to some extra training and development?

Managing the notice period
We would encourage you to get the written offer out as soon as you can to your successful candidates.

Remember, it is a big decision for someone to leave their current job. Candidates can be hesitant to hand in their notice prior to receiving an offer in writing and a copy of the contract. If there are conditional aspects, such as references and medical checks, be transparent about that and aim to complete references within a few days of making the conditional offer.

For candidates who have a significant notice period, we encourage our clients to keep the new employee engaged during their notice period, with a phone call or a catch up over coffee, or if you have any company events or are attending a trade show, invite them along.

ISEULT MCLAUGHLIN Director, Tactical Talent Recruitment.

If you work with us at Tactical Talent, we can also advise you on your job description, recruitment process and managing the notice period. Iseult McLaughlin, Director, Tactical Talent Recruitment, 086 102 8490 or 01 9079192, imclaughlin@tacticaltalent.ie www.tacticaltalent.ie

Remember we offer 10% off the first successful placement for all HAI Members.

This Business Development article featured in the November/December 2023 issue of The Hardware Journal.