Before you start recruiting - How to devise a Recruitment Checklist
Whether it's your first sales employee that you're hiring or a new field sales team,
the following checklist to help systemise your process and keep track of your recruiting
efforts.
Today's economy is exploding with talent, allowing you to be selective about the
staff you would like to hire. Yet, the crucial step to filling a position is finding
the exact right talent for the organisation - someone that has the skills for the
job yet easily blends with the culture whilst interacts well with the team and most
importantly believes in the company's mission.
There are 3 parts of the hiring checklist; the work prior to starting the hiring
process, the search and selection of candidate and the interview and the actual hire,
the final step.
Each step should have adequate detail regarding your hiring checklist. This will
help paint a clear picture to potential candidates regarding the nature of the hiring
process involved in applying for an opening at your corporation.
Identify Needs
- Determine the absolute need for a new of replacement position
- Think if there is any creative methods in which you could go about to accomplish
the work without recruiting new employees (improve processes, eliminate work that
might not be necessary, divide work up more efficiently)
- Type of contract - temporary, permanent, fixed contract
- What happens if the job isn't replaced?
Consider Internal Applicants
- Could an individual be moved "sideways"/"horizontally" for development purposes
- Consider whether there are candidates within the wider organisation e.g. in sister
companies?
- Post the position internally on the "Job Opportunities" website/bulletin board for
a week. If you have difficulty finding a candidate that is qualified internally,
state within the position that you are also advertising the position externally as
the same time
- Send an internal email to all company employees to notify staff that a position has
been posted and that unless applications are received that you are hiring employees
externally.
Select Recruitment Firm or Headhunter
- Are they recognised selection experts in your field?
- Do they have recruitment expertise in this area?
- How do they attract candidates?
- How will they represent you in the company?
- What project timings do they suggest?
- Do their style and values fit into your organisation?
- What do they include in their fee?
- Is it a fixed fee or a percentage of salary?
- Do they work for your competitors?
- What are the resources they will assign to your project?
- What's their rebate or guarantee scheme?
- View selecting a recruitment partner - 10 reasons to choose Aaron Wallis - how do
we compare?
Draw Up Job Description, Person Profile And Preparation For The Interview
- Background Check (perform appropriate background checks that include employment history,
education, criminal records, credit history etc - see independent CV verification
services)
- Develop and prioritise the key requirements needed for the position including the
qualifications, traits, characteristics and experience in which you seek in a candidate
- With assistance from either a recruitment company or your HR department develop a
well thought out and effective job description for the position which will attract
the best candidates for the role (this will assist in writing the classified job
advertisement - make sure you post the job online, give the job to a sales employment
agency and post on your corporate website - screen resultant resumes for potential
interviews with prospective employees)
- Determine the salary range for the position
- When candidates start applying - send emails to each applicant to acknowledge receipt
of the CV. Further clearly state that if the candidate appears to be a good match
for the position (relative to your other applicants) you will contact them to schedule
an interview. If not, you will keep their application/resume on file for a year in
case other opportunities arise.
- Prepare for the interview - devise a careful selection proves that includes culture
match, testing behaviour interview questions, psychometric testing etc. See how
psychometric questionnaires can help your recruitment process
- Ask the other departments in whom the new sales employee will be in contact with/work
with for e.g. the Marketing department, Finance department. Ask them what they are
looking for in that sales candidate to help devise a job description and gain a greater
understanding of the particular candidate characteristics that they would prefer
- The language used in job descriptions should avoid technical jargon and unexplained
acronyms, abbreviations and ambiguity about responsibility
- The language used within the job description should be matched to the type of job
and be readily understood by the employees concerned
- Develop the largest group of qualified candidates possible (search via professional
associations, personal contacts, universities, search firms and other creative sources
when necessary)
- Ensure you are clear about the post-holder's accountability for results and resources
- If needed, obtain the authority to recruit.
- Send the job vacancy form to the Human Resources Department/HR Consultancy Firm that
you ruse or Company Administration Office.
Other Things To Consider About The Potential Role
- Ideal date of commencement of employment
- Wages/Salary details
- Commission or bonus scheme
- Rate of overtime work
- Cash benefits that the employee is entitled to/additional benefits e.g. company car
etc to help 'sell the job'
- Pension Scheme - whether one exists and if so conditions
- Depending on contract type (duration of a temporary contact or termination date for
a fixed term contract)
- Number of hours in work week and workday. Procedure for scheduling
- Alternative work schedules/flex-time
- Annual leave entitlement
5 Simple Steps To Planning A Successful Recruitment Campaign
- Decide geographically where to recruit - where to hold interviews, etc.
- Identify your unique selling points
- Develop the infrastructure to support new staff
- Identify methods to attract the right candidates and identify the selection approaches
that suit your needs
- Carry out essential checks - reference checks etc
- Points To Remember
- You mustn't forget to give as much information as possible to allow candidates to
make an informed and rational decision about their interest and suitability for a
post
- Consider any legal requirement which would interfere with work and travel permissions
that may potentially prevent a candidate from working in a specific country
- Provide relevant details of climate/security/isolation that candidates need to consider
before applying a job post
To Conclude
Devising a recruitment checklist can save a lot of time and money (especially in
the long run). When making a comparison upon the time and money to the estimated
cost of a bad hire (this is estimated to be 3.75 times the cost of the first year
salary and benefits) spending just a little extra time creating a recruitment checklist
doesn't look so unappealing after all.
Make sure you keep focused and motivated to help keep your recruitment search on
track to find top talent. This will give you the best possibility of finding that
"A" candidate instead of settling for the "B" or "C" candidate.
