How to recruit? 8 practical tips for successful hiring

How to recruit effectively? Recruitment, a key stage in the life of a company, aims to find, renew or reinforce the skills on which the company's development depends. It is therefore essential to do everything possible to assess the match between a candidate's profile and the requirements of a position.

From the precise definition of skills requirements to the selection of suitable profiles, including the implementation of recruitment management, successful hiring is not the result of chance. It's the result of a relatively complex recruitment procedure involving numerous stages and requiring rigor, strategy and planning.

Rest assured, however, that there are certain precautions you can take to ensure that you have every chance of recruiting the right person. In this article, appvizer gives you some tips on how to conduct your hiring process methodically, and ultimately make the right choice. You should also be aware that there are software packages designed to improve your human resources management processes, and in particular the delicate exercise of recruitment.

See all software Recruiting

Successful recruitment

The risks of hasty or poorly organized recruitment

Recruiting is a costly process in terms of time, energy, money and credibility. If it doesn't take the appropriate measures to set up its recruitment management, the company exposes itself to risks involving :

• opportunity cost: the expected skills and qualities are not there, creating a loss of earnings ;
• the cost of direct training : time wasted in managing an employee who is not right for the job;
• the cost of salary;
• the cost of redundancy if you have to let the person go after 3 to 6 months, when the trial period has already expired;
• other induced costs, such as a significant impact on team morale, or the slowdown of certain projects in which the recruit is involved.

Successful recruitment is not an easy goal, but it doesn't have to be impossible. While absolute success scores are rarely achieved, even after many years of experience, methods do exist for minimizing risks, maximizing the chances of finding the right candidate, and avoiding recruitment errors.

Choosing the "right candidate

Matching the requirements of a job with the profile of a candidate is synonymous with added value in terms of productivity within the company, while at the same time fostering the creation of teams that are fulfilled in their working environment.

It is therefore important to choose the right person, but just as important not to go overboard. Beware of the myth of the perfect candidate: our vision of the job market and of what makes a "good candidate" can be erroneous or imprecise.

The key is to remain consistent, objective and realistic.

So stop looking for the five-legged sheep! When writing your job advertisement, ask yourself whether this person really exists on the market, and whether the required combination of skills is likely.

You can call on a recruitment professional who is familiar with the job market and practices in your sector for a similar position, to define realistic requirements in line with your needs.

8 practical tips for effective recruitment

Tip 1: Define your needs

As with any recruitment strategy or action plan, it's essential to analyze your recruitment needs before taking any action.

What kind of profile are you looking for?

You can define the needs of the position to be filled according to the key skills required. Prioritize these skills, from the indispensable to the highly recommended, mentioning any bonus qualities that will enhance the candidate's potential.

Also take note of the values your future recruit should possess. Don't forget to consider the possibilities of the position evolving, and the skills that will be required in this perspective.

The more precisely these criteria are defined, the more likely it is that the profiles examined will match the vacancy. For an existing position, ask yourself whether the job description and recruitment criteria used previously are still relevant. As a general rule, it's a good idea to define a common recruitment policy for all positions to be filled.

Tip 2: Choose the right timing and validate the budget

Whether you're looking to open a new position or to replace an existing one, make sure that your recruitment fits in with the company's overall agenda, and is in line with its strategic vision. To do this, win the approval of everyone involved in the new hire, so you don't get stuck.

Another key factor is that the position must be included in the budget. To this end, keep yourself informed of the current salary ranges in the field concerned.

Finally, you need to decide whether you want to recruit internally, focusing on the profiles and skills already available within the company at the time you need resources, or externally, looking for candidates from outside the organization.

Ultimately, the watchword here is anticipation. Internal mobility, retirement, maternity leave, creation of a new department, general growth of the company, etc. HR managers need to have a clear picture of all situations involving staff changes, in order to identify the profiles they need to recruit and build their skills development plan in parallel.

Anticipation calls for reactivity, but without haste: it's all about making the right decision at the right time.

As your decision-making process may be slowed down or hampered by problems with the agendas of the various stakeholders, draw up a schedule of the important stages and deadlines to be met:

• appointments and meetings with the various parties involved,
• the date of the proposal to the candidate,
• the deadline for the decision and announcement to the candidate,
• the expected start date, etc.

Getting the timing right and setting deadlines can prevent promising candidates from becoming discouraged by long waiting times, or even accepting another offer before yours. Don't let talent slip through your fingers!

Tip 3: Write a precise, personalized advert

A precise yet accessible job description is essential to attract qualified candidates:

• make sure the text is clear and avoid company-specific "jargon", which can give the impression of a lack of openness;
• describe the job's tasks in sufficient detail to ensure understanding, even if the format encourages brevity;
• focus on honesty and transparency: a promise of excellent career prospects risks losing credibility if it is not backed up;
• indicate diplomas, certifications and any proof of skills required for the position: this will save you time later on.

Finally, the advertisement must include a description of the corporate culture into which the candidate must fit. You need to define this clearly beforehand, as well as its limits, i.e. the extent to which deviations from it will be tolerated.

Tip 4: Distribute the job ad across all relevant channels

Once the advertisement is ready, the search for candidates begins. The most classic scenario is to publish the advert on the employer's website, in the "Jobs" or "Join us" section. Other types of platform will give you wider visibility, such as :

• general or specialized job boards,
• university or school alumni networks,
• recruitment agency portals,
• LinkedIn, etc.
• More original recruitment techniques!

In many cases, communicating about your recruitments will increase your pool of candidates, so don't hold back!

And if you're looking to create a career site to persuade talented people to join your company, softgarden offers quick and easy-to-use templates, with landings pages that are well referenced on Google for easy visibility!

This can be a time-consuming operation, especially if you're targeting multiple channels to give your ad the best possible impact. Why not opt for an automated solution? Human resources software specialized in recruitment and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) has been designed to make you more efficient while keeping costs down.

Like Softy, some of these tools offer a highly advantageous feature: the multi-distribution of job offers. With just one click, your ads are published on all the relevant job boards, as well as on your site's career page.

Tip 5: Involve employees in the selection process

In the course of your search, you will probably have to use selection tools such as aptitude tests to judge a candidate's qualifications for a position, within a defined technical context. As the recruiter is not always the most appropriate person to assess the quality of the test results himself, co-optation recruitment is a solution that allows colleagues to contribute: they will be the correctors, the proofreaders, the validators, etc.

It may be a good idea to ask the candidate's future colleagues for their opinions.

During the selection process, you can hire your employees directly using a recruitment management tool that enables all those involved in the hiring process to share feedback on each candidate.

Taleez, for example, features a collaborative messaging system designed for the simultaneous sharing of feedback, as well as a candidate rating system.

In the same way, Nicoka ATS provides shared access to a range of candidate information: grades, interview reports, assessment results, CVs and more.

Both offer human resources and recruitment managers the opportunity to draw on employees' skills and knowledge when recruiting future colleagues. Thanks to this collaborative approach, you'll be in a better position to make the best possible decision.

Tip 6: Prepare for the job interview

While naturalness and spontaneity have their place in this context, conducting a job interview is not something you can improvise. If you're well-prepared, you'll be more confident and better able to put your case.

There are a few steps to follow in preparing for your interview:

• start by setting out the objectives you wish to achieve during this exchange, and sketch out a framework for your interview;
• write down the questions you want to ask and the answers you want to get;
• build an interview grid, which you can use to record and compare the strengths, areas for improvement, skills and potential of your candidates after the interview;
• be prepared to answer any questions that may arise during the face-to-face meeting;
• find a neutral, quiet place to receive the candidate, as it could be destabilizing for them to have their presentation interrupted.

Keep in mind that you'll need to maintain an open attitude, while taking notes and staying in control of the interview.

Tip 7: Encourage interpersonal skills

Knowing how to recruit also means planning for the successful integration of the new employee into your team. As a recruiter, you can even envisage that you will work with or for this person, or that he or she will one day become your manager.

One of the essential criteria for recruitment is to assess the individual's ease of integration into a team.

In addition to technical skills and other business knowledge, your future employee's added value lies in his or her so-called "soft skills ", which apply regardless of profile or hierarchical level (manager, employee, director, supervisor, etc.). These soft skills are the equivalent of a varnish on a raw material: the person stands out from the crowd, distinguishes himself/herself by his/her interpersonal qualities and is more inclined to exceed performance expectations, thanks to his/her commitment and proactivity.

Soft skills are increasingly valued in the workplace, and are sometimes even favored over purely technical skills. To ensure that your future recruit matches your company's culture, it is advisable to agree with your colleagues on the qualities expected of the candidate. For example, he or she should possess :

• an entrepreneurial spirit?
• a taste for creativity?
• a talent for interpersonal relations?
• a strong desire to innovate?

Depending on the country and culture, companies place varying degrees of emphasis on an individual's work-related behavior, their relationship with colleagues, or even their interpersonal qualities, as this Joblift infographic shows:

It's up to you to choose one or more decisive assets to help you make the right decision at the end of your interviews.

Tip 8: Make a decision

Think you've found the right candidate? Now's the time to send positive feedback to the selected candidate and make an offer. We advise you to formulate it orally first, to gain extra time for checking references, and for any final arrangements you wish to make.

Once these adjustments have been made, you can move on to negotiating a more concrete offer. The recruitment process comes to an end when the final hiring decision, if accepted, concludes with the signing of the employment contract.

However, even after this apparent happy ending, the success of the recruitment process cannot be assessed simply on the basis of the conclusion of a contract. It must be assessed over the longer term, taking into account the adaptation of the person recruited to his or her environment and his or her ability to develop professionally and personally.

See all software Recruiting

Final tips

In the final analysis, there is no single best tactic for recruiting, as each method is adapted to a given professional environment.

Even so, the basic tips we've reviewed provide a solid foundation for optimizing your processes and achieving near-perfect recruitment.

As a general rule, we advise you to adopt an open attitude:

• Empathize: trying to understand a candidate's past experience and personality requires empathy and a great deal of humility. Try to avoid prejudices and other preconceived ideas: If you have any doubts, don't hesitate to discuss them with your colleagues and even with the person concerned, by asking them the right questions.
• Put the person at ease: don't try to establish a hierarchy or balance of power: a relationship of equals fosters a climate of trust and encourages the candidate to be transparent when talking about his or her skills, experience and values.
• Remain open to other types of profile : even if they don't seem to "fit in" with the company's culture at first glance, these atypical profiles may be the bearers of a new way of looking at things. After all, a company's strength also lies in the diversity of its employees. This diversity is at once a source of development, innovation and positive evolution within an organization.

What about you? How do you go about recruiting? Do you have any special methods or infallible recipes for successful hiring?