Finding a purple squirrel, part 2.

In the first installment  of this post,which can be read here, the top five things a company should know about recruiting were discussed. Today we will tell you the next five.

1.)    Be known as a great employer! If you want candidates to want to work for your company, you need to give them a reason to work for you. By creating a great work environment and company culture, you will establish your company as one that people want to work for. It is impossible to attract the highest quality candidates if no one wants to work for you.

2.)    Check references. This one should really go without saying, but many employers do not consistently check references. When you contact the references a candidate provides, you get to hear about the candidate from another perspective and learn more about them. The more you know about a candidate before you hire them, the better prepared you can be to meet their needs and create success for both parties.

3.)    Write GREAT job descriptions. The more information you can give about a job, the better-prepared candidates can be to tell you about experiences relevant to what you are looking for. If the job description is vague, you end up with applications from people who are not qualified and not at all what you are looking for. While poor applicants will never be fully eliminated, having specific job descriptions can help decrease the number you will have to go through. 

4.)    Quality > Quantity. In the last post, we told you to improve your candidate pool. That does not mean expand your pool. It is perfectly okay to only have a handful of candidates rather than an entire stack. You are looking to hire the best person for the job, so you need quality candidates instead of a large quantity. That being said, if you have a large number of qualified candidates, you should certainly look at them all.

5.)    Remember, they’re looking too. A lot of attention is focused on what you should look for in a candidate, but it is vital to remember that candidates are looking at the company as well. In the technological era we live in, access to information is at an all time high. Your company needs to make sure that potential candidates can find good, reliable information on the business.

Connor|Caitlin would be thrilled to help you with your recruiting needs. Contact us with any questions or items you need assistance with.

www.connorcaitlin.com

Finding a Purple Squirrel; find a squirrel, then dye it purple!

Thanks to the reliance on technology and a plethora of great programs, recruiting has changed a lot. However, there are still many “rules” of recruiting that will probably never change. Today’s post is part one of a two-part blog on how you can be the best at recruiting.

1.)    The Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”) is a universally known term, but in recruiting, business, and probably life in general, the Platinum Rule created by Dr. Tony Alessandra needs to be employed. The Platinum Rule is “Treat others the way they want to be treated.” The Platinum Rule requires that you know what a person wants and you provide it for them. It takes other’s feelings and thoughts and puts them ahead of your own.

2.)    Know what you want, what you need, and what you cannot live without. Once you know all of that, prioritize it. If you need a purple squirrel, you are not going to find one. You will have to settle for a squirrel and dye it purple. This analogy means that you can find a candidate with the qualities you cannot live without, then you can teach the candidate about what you need and want.

3.)    Improve your candidate pool. If you are not looking at the best candidates, you certainly will not be able to hire them. You already know you want to hire the best candidate out there, so it is vital to do everything you can to get that candidate into your hiring pool.

4.)    Hire for strengths. No matter what the position is, there will nearly always be multiple duties. The important thing is to figure out with the most important duty of a position is and find a candidate with the strengths to fulfill that duty better than anyone else could.

5.)    Hire the sure thing. Sometimes there is a rush to fill a position, and when it is a very important role the rush is understandable. However, rushing to fill an empty post can lead to hiring the wrong person. This is a huge headache because not only will the job not be done the way you need or want it to, but you will end up right back where you started: the beginning of the hiring process.

Connor|Caitlin would be thrilled to help you with your recruiting needs. Contact us with any questions or items you need assistance with.

www.connorcaitlin.com