Recruiting a new employee is a big decision for any business.

Get it right and you add someone who brings the right skills, experience and attitude to your team. Get it wrong and you could find yourself dealing with performance issues, additional recruitment costs and starting the whole process again!

A successful recruitment process starts long before the interview.

Start With The Role

Before you advertise, make sure you’re clear about the role you’re actually recruiting for.

Review your job description and make sure it accurately reflects the responsibilities of the position. If you’re using an existing job description, don’t automatically assume it’s still relevant.

Roles change, businesses evolve and that job description you wrote two years ago might need a refresh!

Be Clear

Once the role is defined, think carefully about the skills, experience and qualifications someone genuinely needs to do the job.

Your selection criteria should be relevant to the position and applied consistently to everyone who applies.

Separating essential criteria from those that are simply desirable can also help you avoid unnecessarily limiting your pool of candidates.

Advertise Fairly

Think about where you’re advertising your vacancy as well as what the advert says.

Using appropriate channels can help you reach a wider range of suitable candidates, while the language you use should accurately reflect the criteria you’ve already established.

Remember, your recruitment process is often someone’s first experience of your organisation, so make it a good one!

Keep Shortlisting Consistent

When the applications start arriving, assess candidates against the criteria you’ve already agreed rather than relying on gut instinct.

Using a shortlisting and scoring process helps ensure every applicant is considered and gives you a clear record of how decisions were made.

Get The Interview Right

Prepare your interview questions in advance and make sure they’re relevant to the role.

Candidates should be given an opportunity to demonstrate their skills and experience, with the same core questions and scoring process used.

Remember to consider whether any reasonable adjustments may be needed to ensure candidates can participate fully in the recruitment process.

Keep Good Records

Keep clear records throughout the process, including your shortlisting decisions, interview notes and scoring.

Good documentation helps you keep the process organised and provides a clear record of how recruitment decisions were reached.

Know When To Ask For Support

Recruitment can be time-consuming, particularly when you’re trying to manage it alongside running a business.

Consult HR can support you with as much or as little of the recruitment process as you need, from preparing job descriptions, adverts and shortlisting criteria to interview questions, scoring, checks and offer letters.

If you would like some support along the way, get in touch with Consult HR.