There are very few things that impact your client’s growth as much as the hiring process.

That’s why agencies on average take about 36 days to shortlist the right candidates and fill a position.

Taking up so many days to hire for critical positions actually slows down the client’s progress and hampers their team’s productivity.

And if by any chance you get a bad hire, then that brings you back to square one while draining your time and resources.

This is why streamlining your hiring process & monitoring the application to make it better and less expensive is essential.

In this article, we’ll see 6 simple yet effective ways to make your hiring process successful.

Streamlining Your Agency’s Recruiting Process

1. Understand What You Want

Hiring is an important investment and going into it without understanding the requirements can do more harm than good. So, set out with a clear and specific job description.

Ideally, your description should have the specifics of the job profile and the required skills. Along with that, add suitable keywords to make your job advertisement appear in the relevant searches.

Involve the department heads right from the beginning to assist you with creating a suitable description. Ensure that you also focus on the personality traits that you want in the candidate.

To make the description unique and more informative, you can also add an honest company introduction. Mention the company culture and values it supports. It will help the candidates understand the opportunity better.

Read more: Writing the best job descriptions and 50+ ready-to-use job decsription templates.

Setting clear and specific job descriptions will attract the right set of candidates. Otherwise, you’ll end up spending a considerable amount of time screening the candidate pool.

Make sure that the description has realistic expectations and skills mentioned.

It can be tempting to add every skill to the description in the hope of finding a perfect fit. But remember, finding a good candidate is always better than still looking for the perfect one.

Key Takeaways:

  • Write a clear and precise job description with the help of department heads.
  • Ensure that the requirements are relevant and realistic.
  • Use necessary keywords in the description to make it easier to find.
  • Add an honest company introduction with values and mission in it.

Read more: 6 common mistakes to avoid while writing a job description.

2. Choose a Recruitment Software

Preparing job descriptions is just the start of the process which is followed by tasks like managing the candidate pool, screening the resumes, scheduling interviews, and so on, till you select the final candidate.

Manually maintaining the database and communicating with hundreds of candidates can be time-consuming and error-prone. And the cracks in your hiring process will show in the form of candidate abandonment rate.

Imagine how easier your job would be if all this repetitive hard work is automated. It’ll allow you to focus more on your training and retention strategy for long-term benefits.

A reliable Applicant Tracking System can be a lifesaver in such situations. Such software will help you build and organize your candidate pool so that for every vacant position, you have a readily available prospect database.

It can also provide you with a candidate pipeline and returns on efforts so that you make an informed decision based on data instead of assumptions.

You can try out Recruit CRM. It’ll help you manage your complete hiring process from start to finish without any hassle. You can save a considerable amount of time by automating resume parsing, contact import, follow-up tasks while maintaining the communication history in one place.

Key Takeaways:

  • Automate your repetitive tasks by implementing an ATS
  • Maintain an updated candidate database to reduce search time when a new position needs to be filled
  • Ensure that all the candidate communication is tracked in a single place for effective follow-ups

3. Smooth out Wrinkles in Your Screening Process

Planning an elaborate series of interview rounds doesn’t guarantee the best hiring. Instead, it loads you with additional tasks and exhausts the candidate.

To get more done in less time, plan the candidate selection process wisely. A well-devised selection process can help you fill the position quickly and reduce candidate drop-offs.

The first step in the selection process is resume screening. To save time here, you can automate this step with an ATS. Once you’ll have the shortlisted candidates, start with the phone screening.

Screening with a phone call is effective in understanding whether the candidate meets the basic requirements or not. You can use this opportunity to verify the information provided in the resume, brief them about the role, understand their salary expectations, and fill in any gaps you see.

Read more: How to conduct an effective phone call interview?

Next is where you need to pause and think about how you want to proceed ahead.

Create a timeline of upcoming interview rounds. Try to keep these at a maximum of three and plan the agenda so that you don’t miss out on anything. You can share the agenda with the candidates too. It’ll help them prepare and understand the expectations of the round.

To streamline your interview process plan and ensure nothing gets overlooked, utilize daily planner apps. This approach can save time, keep candidates engaged, and facilitate efficient hiring decisions.

Read more: How to prepare candidates for job interviews?

Avoid scheduling multiple one-on-one interview rounds as it can lead to redundant questions.

Schedule the first call with a management panel instead. It’ll help assess the candidate better and faster. Use tools like Taggg to schedule group meetings without the back and forth for timing.

The interviewers can prepare their questionnaire before coming to the meeting and take appropriate notes.

After a panel round, you can proceed with a one-on-one interview with the executives and a skills test.

Key Takeaways:

  • Don’t overwhelm yourself and the candidate with multiple rounds of interviews. Keep it a maximum of three with a combination of the panel, written, and one
    -to-one interviews
  • Use automation for pre-screening to save time
  • Set a clear agenda for each interview round and keep the candidate informed as well

4. Provide Constructive Feedback

It’s crucial to maintain a positive outlook and respect each candidate for the time they’ve given to the process.

Instead of ghosting or sending a canned response to the rejected candidates, reach out to them with constructive feedback. Inform them what didn’t work out and what can be done to improve their chances of selecting the next time.

Read more: Sample job rejection email templates recruiters can use.

It’ll not only create a positive impression but will also encourage the candidates to apply again in the future. This little change can also help you zero in on the qualities you want in your ideal candidates and make the hiring process easier in the future.

Meanwhile, stay in touch with the selected candidates to keep them informed about the next steps and timeline. Engaging with the candidates will help you retain the top talents.

You can create a candidate experience survey to keep improving your process.

Key Takeaways:

  • Provide feedback to the rejected candidates to give them visibility into your selection process
  • Stay in touch with the selected candidates to brief them about the process ahead

Read more: Provide an unforgettable remote candidate and client experience in just 6 steps!

5. Remove the Obstacles for Candidates

Often when we set out our hiring processes, we get too finicky about collecting as much data as possible from the candidate to make screening easier.

On the contrary, the more information you have, the more difficult it becomes to shortlist the candidates and make up your mind. It can also intimidate the candidates and prevent them from filling out a lengthy form just to apply.

While you’re on to streamlining your hiring process, make it easier for your candidates too to try for the position.

Think about the platform where the candidate is applying for the position, is it user-friendly and easily accessible? Whether the information you’re asking is necessary at this stage for basic screening?

Think about such questions and make the process smooth enough to attract suitable candidates. You can choose a couple of popular job portals apart from your website to share the advertisement.

Ask only relevant questions which might not be available in their resume.

Use tools that can schedule meetings, reminders, and interviews with the candidate easily. Since virtual interviews are also a main part of the hiring process, ensure that these meetings don’t turn into a struggle.

Here’s a quick read that’ll help you with some tips on running an effective meeting.

Key Takeaways:

  • Make the application process smooth with the necessary questionnaire needed at the initial stage
  • Use your recruitment website and a couple of popular job portals to attract more candidates
  • Utilize effective tools for organizing interviews and tests

Read more: Top 10 places where recruiters can get CVs for free.

6. Think Beyond the Position

While hiring a candidate, think about the value they’ll bring to the organization apart from the technical skills required for the job.

Weigh the candidate on their personality, and mindset as well so that you can get a team member who contributes to your client company’s growth.

You can get the background checks done to verify their past work experience. Psychometric tests are another popular method to understand a candidate better.

Key Takeaways:

  • Assess the candidates based on their skills and personality to avoid unsuitable hire
  • Think long-term and select the candidate who seems compatible with your work culture and receptive to feedback

In Final Words

Hiring isn’t a chore.

It’s the most important process that impacts the success of your client and its culture. Ensure that you’re adopting a streamlined process to hire the right talent quickly.

These ways will help you introduce agility and efficiency to your hiring process.

Hiring is not easy and needs constant efforts and changes as per the industry standards.

But as long as you invest in good technology, you’ll be able to help your client retain top talent.

Written by–

Trevor is a SaaS growth consultant and co-founder of Taggg which helps schedule group meetings effortlessly by connecting calendars and overlaying availability. He leads product development.