10 Tips to Get your Ideal Candidate

We all know that most businesses are finding it hard to recruit, it’s estimated that the UK alone has lost one million workers, and with a smaller pool to find staff in, that’s driving up wage inflation.

Here are HR4HR’s Top 10 Tips to give you the best chance of hiring the staff you need:

1. Be clear in what you’re looking for, take time to ensure you have carefully thought through what’s actually needed.
2. Ensure you are showcasing the value you offer employees in the job advert and not just what you want. It’s not just about money.
3. Don’t be too prescriptive in what’s needed. Experience might be more valuable than qualifications, or someone might be able to be trained in the workplace.
4. Make the application process as simple and pain-free as possible, and fast. If you hang around, you’ll lose somebody good to a rival.
5. Ensure you communicate at all stages. Some employers do not acknowledge an application or let the applicant know if they haven’t been successful. That person might not be right for that role but in the future they could be perfect for another but the experience of applying and being ignored by you will put them off.
6. Is your advert encouraging applications from all backgrounds, cultures, ages, genders, etc. It’s well known that a diverse workforce is a better one, and if you don’t consider all potential applicants then you could be losing out on top talent.
7. Don’t reject ‘overqualified’ candidates and make assumptions about why they want the role. Many people in their 50s will look for a new challenge, or a role that is less challenging than their current one. Likewise with career gaps. There are many reasons why people might have stepped away from the workforce and these don’t mean they’re bad employees!
8. Pay attention to the CVs, prepare your interview questions in advance, and ensure that you’re not using unconscious bias.
9. Ensure the potential choice is the right fit for your organisation’s culture and your existing staff. You don’t want to employ someone out of desperation and discover they are disruptive and that prompts other staff to leave.
10. No one is perfect and some people struggle to showcase themselves in interviews. Remember you can use the probationary period to ensure that you are both a good fit for each other.

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