R ES OUR C E
Improving Your
Recruitment Experience
Introduction
Newspaper
Job Ads
Social Media Recruitment
Importance of your recruitment
Recruitment takes many different forms – online
recruitment companies, agencies, job boards,
careers sites and more. But recruitment is often
neglected, no matter who’s conducting it, as some
HR professionals prefer to focus on those already
within the company.
Another point to keep in mind is that
unemployment can be very stressful, and it could
be said that recruiters have something of a duty
of care for candidates – and that means making
the recruitment experience as hassle-free and
streamlined as possible.
People matter whether they’ve been recruited
for your workplace yet or not, so the same care
and consideration needs to be given over to the
recruitment experience as for any other aspect of
human resources.
There’s no single, catch-all solution to improving
the recruitment experience. Your multi-faceted
solution will encompass software, service,
communication, budgeting, staffing, policies and
more. What’s more, it will depend heavily on your
current practices – no-one can tell you exactly what
needs to be done without a clear idea of what may
be going on now.
A negative encounter when being recruited can
turn candidates off even the most respected
companies. Word of mouth is a powerful force.
And a candidate who is turned off by a company’s
recruitment processes may decide they don’t want
to work with you any more – which may end up
being a bigger loss to you than to the candidate.
Nevertheless, here’s your definitive guide to
crafting a seamless, stress-free recruitment
strategy which benefits HR staff, candidates and
the company as a whole.
Technology
Utilise recruitment technology
Recruitment is at its fastest and most convenient
when it’s on the net. Therefore, web-based
recruitment software will help smooth out some
of the bumps that candidates and recruiters find
along the way in the recruitment process.
What does recruitment currently look like in your
company or organisation? If it involves stacks of
CVs collected in person, through the post, by email
and via your careers website, there’s a chance your
HR team finds themselves overwhelmed in a mass
of applications and CVs.
for hiring in your organisation will be able to
analyse and score candidates easily.
What’s more, web-based software can be accessed
from anywhere at any time, allowing for work to
get done outside of the office.
Compared to paper-based organisation, such
systems have the advantage of scaling well,
and of providing for management of employee
permissions and coordination between offices in
different geographical locations.
With recruitment handled through a SaaS
(Software as a Service) package, those responsible
Easy to Use
The Octo system is easy to
understand and quick to learn so
you can start hiring straight away!
Save Time
Octo has been developed alongside
HR professionals to save time and
simplify the recruitment process.
Tips
The provision of software solutions create more time for HR staff, allowing them to better serve clients and
candidates, and to reduce the amount of administration necessary.
Candidates
The candidate experience
A top recruitment system serves candidates as
well as staff. Many recruiters and in-house human
resources teams tend not to place great focus
on the candidate – the candidate is, after all, not
paying their salary, and in most cases there will not
be an ongoing business relationship. Nevertheless,
as previously mentioned, a mistreated candidate
can count against the hiring organisation, and a
successful hire who found the process stressful
can be disappointed with the company’s level of
service before even starting work!
For job applicants, a better experience means
accessibility, transparency and speed. Online
recruitment tools are fantastic on all three fronts as
all applications are in one place and can be viewed
and updated from anywhere. An easy to use and
navigate application portal is an essential part of
this.
Similarly, an application site that carries the
branding of the employer rather than of the
software supplier can appear more professional
and adds to the impression of a seamless
experience. In some ways, the complete process
depends on a number of small gestures.
Customise
Get fully branded with Octo First Class: enabling our clients
to build a successful recruitment brand and increase brand
awareness throughout the recruitment process.
Tips
Try to see your recruitment system from the point of view of a candidate. The better you understand
applications from the point of view of a candidate, the more successful you will be.
Service
Mobile activity:
We have seen up to 20% of hits on our
website originate from mobile devices,
recruiters need to embrace these platforms.
Transparency in communications
Transparency in communication is essential to a
positive recruitment experience. The application
procedure is of course not over as soon as a form
is submitted; while accessibility and flexibility in a
form is important, it’s easy to forget that applicants
may have to wait for months before hearing that
the position has been filled. (The latest figures
show that it is taking companies an average of 25
days to fill open positions, and in many cases this
period is much longer).
Each candidates will have other applications in the
pipeline, to be sure, but if a role is worth having
then the progress of the application will never be
far from their mind. Jobseekers are busy people,
despite obviously not being in employment; a
motivated and serious candidate will spend time
following up on outstanding applications and so
this process must be made as easy as possible.
It’s therefore important that information is always
available, preferably online, and that if they choose
to pick up the phone, a friendly and knowledgeable
voice is on the other end of the line. Candidates
should be contacted promptly even if they’re
rejected.
With an increasingly mobile audience, any
recruiting body, be it an agency, recruitment
company or employer, should make serious effort
to cater for users of the medium. Social media is
also a vital tool to capitalise on, as brands of all
kinds are expected to maintain a presence on at
least two or three. For an industry that relies on
outreach and networking, a failure to properly
utilise Facebook, Twitter and/or LinkedIn is a grave
error.
Your recruitment processes need to be effective
as possible, communication with candidates is key
and aim to get your TTH (time to hire) as low as
possible.
Accoun
tant
Blue Oc
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Tips
The average job search takes a few months but can take a year or more, even when looking for work is
treated as a full-time occupation. Don’t miss out on this talent within this time period.
Staffing
The right people
A team is only as good as its staff, and so those
responsible for recruitment in your organisation
need to be the best you can find. Crucially, the
people there should want to be there – it sounds
obvious but some in recruitment are all too
reluctant to innovate or go the extra mile in their
work.
When recruiting recruiters, look for those with
passion for what they do, and experience and
proven skill in the specific area of recruiting
(as opposed to other HR functions).
Tips
Word of mouth referral is a great way to recruit so make your new staff brand ambassadors through an
outstanding onboarding process.
Policies
Questions
Caring recruiters are enthusiastic and unafraid of change, but behind the scenes
recruitment processes are still driven by policy. Any organisation that hires staff,
whether within an organisation or with an external recruitment company, keeps to its
values and to guidelines that ensure they treat everyone equally and fairly.
An unfair recruitment experience isn’t a good one, even if the candidate is actually
satisfied with the level of service they got from the recruiter. Any leading questions,
discriminatory policies, lack of organisation, missed deadlines, misdirected
communications or forgotten tasks are all unacceptable when it comes to trying to find
the right person for the job.
In particular, recruiters need to toe the line when it comes to anti-discrimination laws,
and they should ensure that there is a clear plan in place for every step of the hiring
process. This way, every position will be filled quickly and with the best candidate,
while candidates are kept fully informed and have their applications considered fairly.
Templates for things such as interview questions and advertisements also ensure
fairness and uniformity – though candidate feedback should be tailored and honest. A
generic review of an application that reached interview stage, along the lines of “you
lacked direct experience,” is not as helpful as it could be.
As mentioned, the policies will ideally reflect company values: honesty, integrity and
compassion being good examples.
Caring recruiters are enthusiastic and unafraid of change, but behind the scenes
Do it by the book
Caring recruiters are enthusiastic and unafraid
of change, but behind the scenes recruitment
processes are still driven by policy. Any
organisation that hires staff, whether within an
organisation or with an external recruitment
company, keeps to its values and to guidelines that
ensure they treat everyone equally and fairly.
An unfair recruitment experience isn’t a good one,
even if the candidate is actually satisfied with the
level of service they got from the recruiter. Any
leading questions, discriminatory policies, lack
of organisation, missed deadlines, misdirected
communications or forgotten tasks are all
unacceptable when it comes to trying to find the
right person for the job.
In particular, recruiters need to toe the line when it
comes to anti-discrimination laws, and they should
ensure that there is a clear plan in place for every
step of the hiring process. This way, every position
will be filled quickly and with the best candidate,
while candidates are kept fully informed and have
their applications considered fairly.
Templates for things such as interview questions
and advertisements also ensure fairness and
uniformity – though candidate feedback should
be tailored and honest. A generic review of an
application that reached interview stage, along the
lines of “you lacked direct experience,” is not as
helpful as it could be.
The policies will ideally reflect company values:
honesty, integrity and compassion being good
examples.
Our Solution
Recruitment made easy with
Providing an outstanding recruitment experience
is not a matter of putting in a one-off fix. Rather,
it is a level of service that needs to be upheld and
continually improved over time. To make it happen,
you need a professional team that cares about
keeping up standards.
With our expert team and always-updated Octo
candidate management platform, we give each
of our clients virtually everything they need for a
streamlined, effective hiring process, every time.
Streamline
Full Control
Save time and simplify
your hiring process.
Take control of all your
vacancies and candidates.
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No-nonsense recruitment technology from Yorkshire
Blue Octopus has created something brilliant out of years of experience in recruitment. Octo enables
companies to have total control of their vacancies, leading to better hires and a more streamlined
recruitment experience whilst saving time and money. Octo also offers a range of advanced features such
as the ability to build a talent pool, notify candidates by SMS and generate advanced recruitment reports.
Sound good?
If you would like to find out more about our recruitment technology please contact us on 01943 461 327
or alternatively you can email us on [email protected] and request an Octo demo.