You spend a lot of time reviewing candidates but you never interview anyone
Reviewing candidates from applications is time consuming and you might find yourself looking at many CVs but none of them fit your role requirements.
If you find yourself in this scenario you should start with looking at your job descriptions. Having unclear job descriptions may lead to candidates applying for roles they don’t fit into. This can lead to numerous irrelevant CVs and admittedly, you can’t stop those. But you need to make sure at least SOME of these are appropriate and fit your requirements. Review your brief and assess what could be wrong. Salary? Location? Responsibilities? Compare to other similar roles that are out there and change the details where necessary.
Your team is not as diverse as it should be
This happens quite often, particularly if you tend to hire through your own network. Why? Because we (unintentionally) surround ourselves with people that are similar to us and that are a mirror image of the person who may have been in that role previously. Remember your unconscious bias and think creatively about how you can widen your reach. There are a number of tools available to boost diversity in your search and ensure your message is delivered to as wide a network as possible. Maybe it’s time to change your role specification and rethink what’s needed. Are you being realistic in what you are looking for?
DSA uses specialist tools to boost diversity in recruitment search. Contact us to find out more: info@dsaexecutive.com
You have a lot of candidates dropping out of your interview process
Having someone drop out of your process after you have invested a lot of time speaking to them and you were going to offer them the job is very frustrating. While this can be influenced by many factors, some unavoidable, there is one main reason why people withdraw from interviews.
The interview process is too long. Whilst you need to be thorough, remember there is still a skills shortage and quite likely, your star candidate is attending other interviews and will not wait another 2 weeks for the next interview. If another job offer comes along and it’s the right one, why will they wait around? Keep them engaged at all times and DO NOT speak to them as if you are doing them a favour by interviewing them! That is a big turn off for great candidates. Use the interview process as a key part of engagement and make sure you stay connected and provide feedback at all stages of the process.
Your roles are still vacant after 2 months or more
Whilst time to hire for senior and executive roles is generally a lot longer, the average hiring cycle is 4-6 weeks. If you are not receiving enough applications or have not offered your role by this time, then you should review your process and your role description. There is a lot of competition and you are seeking to fill a role that is similar to those in other companies, what can you do to make it stand out? Or, as mentioned previously, maybe it’s just wrong! You can usually tell if you get way too many applicants or hardly any at all. Again, look at all aspects of it: salary, location, benefits, duties, title! Don’t expect to fill the role handed by “X” with another photo fit “X”. Jobs, people, expectations – all change frequently.
The candidates you are interviewing are under or over qualified
Don’t fall into the trap of taking an over qualified person for your role and think you will get “value for money”. Chances are, it’s a stop gap and they will leave at the first opportunity. It is more sensible to take on an under qualified person if you feel they have the aptitude, ambition and commitment to learn. Of course, you need to weigh that up against what is required and training time available. Salary may also be adjusted to compensate for this. Be flexible on what you REALLY need. Do they actually need a degree? Or do they need a professional qualification such as ACA which might be non-negotiable. You can filter successfully but qualify but don’t miss great candidates if you can be flexible.
Overall, take time to review how you are recruiting and look back at previous hires. What worked? What didn’t?
If you need help in redesigning your strategy and moving from good hires to great ones, contact us today:
info@dsaexecutive.com
01675 464060