I still remember one day, over a year ago, how I left my snow boots under my desk and went to work from home. It was my first time working from home! At the time, it was predicted we’d be working from home for two weeks – three tops.
Pandemics make life and the ground under our feet feel unstable. What was already a nerve-wracking decision – changing jobs and upending our lives – had become an even more fraught process as those in the job market consider the wreckage of the past 12 months.
During these uncertain times, I’ve found some helpful questions for hiring managers working with recruiters. Answering this easy checklist will go a long way to help your recruiter find the right candidates you’re looking for and will help you to hire with confidence.
Here is a quick list of questions every hiring manager should consider when looking to fill a position:
- Articulate what it is you’re looking for in your next hire
- Why do you need this person?
- Why is your job opening an awesome opportunity?
One of the biggest areas of importance in hiring is the candidate experience. When hiring managers don’t know what they’re looking for it can quickly become apparent in the interviewing process and scare off a potential candidate. Uncertainty can also make partnering with a recruiting agency challenging since it can be hard to find candidates for a position we know little about.
Having full clarity about your role, and what you’re looking for in a candidate is especially important these days. Thanks to the pandemic, many candidates are feeling “happy to be employed.” Maybe it’s because they’ve seen so many people losing their jobs. That’s true even for professionals whose LinkedIn mailbox is brimming full of opportunities.
When a recruiter reaches out with a new opportunity, often they’re contacting someone who isn’t interested in leaving the safety of a job they’ve held throughout the economic shutdown. For those who are open to considering a change, your opening will most certainly not be the only one they’re looking at.
Often there will be many employers eager to hire your ideal candidate. So now is not the time for uncertainty. The key in a candidate driven market is to move quickly. If you wait to interview, or have too many steps, or insist on a lengthy comparison of candidates, it could cost you.
From experience, I can tell you that there are excellent candidates who will make a move for the right opportunity. But they need to know what the job looks like. They need to know why it’s a great opportunity. They need to be sold on it throughout the process. And when you’re sure they are the candidate for you, the process needs to end with a strong offer.
Working with a recruiter you trust can absolutely make this process a better experience for everyone involved, though all of these steps will stand true.
If you’re looking for a recruiter to help you source and recruit the best candidates for your business, contact Versique today!
