Recruitment

Steps to getting it right

Recruiting the best person can be a complex journey. This guide is by no means a comprehensive route map but it should provide some useful pointers to avoid the most common pitfalls.

Know what you want

Getting the job description right is the foundation of the process. Wrongly defined, it will not attract the correct applicants. The focus should be on ‘what’ is to be delivered, not on ‘how’ the successful individual is expected to achieve their objectives. Concentrating on the ‘what’ will stimulate the interest of the most suitably talented and qualified applicants.

Know where to advertise

To make every pound of the advertising budget work, careful consideration should made in the choice of media. The most effective selection should promote the job opportunity to the widest range of talented and qualified prospective candidates.

Make the opportunity stand out

Use engaging, active and enthusiastic language throughout, especially in the advertisement’s main headline. Incorporate core institutional values in conjunction with the vacancy. Clarify fundamental details, including basic information about location, salary and hours.

Make it easy for people to apply

Not everyone is able to apply online. Not everyone is happy to leave messages on an answering machine. If a phone number is included, provide a text phone number too

Make the shortlisting process fair

Scoring should take place against set criteria and in the selection process it should be clear what criteria are being measured and at what stage. Understand what you are testing for at every stage of the process. Make sure every member of the panel knows what is being tested on the application form and what you will test at interview.

This way you will only test for the skills and experience you need. For example don’t make a presentation part of the process if the candidate won’t need to make presentations in the job.

In scoring, only shortlist those candidates who achieve acceptable values against all the required criteria. Highest overall scores should never be a measure for shortlisting.

Criteria should be fair and just. For example, favouring a candidate’s years of experience over fewer years can be ageist. Two years of good, relevant and varied experience can be worth much more than ten years of mediocre experience.

Be welcoming

An interview is not an interrogation, it should be handled as an opportunity to test your applicants fairly. So the tenor of the meeting should be relaxed, as applicants will achieve more in a stress-free and inclusive atmosphere. In this respect, give thought to the venue, the room set-up, general administration, interview technique and the test used.

Refer back to your job description. Applicants have applied for that job because they feel they have the appropriate skills – so the initial criteria should remain the absolute focus on the interview day.

Make a decision

Rely on evidence, not feelings or instinct. There is a potential trap in selecting an interviewee with whom you readily identify, even though they may not demonstrate all the evidence you require. Not only are you risking potential claims of discrimination from other candidates you risk losing the best person for the job.

Feedback

Feedback, in whatever form, should be offered to all candidates. It is important that every interviewee should feel they did their best. For those who are appointed, it means they will feel confident in taking up their new post. For those not appointed, they will have an appraisal of their performance as a guide to future improvement. Your aim should be that candidates want to improve their chances so that they are successful in securing a job with you next time.