For any company looking to build a high-performing and competent team, excellent recruitment follow-up is essential.
In fact, recruitment follow-up refers to all the steps, actions and methods implemented by a company in order to effectively manage the selection and integration process of new employees.
When sufficiently optimized, this process allows, among other things, to select the best talent, reduce recruitment costs, and save time. This article presents 7 tips for recruiters to implement in order to ensure effective recruitment follow-up.
Determine qualification needs for the position
Before starting the recruitment follow-up process, an essential step is to precisely define the needs of your company.
In the search for the ideal candidate, it is essential to establish an exhaustive list of the prerequisites you are looking for and that must correspond to the specific missions of the position to be filled. To properly establish this list, start with a selection of the essential criteria for the desired profile.
These criteria should, as a first step, include technical skills, i.e. experience and expertise. In a second step, they must include behavioural skills such as teamwork, adaptability, interpersonal skills and others.
Once this list of essential criteria has been established, it is wise to integrate other criteria, which are not mandatory, but potentially beneficial for the evolution of the position or company.
A final step is to organize these criteria in order of importance, creating a ranking from the most crucial to the least essential.
Write a clear and precise job description
Once you’ve established a clear and accurate list of recruitment needs, you can move towards creating a comprehensive job description.
In the same way as your list of needs, the job offer must be clear, precise and reflect a realistic vision of the position to be filled. Basically, the job description should illustrate the objectives of the position as well as the missions and challenges that await the future employee.
A key element to consider is honesty in the ad. If the position has specific constraints, it is preferable to mention them directly.
A clear, accurate and honest job posting saves time during the first phase of candidate selection. On the other hand, a vague and undetailed posting will probably lead to inadequate applications and therefore a waste of time for recruitment follow-up.
Be creative and original
Distinguishing yourself from the competition by being original in your job postings and throughout the process is also an excellent maneuver to optimize recruitment management and follow-up.
A singular job posting, a creative video or even an innovative recruitment method are all sure ways to attract candidates’ attention.
The opportunity for creativity also extends to the chosen distribution channels. Indeed, the way in which the message is conveyed is just as crucial as the message itself.
In short, creativity and originality in the presentation of your job offers as well as in your recruitment follow-up, not only make you stand out, but also arouse real interest among potential candidates.
Provide a positive candidate experience
Optimizing the recruitment tracking process necessarily involves creating a pleasant experience for each candidate. However, this is one of the aspects where many companies still have progress to make.
Indeed, most applicants complain of a lack of transparency and application follow-up throughout the recruitment process. Recruiters often stop communicating with candidates and do not follow up on their applications or interviews.
This practice can take a toll on your company’s reputation as an employer and may deter potential candidates.
Indeed, the stakes of good HR communication are such that particular importance must be given to this dimension in order to offer a most positive experience to each candidate.
Attach applicants’ references
To understand a candidate’s personality and assess their ability to integrate into the company, planning a moment to get in touch with their references is crucial.
This may seem like a time-consuming task and seem superfluous at first glance. However, obtaining a first-hand testimonial from someone who has collaborated with the candidate can have a decisive impact when managing and following up on applications.
Indeed, it will allow you to obtain more information about the qualities and shortcomings of the candidate, and to discern those that are essential for their future taking up the position.
The integration of an employee in a company is not to be taken lightly, knowing as much as possible about the candidate can only be beneficial for the company.
Maintain a pool of candidates
Each applicant you have had a job interview with represents a person you have met.
Even though this initial interaction didn’t result in recruitment, it gave you a better understanding of the candidate, their background, skills, and career ambitions.
To make the most of this opportunity and avoid considering this step lost, it is wise to keep each candidate’s information for future needs.
If another similar position arises, you will already have a list of potential candidates to contact.
This will save you time, as you will have already completed a preliminary assessment of each candidate. It is, in fact, one of the best maneuvers to optimize recruitment follow-up.
Use dedicated software for better recruitment tracking
When it comes to optimizing the recruitment tracking process, dedicated recruitment software is the best tool to manage and monitor all your steps throughout the process. Such software accompanies recruiters at every stage of recruitment management.
These digital solutions simplify the follow-up of applications and improve the dissemination of your job offers. In addition, these tools automate your recruitment procedures by facilitating sourcing and sending automatic responses to candidates.
What to remember?
A company has everything to gain by optimizing its management and recruitment monitoring. When this process is well optimized, not only is it able to carry out effective and efficient recruitment campaigns, but its employer brand is also consolidated.
Indeed, when recruited candidates are delighted by the recruitment process, they are more willing to leave positive reviews about the company on a trusted platform of employee reviews. And these reviews help improve the company’s image with the public.
Thus, to achieve this result, the recruiter must:
- Start by establishing a clear, comprehensive list of the qualifications required for the position to be filled;
- Write a clear job description by ensuring that the job description is honest in order to avoid unsuitable applications;
- Being original and creative can make all the difference in giving yourself a better chance of attracting valuable talent;
- Offer a positive experience since the reputation of the recruiter depends heavily on it;
- Contact the references of the shortlisted candidates to learn more about them;
- Build and maintain a pool of candidates;
- Use dedicated software for better recruitment monitoring.
