The

ideal
Recruitment
Workflow

Find the best candidates

and save time
The 'Ideal' Recruitment Workflow:
Find the best candidates – and save time
Today, small and medium-sized companies are having to cope with ever higher levels of staff turnover. This not only
results in higher costs for the employer, but also in lower staff morale within teams. Above all, it means a lot of extra work
and increased pressure on HR departments. In this situation it is not only necessary to provide a replacement as soon
as possible, but also to ensure that, this time, the new employee remains loyal to the company for as long as possible.
The majority of employers underestimate the effect of the 'candidate experience', i.e. what candidates experience during
the application process. In this eBook we'll show you what constitutes a good recruitment process – and how intelligent
software can help you achieve this. Why? Because if future candidates are to recognise you as an attractive employer, and
if you are to fill your vacancies successfully as a result, all elements in the recruitment workflow need to be fully integrated
with one another.

1
The product: For many recruiters, the search for a candidate begins with the job advert, but
evaluate your successful recruitment is more than just this. By looking at the job market you
can develop an understanding of where you, as an employer, stand in relation to
employer brand
the competition, what other companies offer and what the jobs they have offer
to potential candidates. For example, you can determine the average salary,
or the market conditions, for a particular vacancy. See how your competitors
position themselves in the market, what benefits they offer and how your job
ad stacks up.

More on this topic:

 How authentic should an employer brand be?
 Smart ways to optimise your recruitment process
 HR Glossary: Employer Brand

2
Wanted: In searching for the right candidate, it is no longer just important that they do
the ideal a good job, nowadays they must also fit in with your company culture and be
an asset to your organisation. This is the only way to ensure that both parties -
candidate employee and company - are happy in the long run. As a rule, when there is a new
vacancy, the first thing you do is produce is a detailed job description and check
list of the ideal candidate. If you are using an ATS (applicant tracking system), you
create the vacancy directly in the system and trigger the approval process.

A practical tip: Ask your colleagues or customers to name an employee who

embodies your company's culture best. Think about why this person's character
is particularly suitable for your organisation, identify important personality and
behavioural traits that the perfect candidate for your vacancy must also have,
and include this in your description of the ideal candidate.
But what if you are unable to find someone exemplary in your own company?
Then take a look at employees working for your competitors and analyse the
profiles of key players in the industry or in a similar role.
3
Teamwork: As a recruiter you may not always have the big picture in respect of a candidate's
professional skills. Applicants notice this too: around 43% of skilled workers
agreeing things
complain that job adverts often don't correspond to the actual position.
with the relevant Therefore, ask colleagues and managers for help when finalising the job
departments description. If it involves replacing someone, if appropriate, also make sure that
the current incumbent has an opportunity to add things or amend it.

More on this topic:

 5 golden rules to reduce time to hire
 3 tips for better collaboration in recruitment

4
Active Sourcing: Before publishing details of a vacancy, you should first search your company
headhunting talent pool or external sources (e.g. social media networks) for suitable
candidates. This may mean that you are able to fill the vacancy quicker than
instead of waiting through a standard job advertisement - and save money at the same time. But
what if you don't have time for active sourcing? In this scenario, you can use the
services of an agency that will assume responsibility for the search.

More on this topic:

 HR Glossary: Boolean Search
 HR Glossary: Social Recruiting

CV search: make recruitment smarter, not harder.

Good technology can make active sourcing easier:
with professional search solutions you have access
to valuable CV databases that include new profiles
on a daily basis. Using filters you can then make quick
searches for relevant information in numerous CVs –
for an optimal selection process.

55+45+K
70%
70% of permanent employees are open
to a new challenge or are actively
looking for a new job.
5
Two pairs of eyes Forward suitable profiles from your database to colleagues in the relevant
department, and ask for feedback. This will help you minimise the risk of making
are better than
the wrong recruitment decision, for example, by inviting candidates to interview
one: talk to the who only meet 60% of the requirements.
department

If you are using an ATS, you can easily forward CVs

by email to the department concerned with just a
simple mouse click. Feedback from colleagues is also
automatically made through the system.

6
Your business As an alternative to indirect "active sourcing", you can also choose the direct
card: producing approach to finding suitable candidates, by posting a job ad. As a rule, recruiters
are happy to make direct use of the job description and ideal-candidate profile
the job advert developed when creating the vacancy. But you should take care to distinguish
between requirements that are 'must haves' and those which are 'nice to haves',
and make this clear in the job ad. This way you can ensure that you receive
applications that best fit the job, without discouraging candidates who do not
meet the nice-to-have criteria.

More on this topic:

 How to Write a Winning Job Advertisement
 e-Book: The perfect job advertisement

7
Correction loop: Just like the job description and creation of the vacancy, the ad also needs to
clearance by the be agreed with the relevant department. This is particularly important if you
are publishing the name of a contact person form the department, as they will
department receive calls from prospective candidates once the job ad has been published.
concerned

53+47+K
53%
53% of applicants would like to receive a
personal email confirming receipt of their
application.
8
Advertise Once your job ad has been finalised, you will probably want to develop a
distribution strategy. Why? Because it's not only the content of the job ad that
yourself: posting
will determine the success of your recruiting, but also a question of where it will
your job advert generate the best response. At this stage, bear in mind which target audience
you want to reach with your job posting. You may need to make small changes
to the wording depending on the specific platform.

Show what you have: your career website

You will probably want to post your vacancies on your
own company career website, where you can present
the job in your own corporate design. However, make
sure that your career site is optimised for mobile
devices, so that your job posting is easily available to
interested candidates at all times – ideally it needs to
have a 'responsive design'.

More on this topic:

 How mobile recruitment strengthens your employer brand
 HR Glossary: Job Distribution
 How to get the most out of your advertising budget

Optimum visibility: tailor-made coverage for your

job posting
No doubt you wish to reach as many candidates as
possible. That's why one job platform is generally
not sufficient. However, do you know how to make
the best use of your advertising budget? In this
scenario, you can benefit from using a professional
distribution solution that not only supports you
to quickly and efficiently post your job ads on
numerous international job platforms, but also offers
comprehensive tracking.

9
Minimum effort – Today's applicants expect significantly more than employers often think. For
maximum effect: candidates, an automatic message confirming receipt of their applications is
essential. As a recruiter, you should think about the far-reaching effects that
acknowledging the candidate experience can have on your organisation as a whole. According
the application to the latest Candidate Behaviour Survey from CareerBuilder, 53% of applicants
said they would probably stop buying things from a company where they applied
for a job and failed to receive a reply.
10
Screening: As soon as the first applications arrive, you will no doubt start viewing, evaluating
and making comments or notes about applicant profiles. Ideally, you should
Viewing,
have already produced an ABC ranking at this stage – in close cooperation with
ranking and the department concerned:
comments A: Top candidates; definitely invite for interview
B: Promising candidates; send status notification (update) and, if appropriate,
invite for interview at a later stage
C: Unsuitable candidates (with regard to the position); reject and include in your
company talent pool.

More on this topic:

 6 benefits you can expect from an efficient ATS

Automatic reading of CVs

A high performance ATS can help you sift through
applications. Incoming CVs are automatically
imported into standard profiles and any duplicates
merged with one another. This not only makes
things easier, it also significantly shortens the
application process and improves the candidate
experience.

11
Almost Traditional methods of selection are still the most popular among recruiters:

there: 95% use structured interviews and 68% conduct telephone interviews. A further
37% like to rely on work samples or case studies, and 30% use on assessment
Interviews centre techniques. So-called "killer-questions" are used by 10% of recruiters to
test a candidate's ability upfront.*
Recorded video interviews can also be a good alternative. As a recruiter, you
have the opportunity to view the recording as often as you wish. This can help
you make an even better informed decision.
*Source: www.wuv.de

All appointments at a glance

Useful: a high-performance ATS can not only show
you all upcoming appointments on the homepage, but
can also be easily linked to a digital calendar such as
in Outlook. Subject to your approval, colleagues can
automatically add interview appointments to their own
calendars – saving valuable time and tiresome admin.
12
At the After all interviews have taken place, you should have a list of top candidates
and noted your personal favourites. Consult those responsible in the relevant
finish line:
department and ask for a final decision.
the decision

38+62+K
38%
38% of candidates complained that they
did not know the current status of their
application.

13
Closure: Once a successful candidate has been chosen, you should send a formal job
offer as soon as possible, because highly qualified and sought-after professionals
producing a often receive more than one job offer – and may therefore quickly disappear
job offer and from the job market.
sending the Moreover, send a short status update about the interview to your B candidates,
contract because the same rule applies here - a bad candidate experience may result in
an applicant suddenly choosing a competitor, rather than waiting for your reply.
Offer C candidates, which you have to reject on this occasion, the opportunity
to be included in your talent pool, and also subscribing to your company news.
Once the A candidate has signed a job contract, you will naturally need to send
rejections to all remaining B candidates in the same way.

Investing in the future: the talent pool

An applicant that you reject today could be the
perfect candidate for a future vacancy: add CVs and
contact details for interesting applicants to your ATS.
Making notes against candidates will make them
easier to find. It also allows you to contact suitable
candidates again at a later date, for example as part of
a targeted remarketing campaign for a new vacancy.

More on this topic:

 How to turn your talent pool into a useful HR instrument
 How to minimise the risk of making a bad hiring decision
 HR Glossary: Talent Pipeline

32+68+K
 2% of candidates said they would like to
3
32% receive email updates about the status of
their application.
14
Look forward The experience that a candidate has with you as an employer after
signing the contract also has a big impact on whether the new employee
to a successful
remains loyal and motivated – and, ultimately, whether they really drive
relationship: your organisation forward. Manage the new employee's first impression
Employment & through well-prepared onboarding measures, an official contact person for
onboarding the first few weeks and a detailed induction plan. Your new employee will
not only thank you for this, but also hopefully even recommend you to
friends and acquaintances.

More on this topic:

 HR Glossary: Onboarding
 HR technology for busy professionals (and cost optimisers)
 5 Ways to make your onboarding experience… amazing!

47+53+K47%
47% of candidates would like to hear from the
employer when they have not been short-listed
for interview.

Source statistics: Candidate Behaviour Study 2015, CareerBuilder.

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strategy. It can help you tick all of the above consideration on your checklist,
and you’ll wonder how you ever spent a single day without it.

+44 (0)20 7855 0678 | [email protected] | hiring.careerbuilder.co.uk