There’s not a one-size fits all model for recruitment. How you source and attract applicants to your job vacancies will depend on various factors including your industry, role type, network, vacancy volume, in-house resources, and budget.

Recruitment is time intensive and it's easy to make expensive mistakes. In the current market of candidate shortage, the recruitment process is even harder.

The good news is that whether you are recruiting in person, recruiting from a distance, or recruiting for remote workers the key to success is the same: begin with a solid plan.

Why?

This may seem obvious but consider carefully why you need to add headcount to your business, this will be incredibly helpful when it comes to writing the job description.

Is it a permanent need? Is the requirement a result of an upturn in business or to support an overwhelmed team? Is it a new role, the result of a reorganisation or because you are ready to delegate some of your workload?

Across our team we’re working with employers that hire for the position they think they need, only to discover that, in practice, the job isn’t what they thought it was and people are redeployed, end up doing a job that’s not exactly what they thought they were applying for, or unfortunately it doesn’t work out at all.

What?

What work do you need to get done? What is the actual job content?

Be specific and honest when writing your job description as this is the information that jobseekers will use to decide whether they should apply for the role. It is also what you'll refer to throughout the selection process.

You'll never hire the right person if you can't accurately describe the job. Remember that it is not just about recruiting the best person for the role, but also retaining them in your business for the future.

If their expectations are based on an unrealistic job description it's never going to work out well and you'll be back recruiting for the position before you know it.

Save yourself dozens of questions about salary, benefits and company culture by including this information in the job description and be very clear about the hours of work, flexible working pattern and time required in the office.

If you are looking for guidance on offering a role appropriate rate of pay take a moment to download our salary guide.

Who?

Think about what success looks like in your organisation and the type of person your business needs.

Make it clear who should apply based on the traits, skills and experience you are looking for.

Are you looking for skills to complement your current team for a specific project? Perhaps you need someone who is great at sharing their knowledge because you are adopting a new process or technology and, in addition to "getting the job done", you need someone with an aptitude for team development.

Create a list of essential and preferred hard skills but don't forget that successful teamwork will require specific attributes, soft skills, emotional intelligence and communication too.

Where?

Advertise where your target candidates are. There's a myriad of online resources available to employers and job seekers, too many to mention them all but an overview includes:

  • Job boards
  • Job board aggregators
  • Freelance & temp labour sites
  • Graduate sites
  • Facebook Jobs
  • Linkedin
  • Google for Jobs
  • Social media
  • Recruitment agencies
  • Industry specific job sites
  • Press

How?

How you promote your organisation matters.

Watch out for unconscious bias when determining your requirements and if your organisation really is committed to inclusive hiring make sure to include this in your advertising.

Consider how you compare to what your competitors are offering and how appealing your business looks online – one of the first things a job seeker will do is "Google" you.

Make the process of applying for your jobs as simple as possible. Be clear on the deadline for applications and what applicants should expect from your hiring and interview processes. This visibility is the best way to manage expectations.

It’s important to realise that hiring is a two-way process. As an employer you’re looking for people who match your criteria, but candidates are doing exactly the same thing, weighing up how well an employer can meet their individual requirements.