5 Hiring Tips: Are you still Speed dating with Resumes?
Contributed by Kristen McAlister
We all know what speed dating is. Prospective matches, who assumingly have never met before, all get in a room, put on a name tag and get a small amount of time to learn about each other and make an impression. Sound familiar? I was at dinner with a friend the other night who was hiring for a graphic designer. She was using a service and described the experience as “speed dating”. Each week she receives a stack of resumes to review and see if any of them “hit the spot.”
With a shrinking candidate pool, it is getting more difficult to find the person you need. There are still plenty of candidates who will apply or are in agency databases, but less of whom fit your specific criteria. You are either needing to broaden your criteria or sort through piles of resumes in hopes of finding that purple squirrel.
Here’s some hiring tips to avoid resume speed dating:
- Curate talent – Look for the talent before you need it
Always be on the look-out for talent that might be useful to your organization or seem to fit the company’s culture. Stay in contact with them. Make them as much of your marketing plan and social network as you do your customers. In the meantime, they are developing more skills and experience that can be of use to your organization. Start courting early and court often.
- Treat prospective employees like your customers
Build your prospective employee target list. Build a relationship with them. Even if they aren’t available or willing to move when you need them, they may know someone. Prospective employee referrals can be just as powerful as customer referrals. No one wants to refer the wrong person. These are usually high value candidates.
- Leverage your employees
Your employees can be a great judge and your best advocates. How many of your current openings are shared on your employee’s Facebook pages? Yes, this is contingent on being the type of company where your employees want to be part of promoting it. Though it may not be 100%, you are more likely to get an honest assessment of candidates being referred in by employees than otherwise.
- Include a culture fit element
Consider the impact of culture alignment with candidates. Each of the above allows you broader and more in-depth visibility to personality and affinities than what you see on a resume.
- Outside Services
Use a high value service that understands your company and verifies the candidates meet all criteria including company culture before forwarding them to you. Yes, this is somewhat self-serving since this is Cerius’ approach, however it is key to mention in the event you are considering an outside service. Understanding the approach, process and vetting methods for your company and your position should be part of your process for selecting the right service.
Finding the right individual for your company can be as challenging and daunting as dating. Developing a good strategy and being proactive can be the difference between a hiring someone you have known for a while and trust and speed dating resumes.