It’s hard to have any involvement in the recruitment process in the IT sector and not hear about the current talent crisis in the UK on a daily basis. In this candidate short market it is vital that IT organisations get a good balance of keeping their recruitment process as streamlined as possible whilst also doing enough due diligence to ensure that they’re not making bad hires!

There are several signs which make it clear that you have problems with your recruitment process but also ways to mitigate the risk of these ‰’unicorn candidates’ falling through the net! These include:

3 warning signs to show that your recruitment process needs a makeover!

• Candidates dropping out for no apparent reason. – This is a big sign that you have a problem with your recruitment process as the process isn’t engaging enough. The Robertson Sumner team often find this when: there are more than 3 stages, the process takes longer than a couple of weeks and when candidates are asked to do laborious tests or admin mid-way through the process.
• The decision maker isn’t decisive. – If the person in charge of making the hire isn’t decisive then this will just frustrate the candidate, draw the process out and leave the candidate dis-engaged and unimpressed. It is near impossible to find the ‰’perfect candidate’ in this market so it is important that the decision maker understands this, knows which out of their ‰’desirable skills’ can be trained and once they find a suitable individual, pull the trigger and move to offer!
• The recruitment process is exactly the same regardless of the role the business is looking to fill. – Often companies will have exactly the same recruitment process whether they’re looking to fill a Sales Support role or VP of Sales vacancy. Whenever you’re not getting value out of any part of the recruitment process then cut it out! I.e. it may really help to have a prospective VP of Sales candidate complete a comprehensive psychometric test but add no value at all for a prospective Inside Sales candidate… If so, alter the process as it will save you time and money.

5 tips to ensure that you’re able to secure the right candidates for your business

• Have a clear understanding of who you’re looking for and that this vision is shared with everyone involved in the recruitment process. – This is vital and sounds like such an obvious one however on so many occasions this isn’t the case. It is so important that everyone in the hiring process is on the same page with who they’re looking to hire and this should be the case from day one. If the hiring team can’t make a decision on what they’re looking for or if everyone isn’t on the same page then don’t open the search.
• Work on a retained or exclusive basis with a trusted recruiter. – If you work with the right recruitment partner, 50% of the job should be done before the candidate even gets to the hiring table! Your chosen recruitment partner should have a good understanding of both the experience that you’re looking for as well as a clear understanding of who would be a fit with your company culture and find a candidate who shares your company values.
• Hire on values and company culture as much as you do experience. – Company culture and values are just as important as someone’s experience! Skill can be trained however cultural fit and someone’s ‰’will’ to succeed in the job can’t. Therefore always ensure that some of the questions you ask during the interview process are focussed around testing out a candidates cultural fit within the business.
• Do your due diligence but don’t take it as gospel. – It is so important that when hiring an experienced candidate you get some form of reference as well as salary verification (your recruitment partner should be able to do this for you). Past performance will always be the best indicator of future performance! Even though this is the case, any reference also needs to be taken on face value as people will thrive in different environments so make sure this is never seen as a ‰’showstopper’.
• Be decisive! In a candidate short market, being decisive and making a decision is so important. Good candidates can go off the market in less than a week so if you feel someone is a great fit for your business then make a decision in order to secure the candidate!

If you want any further advice or have any questions about the above then please get in touch with the Robertson Sumner team who can help you streamline your recruitment process allowing you to secure the best available candidates on the market!