Effective Recruitment

What Alternative Ways are There to Recruit?

It has become common practice today to advertise on-line, this can be very cost effective if you have the time to handle and filter the responses yourself. It is also possible to advertise a position on each major national job sites for a fee per site. Local papers can be useful as can their on-line job boards for local recruitment campaigns. In some sectors such as engineering, professional services or technology there are specialists networks and websites where you can advertise your need, again you can place a simple add for a fee.

How to Advertise Directly?

You can for a minimal cost advertise on a job board on-line or in a publication. This way reduces direct costs to the business, but to be successful you should make sure to follow a process that attracts the right candidates:

Write a job advert which needs to be structured differently from a role specification, the advert must attract the right individuals.

Placing your advert in a publication means the advert will have to be tailored to be publication compatible, this can involve using a typesetter to format your logo and size of advert for an additional cost.

Reading and screening the applications without the right process and tools is time consuming as is responding to all the unsuccessful applicants.

Interviewing the Selected Candidates

This does take time out of your working day but if cost is an issue to the business and it’s a general role then to do all this can garner great results for little cost.  The free route and the direct advertising one above can become time hungry on you or another member of your staff, and relies heavily on the right individuals seeing the advert placed that week. 
The major downfall most organisations fall into is one of not responding to all applicants who have been unsuccessful by phone, email or letter to let them know of that fact. This is a crucial part of the process of recruitment as your organisations reputation can be damaged now or in the future if you do not communicate directly with each applicant. However you find the candidate, at this point you need to have thought through your recruitment selection process.

Recruitment Selection Process >>

For help on writing adverts, specifications and filtering CV's contact our Recruitment Specialist >>

What About Recruitment Agencies?

If you do follow the free and direct advertising routes and they do not deliver the desired outcome then engaging help from a recruitment agency or a search consultancy is the next logical step. There are however things to consider:

Should you use a high street generalist agency or a boutique search specialist?
Which recruiters are best at finding the ideal candidates?
How do you find a recruiter who specialises in your sector?
When you engage an external recruitment consultant or organization have you arranged to meet with them face to face?
Have you got a clear agreement about fees with the recruiter?
Have you agreed upon a time-line for the recruitment process?

The recruitment industry is varied, offering a wide range of services and fee structures. To ensure you get value for your recruitment investment, make sure you have considered and actioned these points as part of selecting and appointing your recruitment partner. Also if the end result is important to you, you should consider only working with recruitment partners who are willing to make an investment of their time to get to understand you and your organisation.

Using an External Recruiter >>

For help on engaging with a Recruitment Agency contact our Recruitment Specialist >>