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The
Art of Recruitment Advertising – Building the Right Candidate Pool |
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 By
Chuck Smith
Recruiting
has one goal: to find the best available talent to fill the open position. Here’s the equation for success:
Large & Appropriate Candidate Pool + Great Screening Tools
→ Best Available Talent.
While this looks simple enough, generating the appropriate candidate pool doesn’t
happen by accident.
When Dan Bright, owner of Art Digital Technologies in Manhattan, needed to hire a top-notch Production Manager, he wanted to avoid past mistakes. Dan chose NewHire
Elements for a complete, yet
low-cost recruiting process.
We began implementing the recruiting process with Dan by completing an 8-page position profile interview. The position profile interview is designed to illuminate every detail
about the job. Some details are obvious like duties, responsibilities and experience, while other details are less obvious, including work behaviors and attitudes, work style
and management preferences and corporate culture. All these factors contribute to on-the-job success.
NewHire staff used information from the position profile to write recruitment advertising targeting the right talent. The ad features the following components designed to attract
the right candidate pool:
- The employee value proposition
- The key duties, responsibilities and authorities
- An attractive and informative description of the employer and their products/services
- Requirements for on-the-job success
NewHire staff crafted 3 documents that make up the backbone of the NewHire Elements recruiting package. These 3 deliverables are:
- A comprehensive Job Description
- Attractive Recruitment Advertisement
- NewHire pre-employment application (a branded web landing page) including job specific screening questions
(If you’re wondering what the difference is between #1 and #2 check out this NewHire resource.)
After Dan reviewed all three parts and approved them, we were ready to publicize the open position and build a candidate pool using the “Premium ad pack” (for more information about our “ad pack” follow
this link.)
With one “Ad Pack,” and a well-written ad, Dan generated 652 job-seeker views. Job-seekers come from every job board where advertising was posted. Candidates also arrive from postings emailed
from friends and from re-postings to “aggregator” sites like indeed.com. Here is the distribution of job-seeker sources for this position:
| Media Source |
Job-Seeker Views |
| Careerbuilder |
191 |
| Craigslist |
176 |
| Monster |
142 |
| All other sources |
143 |
Of the 652 job-seekers who looked at the NewHire application, 193 people chose to complete it. (This 30% application rate beats industry standards and is well above our average of 25% for all jobs.) Then Dan used NewHire’s powerful screening tools to narrow down the applicant list to the closest matches. He was able to do this in less than an hour – think how long it would have taken him to handle and read 193 resumes! By using NewHire screening tools himself Dan also saved money and maintained control over his hiring process.
After thorough interviews with the top applicants, Dan settled on his candidate pick and extended a job offer. Dan says, “I have a tremendous new employee thanks to a great process.”
A great ad that is well-placed drives your targeted candidates to express interest in the open position. Of course, having the right screening questions is a must… read on. |
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The
Art of Screening – Asking the Right Questions |
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 By
Leora Baumgarten
You’re not looking for a needle in the haystack, a flying mermaid, or even a 50 lb butterfly. You’re looking for your next great employee. You’ve done your homework; the job is designed to be accomplished by a mere mortal. You’ve run enticing advertising and you’ve built a solid candidate pool. Now your expectation should be to find the candidates who meet the qualifications in three key areas:
- skills and experience
- education & aptitude (talent)
- work behaviors and attitudes
In mid-market firms, where staffs and teams are small, every new individual added to the mix can have a big impact. It’s important to find people who have the knowledge and experience to do the job. It’s equally important to find people who will get along with the existing staff and will be an asset and pleasure to have at work. You can identify those people by asking the right screening questions. Typically only 10 to 15% of candidates who apply meet qualification requirements. Why waste time reviewing unqualified candidates?
It’s not too difficult to design questions that assess skills, experience or fact based knowledge. But when we try evaluating candidates’ work style, behaviors and attitudes, questions get a little trickier. Here are three different ways of identifying candidates based on what are often called “soft skills.”
This first example is a question that can help you determine if the candidates’ preferred work-style fits the position and culture of the company. Candidates can choose only one answer:
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What is your preferred work style? |
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I like to do one project at a time until it’s complete |
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I like to juggle several tasks every day |
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I like regular daily duties that I do each week |
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Variety is the spice of life – no two days are alike |
What’s the right answer? That depends on the position that is being filled. For example if you’re hiring an Accounts Payable clerk the best answer might be “I like regular daily duties that I do each week.” But if you’re hiring a Project Manager — responsible for delivering client purchases – the best answer might be “variety is the spice of life.”
Using NewHire’s searching tools you’ll be able to find the few individuals who select your preferred answer. Once you’ve identified those individuals, you can spend more time reading other information they have provided, including the answers to other NewHire questions, work history, education and resume.
Here is another way of addressing work style preferences.
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Would you prefer to work for a supervisor who: |
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Coaches you through the tasks you do until the tasks are
complete |
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Trains you and expects you to report back regularly with
updates and questions |
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Provides the manual and expects you to figure it out on
your own |
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Expects you to hit the ground running—providing some direction
but expects you to handle tasks according to your best judgment. |
The right answer depends on the position your filling and the work style preferred by the supervisor. My personal preference is to expect regular updates and questions, regardless of the specific duties of the job. Using the NewHire screening tools and the right question, I can find candidates that prefer to be supervised in this way. By selecting candidates that match these criteria – the chance that I can hire someone who will work well with me is improved.
Here’s a third way of getting at this same issue. Instead of asking candidates to choose from a pre-set list, you might ask them an open-ended question and read the answer. Here’s an example of a question with a “memo” style answer:
Describe the behavioral style of the last boss for whom you had difficulty working; List his/her title and the specifics of the challenges you faced. How was the situation solved?
When a candidate answers this type of question you will get a writing sample, an example of how they prefer to problem-solve and you will learn something about the type of boss they don’t work well with. What’s the drawback of asking a question like this? It takes candidates more time to prepare an answer. It also takes the manager more time to review the answer. Limit the number of essay questions you ask, especially when recruiting for positions with smaller talent pools.
By creating attractive advertising and using commercial job boards to announce the opportunity, you get a snapshot of the talent that is currently AVAILABLE in the employment marketplace. By asking those same candidates to answer a set of questions, you’ll be able to identify which of those people best meets the key employment criteria. Let job boards attract the available talent and let NewHire identify the BEST talent from the available pool.
Click here to learn a little more about NewHire’s powerful Candidate screening tools. Or for a complete guide to writing
effective NewHire applications (screening questions) check out this resource. |
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Webinar
Schedule: |
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Choose Wisely: Interviewing Tips from a Panel of Experts
Monday
September 20th
at 1 pm CST
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| Few business activities produce more anxiety than the Job Interview, for both participants — the interviewer and the interviewee. Like a weekend golfer or holiday-only chef, it’s hard to get good at something you don’t do often.
Join Karla Dobbeck, John Martin and Chuck Smith for a 45 minute webinar where we’ll share our tips and tricks for getting the most out of your interviews.
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One of our newest clients is a very old company. Gallagher Uniform, of Battle Creek, Michigan, is a fifth-generation family business. Founded in 1893, the company is run today by 4 Gallagher brothers of the 4th generation. Gallagher Uniform combines tradition and innovation to create customized uniform rental programs for their loyal customers. Their bottom line is “we save our customers time and money!” Funny, that’s our bottom line too.
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NewHire software and recruiting services are designed for today’s hiring needs. We help employers take control of the recruiting process; improving information management and hiring efficiency. |
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Our
goal is to empower employers to make informed, effective and cost-conscious hiring choices, using the combination of software, services and expert advice that works for you.
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105
W. Madison #702
Chicago, IL 60602
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(877) 923-0054 – Toll Free
(312) 578-0983 – Fax
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info@new-hire.com
www.new-hire.com
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