By Victoria Walton, Head of Resourcing and TalentÂ
As businesses develop and expand, there is an increased need to increase headcount and find specialist candidates. Here at Great Annual Savings (GAS) we’ve rapidly expanded and with the creation of 300 roles, the Resourcing team have been busier than ever.
So, how do you manage this increasing workload whilst maintaining etiquette? In this piece, Victoria Walton, Head of Resourcing and Talent at GAS shares her top tips for recruiters.
Acknowledge all applications
If applications are not acknowledged, you risk having applicants following up with calls or other communications forms to ensure you received their application – an unnecessary drain on your time and resource. Something as simple as an automated email to thank the candidate for applying will give confidence and leave a more positive feeling for the applicant.
Keep good time
You expect candidates to be early for their interviews, so the least you can do as the interviewer is be on time. The same applies for telephone interviews. Be strict with your diary. By allocating time for overrun or to check your emails or calls, you can ensure you are on time for every interview.
Prepare Prepare Prepare
You need to pay attention and make notes! Candidates generally have an initial telephone interview which if successful, is followed by a face-to-face. If at that second stage, the interviewer repeats all of the same questions from the first interview, the candidate will notice and may think one of two things:
1: The company do not care about me as an individual and hasn’t taken the time to share information between recruiter and hiring manager
2: The recruiter has not paid attention to anything I have said to them previously
Either way, the company is not represented well. Take a few minutes prior to each face-to-face to familiarise yourself with the candidates CV and your previous notes.
Consider candidate schedules and confidentiality
When contacting and arranging interviews, be mindful that the applicant may be at their current workplace. They may also have not told their current employer that they are considering leaving, you should therefore be flexible with your working hours to accommodate this. An experienced and dedicated recruiter will always show flexibility, which in turn reflects positively on their business.
Keep candidates informed
If you have had many applications, your usual recruitment timescales may go out of the window. At this stage it is important to maintain correspondence with candidates and explain the situation. By providing candidates with context you limit the chance of them reaching out and adding to your already overfilled plate.
Represent the business
Many applicants will have applied for opportunities with other businesses and a good recruiter will always see the interview process as a partnership; a two way process for both parties to assess one another. It is therefore important to remember that candidates may have offers from other organisations and you need to make your business culture and brand appealing, whilst painting a true picture.
Offer feedback
Sometimes organisations fail to contact unsuccessful candidates, which can reflect poorly on the business. Uncomfortable conversations are sometimes part of the role when working in resourcing but if provided constructively and sympathetically can leave the applicant feeling positive and keen to remain within the recruiter sights for future roles. Consider working closely with the hiring manager to compile clear point for improvement or reasons as to why individuals were not appropriate for the role. Here at GAS we work within our GDPR policy to retain relevant CVs within our talent pool for future vacancies. always keep relevant CVs on file, so we have a readily available talent pool for future vacancies.
For more insider hints, tips and content from our expert Resourcing team, visit the GAS Talent Hub.