Recruiting has been a challenge for the last few years. Record low unemployment and a shrinking labor force participation rate have made it more difficult than ever to bring the right people on board. How can your company create a strategic hiring process to identify individuals with the skills, experience, and motivation to be an asset to your company?

Identify Hiring Goals

Making the right hiring decision is crucial to your company’s success. Making a bad hire can waste time, money, and resources—and potentially lose customers for your business. Although crafting a great hiring process will help you attract and retain outstanding employees, not every business will follow the same steps. Each company must identify its unique hiring goals and craft a recruitment process to meet them. Your company may have more or fewer steps than the ones listed below, but these 6 steps offer a basic outline to help you hire more efficiently, successfully, and confidently.

Open the Requisition

Opening a requisition is a great time for hiring managers to set deadlines and expectations for the hiring process. Decide which skills and how much experience is necessary for the position and what is merely “nice to have.” Use that list to create a job description for the open role and communicate expectations to all recruiters.

Review Applications and Resumes

Applicants prefer quick and easy applications, so it’s best to make yours as simple as possible. However, if you have any knock-out questions, consider making them a condition for applying. Some employers include questions such as:

• Are you 18 years of age or older?
• Are you legally able to work in the United States?
• Briefly describe your experience with Excel.

Some employers manually review resumes, and others use an ATS to scan for keywords and relevant information. Whatever your process, look for factors that will help you identify whether a potential candidate is qualified for the role. There are numerous ways to filter resumes, including:

• Academic knowledge
• Job skills
• Professional experience
• Resume appearance and use of language

Recruiters and hiring managers should discuss criteria and actively work to eliminate unconscious bias during the review process. Potential biases, including name, gender, race, age, class, etc., should not impact their candidacy.

Conduct Interviews

Some employers use an initial phone screen to take care of remaining knock-out questions and to narrow down the candidate pool before conducting more extensive interviews. Others move directly to online or in-person interviews. Employers using a two (or more) step process should coordinate among interviewers to ensure they aren’t asking similar questions—and that topics that require follow-up are covered in subsequent discussions.

Select Candidates

Once you have interviewed candidates and assessed their skills, experience, and suitability for the position, it’s time to select the best candidates. It’s a good idea to choose more than one candidate to provide backup options if that candidate declines the offer.

Make a Hiring Offer

You’ve determined your first-choice candidate, and it’s time to make an offer. Be sure to inform rejected short-list candidates of other opportunities within the company. If they made it this far, they might be an excellent fit for a different role. They will appreciate the courtesy, and your company might gain another valuable employee.

Conduct Pre-Employment Screening

Your company’s policy and state laws will determine whether you conduct pre-employment screening before or after making a hiring offer. Some employers conduct background screening even earlier in the process to save time during recruitment. Others, especially those favoring comprehensive screening, may wait to screen fewer candidates.

Criminal and civil background checks and other pre-employment screening services allow you to make sure your potential hires are representing themselves accurately. A deeper look into their history can reassure you that they are trustworthy and don’t pose a risk to your company. For example, employment verification can ensure they have the experience listed on their resume, and drug testing will reveal whether they use illegal substances. Other employment screening services you might consider include:

• Criminal record search
• Motor vehicles record search
• Sex offender registry search
• Credit report
• Academic verification
• And more

Background checks are mandated by law in certain industries, roles, and locations—and all are regulated by law. It’s essential to comply with the guidelines set by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Choose a reputable background check provider to limit liability and to provide the most reliable information.

Reduce Risk in Your Hiring Process

Metrodata Services is Western New York’s top employment screening service. As a Professional Background Screening Association-accredited provider, we can help your organization run quick, comprehensive, FCRA-compliant reports. Learn how we can help you hire reliable candidates today.