You have decided to hire a new employee, you are growing or replacing someone. Yeah! Then the dread sets in about the process, you may loose a little confidence in your ability to find the right person or you rush through it and wonder why the new person doesn’t work. All this can be avoided with planning and a process. In recruitment consistency is key – not only for your sanity but to ensure you are hiring right the first time and every time.

The more you have a system in place the dread, insecurity and turnover will disappear. Each time you go through the process you will get more comfortable and become a pro.

Let’s talk about the process. This is what a call my D.I.A.L. I.N.T.O. Recruitment process, the acronym gives you each step of the process and makes it easy to remember. While this is a subject I can talk about for hours (and have), I will give you a summary to help you get started.

D – Description of Position

Nothing formal is needed here, it can even be on sticky notes attached to your computer monitor. Before you look at one resume, speak to a candidate or write an ad – this must be done. Write down what skills are needed, attitude, or personality desired, and nice to have attributes.

I – Interview Questions

From the description, write down the questions you want to ask each candidate to see how they measure up to the job. These will be the minimum questions you ask each person you interview. This will allow you to compare apples-to-apples since everyone is answering the same questions.

A – Ad Creation

Be creative and make people interested in your company. When describing the position be honest, emphasize the skills needed, and talk about your culture. This is no different than your marketing campaign. Reach out to your target audience – the perfect employee.

L – Look over resumes

You will receive lots (and lots) of resumes for your position – how do you screen them? Take a look at your requirements and look for them on the resume (or cover letter). Don’t focus on job titles, they can be deceiving and vary from company to company. Also, don’t toss someone aside just because they are from a different industry – they may have some very transferable skills that you can use. Instead look at their accomplishments and skills.

I – Interview Candidates

Now you get to call the candidates and ask them the questions you have written. I suggest a phone interview to review their career and skills and then an in-person interview to dig deeper into their back ground. Keep notes! Again, nothing formal is needed but if you are interviewing several people over a week, you may forget what someone told you.

N – Notify Candidates of outcome

One of the hardest things about being a candidate for a position is not knowing where you stand. If someone is not right for the position – call or write them. If the process is going to be delayed for whatever reason – tell them. This communication will not only reassure candidates, it will eliminate the calls to you checking in on their application and it will work as PR for your company as they will speak positively about you.

T – Talk to references

Regardless of how you much you like someone and want to offer the position on the spot – check their references. Talk to people who have worked with them or for them. Ask about the same skills and attitude you are interested in.

O – Offer employment

Here’s the final step of the process – offer them the job! This is the fun part, after all who’s not excited about a new job. Where most people fall short here is not following up with a letter to confirm the offer. Too many times there is a misunderstanding about the hours, pay, start date or benefits. Put it in writing and send it to them before they start. A lot easier to correct any misunderstands before they start working for you.

Don’t let the recruitment process get you down, cause you to procrastinate or hire the first person who walks in the door. Follow the process and enjoy.

Need help in getting your recruitment program off the ground, or need coaching on any of the steps of the process – contact us at [email protected]. Coming soon – The D.I.A.L. I.N.T.O. Recruitment Workbook!

Happy Recruiting!