5 steps of the hiring process- the complete guide

If hiring managers didn’t have to spend half their time interviewing and scheduling candidates, what could they accomplish? Recruiters will find themselves with more time to devote to other areas of the TA organization as a result of AI and automation eliminating numerous time-consuming chores from a recruiter’s day. As coaches and consultants to hiring managers, they can be particularly useful in guiding them through the selection process and maintaining their attention on candidates.

Steps of the hiring process

The five distinct stages of the hiring process are as follows: opening the requisite, candidate evaluation, interviewing the candidates, selecting the best, and making the offer.

1. Opening the requisite

Recruiters should spell out a timeline for the hiring process and set deadline expectations when opening a requisition. A process map enables recruiting managers to know what they should concentrate on at each stage and helps to hire managers to stay focused on hiring.

Additionally, this is an excellent time for recruiters to examine EEOC guidelines and address any preliminary inquiries hiring managers may have on the hiring procedure or how your company successfully hires. When recruiters reach the more unclear parts of the hiring process, including interviewing and selecting, these will offer a strong platform to expand on.

Working on “knockout questions” for candidate screens during this preparation stage is also a fantastic idea. These queries, whether used in a phone screen interview, can aid in screening out applicants who lack the necessary competencies or skill sets.

A communication style and rhythm can be best established at this time. The frequency of updates, such as weekly or daily updates, as well as whether to check in over the phone, by email, or in person, must be worked out by recruiters in their communication plan with hiring managers.

2. Candidate evaluation

Although recruiting managers aren’t as involved in the evaluation process as they formerly were, they still have control over who is chosen for an interview. This is the moment for recruiters to double-check their prospect choices and prevent the hiring manager from getting tunnel vision. By explaining to a hiring manager why some prospects might be a good fit, recruiters can use the evaluation phase to establish trust.

This is a good opportunity for your recruiters to challenge decisions and choices. Hiring managers can be encouraged to consider their decisions by recruiters who can ask them why they like or dislike certain individuals. This forces the hiring manager to take into account whether they think a candidate is a good fit or if they get along with them personally.

3. Interviewing the candidates

After recruiters have evaluated and made recommendations for applicants, the next advising encounter with a hiring manager will probably take place during the interviewing stage. In order to avoid asking the same questions from the phone screen or video interview, they need to make sure the manager’s methodology is consistent throughout all interviews. This is the opportunity to go through any warning signs the candidate may have displayed, such as vague or brief responses, that require further investigation. Review the questions they may and may not ask during the interview process, and make sure they are aware of EEOC compliance.

It’s also a good opportunity to determine how at ease they are with the interview process. A more recent manager may not be as prepared for the hiring process as a more experienced manager. Training candidates to maintain a focused but friendly interview is one of the most beneficial services your recruiters can offer.

Your recruiters should train your hiring managers to create a focus and objectives for interviews that highlight candidates’ abilities and capabilities. Without clear goals, interviews can quickly devolve into a dialogue that covers various subjects and facts with each candidate. It’s exceedingly challenging to assess those contenders fairly, and this frequently results in skewed judgments.

4. Selecting the Best

While recruiters have less authority over candidate selection, they can nonetheless advise their hiring manager. They can add the most value by assisting hiring managers in avoiding making snap judgments about a particular prospect or developing tunnel vision. The hiring manager must have fallback plans in case the applicant withdraws or accepts a different offer.

Recruiters should inquire with a hiring manager about their preferences for a candidate if they appear biased. Hiring supervisors may be biased for various reasons, including comparable life experiences, shared interests, or a strong relationship.

By evaluating how well their hiring manager can explain the candidate’s job fit based on the candidate’s background information and interview responses, recruiters might detect bias. If they are unable to explain this, there is a significant possibility that bias influenced their decision.

After interviews, your recruiters should provide feedback to managers and advise them to refocus on the key abilities or characteristics they observed in a candidate. To give a more complete image of the prospect, recruiters can incorporate the panel interview if the individual was interviewed by one.

5. Making the offer

 Recruiters can train hiring managers behind the scenes on how to approach the verbal offer and what to discuss besides salary while drawing up the offer packet. When it comes to salary discussions, the hiring manager benefits from talking about salary in a range rather than a precise amount. This is a terrific opportunity to emphasize the value that your organization offers. To maintain the candidate’s interest and engagement, recruiters should remind the recruiting manager to market the entire firm (benefits, culture, and office perks).

Candidates must be considering accepting the job by the time they receive the offer. The documentation is just finalizing the transaction at that moment. It’s possible that your recruiting managers missed opportunities early in the process if they’re trying to sell them to the firm at the end.

Although training hiring managers can be a difficult task, recruiters will become a vital resource in the hiring process. By supporting the top prospects and assisting recruiting managers in avoiding biased decisions, they will have a significant impact on the quality of hires. Additionally, they’ll demonstrate to applicants the worth of their time and abilities, which will aid hiring managers in creating a wonderful candidate experience.

How to establish a productive hiring procedure

Your HR department must design a hiring procedure that is easy for both the business and job candidates. Tests of general intellect and domain knowledge are useful, particularly in identifying applicants who fall short of the required standards. However, the final choice regarding a candidate usually rests with the discretion of a hiring manager or senior executive.

Recruitment, screening, scheduling and conducting interviews, testing, and, ultimately, the negotiating of a job offer are all under the control of hiring managers. Senior executives can, however, also participate in the recruiting process, if only as advisors. They are ultimately in charge of deciding who works there and how well staff perform.

The ideal hiring procedure must be adaptable enough to take senior executives’ wishes into consideration. The top employees are typically found in businesses where the CEO and an HR specialist communicate.

The following are some of the factors that will affect how complicated your hiring process is:

• The size of the company
• Degree of profitability
• A competitive market position
• Company History
• Company culture
• Number of positions that needs to be filled
• Level of the position
• Whether or not the job is a new one for the business
• The number of participants in the hiring process

Tips to speed up the hiring process

Making the effort to choose the correct candidate might help you avoid mistakes, but it can also provide your preferred candidate the chance to go on to another position. Moreover, a slow hiring procedure may prevent other projects from receiving the attention they need.

1. Create a clear and detailed job description.
2. Only the top applicants will be considered.
3. Keeping internal candidates in mind.
4. Making the application procedure easier.
5. Prepare your references in advance.
6. Don’t be rigid.
7. Delegate some work.

FAQs regarding the hiring process

The common questions the small business have regarding hiring new employees are:

What is the typical cost of hiring someone?

The expense of bringing on a new employee will mostly depend on their starting pay and any immediate benefits. But there are costs involved with employment that are almost universal, and many of them repeat themselves even in very different businesses.

The Society for Human Resource Management conducted research that found that the average expense of employing a new employee is close to $4,000. This includes the cost for HR to process the new hire, pay to the employee for work that is probably not going to be productive (like during orientation or training), and a plethora of other costs associated with the procedure.

What tools are available to assist the hiring process run more smoothly?

The use of applicant tracking systems is common. They assist HR in posting job openings, sorting and organizing resumes, identifying highly qualified prospects, and assisting businesses in keeping track of applicants throughout the hiring process.

A trustworthy reference is yet another helpful tool. Employee referral systems cost money to put up, but they can pay off handsomely by bringing in qualified employees who might not have otherwise heard of your business.

Zenotis technologies provide the following tools which assist you in a smooth hiring process: 

• Technological driven TA
• Staffing and recruitment
• Vendor management system
• Managed IT services
• Contingent staffing