When thinking about “how to recruit better”, you need to look at the recruiting journey. There is an interesting shift happening. At the beginning, the candidate is selling their profile and expertise while the company is the one checking which talent they want to hire. However, towards the end of the journey, the shift happens and positions change. Now it’s the company who has to convince the talent that their brand is exciting and the job fulfilling. This is why it is so important to focus on the opportunity a candidate is receiving (not just the monetary benefits).

Recruiting is changing though and the demand for recruiting is increasing in a future where talent is everything. It’s no longer tradition for the best candidates to apply on your career site – now you have to find them and convince them of your opportunity. That’s why we say: treat them like future customers.

Why is it important to hire the best candidates? The stakes of hiring the right candidates are rising. With technological advancements and automation coming our way, jobs are changing for people in terms of complexity and influence. As jobs become more creative and complex, recruiting becomes a key differentiator.

How to recruit better? Treat your candidates like future customers. We have gathered some great tips to help you with hiring the best candidates.

1. Effective job descriptions:

Focus on what your ideal candidate should do, and not about what they should have. Don’t lose sight about what the job is really about. You can research and use benchmarks to analyze what make up ideal talents.
Outline the goals of the position and explain the desired outcomes. This can help candidates understand your company’s expectations and the general job position better.
Outline the specific tasks. If you write statements such as “excellent developer with outstanding skills in JavaScript”, it does not focus on the specific task. Instead change such statements towards “Manage, build and scale XYZ Applications”

2. Effective recruiting processes:

Have a clear career site and use creative ads when marketing online. Don’t use ads that are composed of boring details, as this will not attract talent. Make sure the career site is easy to access, user-friendly and has no bugs. Here you need to focus on the UX, similar to how you treat your customers.
Provide feedback as soon as possible, starting with informing candidates that you received their application.
Differentiate your brand from competitors by not using the same recruiting strategy as everyone else.
Engage with passive candidates. Don’t just wait for top candidates to apply through your career site. Think about using other recruiting services to tap into “passive candidates”, as they are already doing the job you need to fill.

3. Effective interview processes:

Focus on the candidate’s abilities and ask about their motivation. A great way to tap into the mind of your candidate are “how would you” questions, as this can demonstrate their thinking processes.
Focus on the candidate’s competencies & capabilities. It’s not just about the skills but really about whether the candidate can actually do the job. You can ask for their accomplishments and hear what they have to say.
Don’t let bias impact your processes. Often there is too much focus on interpersonal relationships and this can blind you during decision making.
Check for references and backgrounds as you get a fuller picture of the scope of your candidate.

The best candidates will focus on what the job is really about. They want know what they will be doing and how it can help them develop further, as they show ambition and often have personal goals they want to reach. Communicate exactly what you need from the candidate for your open role. If you are clear from the beginning, you minimize the amount of candidates coming in your funnel, who are not suitable for the role. This will ultimately help you recruit better.

Think about: “Why would a top talent want this job?”

Looking for your next candidate? Find out how to optimize your recruiting with Lionstep. Connect with us.

Read about the experience our scale-up customer Radicant had with Lionstep.

As an ambitious candidate ready for change, you will discover interesting job offers on our job board.