Avainsana: recruitment

Kokemuksella voi rakentaa työnantajamielikuvaa – mitä kannattaa huomioida kumppania valitessa.

Santtu Vehosalmi

Rekrytoinnissa on hyvin tavallista että halutaan vahvaa osaamista ja pitkää kokemusta, milloin mistäkin asiasta.  Valintakriteereitä täytettävänä oleville työpaikoilleen työnantajat, onneksi, miettivät hyvinkin huolella.

Vaan entä kun siihen hahmoteltuun tehtäväkokonaisuuteen pitäisi saada sopivia hakijoita ja vielä osata heistä karsia vaikkapa se oikeasti osuvin kärkikolmikko? Millaisella osaamisella ja kokemuksella rekrytoinnin konkreettinen toteuttaminen ja valintaprosessin läpivieminen tapahtuu?

Tämän puolen miettiminen tahtookin yllättävän usein olla niin ja näin, ja vähän miten sattuu. Ikään kuin se tehtäväkentän ja valintakriteerien määrittely riittäisivät huolehtimaan siitä, että tieto tarjolla olevasta uramahdollisuudesta tavoittaa halutut osaajat ja vieläpä saa heidät hakemaan tehtävää. Se, että turvaudutaan ulkopuoliseen rekrytointikonsulttiin kun todetaan, että apua käsillä olevan tehtävän täyttämisessä tarvitaan, on lähtökohtaisesti positiivista. Sen konsulttiavun tarve on kuitenkin ihan oma mietintönsä, koska ei ole – ei saisi olla – lainkaan yhdentekevää kuka sitä omaa työnantajamielikuvaa tavoitellun alan ammattilaisissa lähtee rakentamaan. Palveluntarjoajien kirjo tälläkin alalla alati kasvaa, ja sen myötä myös käytännöt ovat mitä moninaisimpia. Jos rekrytointiapua myy eri henkilö kuin joka sen konkreettisesti tulisi toteuttamaan, on syytä kysyä tarkentavia kysymyksiä toteuttajasta. Niinikään suosittelisin selvittämään suorahaun kyseessä ollen, kuka työstää varsinaisen kandidaattien etsinnän, sen pitkän listan – tämäkin voi olla eri taho kuin se joka palvelua myy, tai joka sitten aikanaan varsinaisesti ottaa yhteyttä kandidaatteihin. Ketju kokonaisuudessaan on tasan yhtä vahva kuin sen heikoin lenkki.

Toimialasta riippumatta, mitä kokeneempia ammattilaisia ollaan tavoittelemassa, sitä enemmän kannattaa kiinnittää huomiota sen tavoittelijan itsensä senioriteettiin. Kuka on se henkilö – ei yritys, vaan se yksilö – joka etsii ja ottaa yhteyttä potentiaalisiin kandidaatteihin, ja/tai vastaa heidän tiedusteluihinsa tehtävästä, ja pitää työhaastattelut. Onko henkilön auktoriteetti tavoiteltujen kandidaattien silmissä riittävä antamaan rekrytoijan roolissa edustamastaan työnantajasta sellainen ensivaikutelma kuin työnantaja haluaa itsestään annettavan?

Imagollisten tekijöiden ohella, kyse on rekrytoijan valmiudesta oikeasti arvioida kandidaattia ja tämän taustan osuvuutta käsillä olevaan tehtävään. Esimerkiksi rekrytoijan omakohtainen johtamiskokemus antaa täysin erilaisen lähtökohdan houkutella kandidaatteja esihenkilötehtävään, saati arvioida heidän mahdollisuuksiaan siinä menestyä, kuin sellaisella kykyjenetsijällä jonka käsitys esihenkilötyöstä perustuu vielä oppikirjoihin. Itse käydyt asiakasneuvottelut, tai esimerkiksi työuralla läpivedetyt organisaatiomuutokset tuovat niin ikään ihan eri perspektiivin esittää ammattiosaamiseen liittyviä kysymyksiä ja arvioida sitä muunkin kuin kandidaatin CV:lle kirjoittaman kuvauksen pohjalta.

Hyvien uutisten välittäjänä on verrattain helppoa toimia. Rekrytoinnissa suhdeluku on kuitenkin lähes väkisin aina sillä tavalla negatiivinen, että jokaista yhtä valituksi tullutta hakijaa kohden voi olla vaikka kymmenen valintaprosessissa haastateltua, joille se rekrytoija joutuu kertomaan etteivät tällä kertaa tulleet valituksi kyseiseen tehtävään tai virkaan. Näiden ”huonojen uutisten” välittäminen ja mahdollisesti vielä rakentavan palautteen avulla niin paketoiminen että vastaanottajalle jäisi kuitenkin päällimmäiseksi mieleen hyvä hakukokemus, kysyy niinikään kokemusta.

Rekrytointikokemus niin eri kansallisuuksien edustajista, kuin eri maissa toteutetuista rekrytoinneista ei ehkä vaikuta oleelliselta jos ihan vain Suomessa sijaitsevaan tehtävään pitäisi sopiva käsipari löytää. Vaan kun täällä lintukodossakin alkaa olla usealla alalla aika monikulttuurista osaajakuntaa. Ja yksi asia on varma: mitä erilaisimpiin tilanteisiin on rekrytoinnissa ehtinyt törmätä, sitä varmemmin osaa laittaa asiat niille kuuluviin mittasuhteisiin ja olla hötkyilemättä pienistä.

Loppupeleissä kyse on työnantajamielikuvan rakentamisesta, ja kokemuksen ja näkemyksen tuomasta pelisilmästä erilaisten ihmisten ja tilanteiden tulkinnassa. Sitä on rekrytointi. Se tehtävänkuvan ja valintakriteerien laatiminen on pikemminkin lähtölaukaus kuin maali.

How to interpret job advertisements

Santtu Vehosalmi

Us Finns have some extraordinary qualities that come handy particularly in the surroundings we live in. Snow and silence (together or separately) for example can be quite tough for many other nationalities to handle – we have no problem with either. We are also punctual; if an appointment is scheduled to start at 11:15, it tends to do exactly that. There is no concept of mañana, e.g. ‘some time in the future’, in Finnish. And so on. We do, however, also have some qualities that do not play to our advantage. One of them is that we tend to take instructions too literally. As soon as EU sets a new Directive on anything, you can bet Finland is the first country jumping to implement it, at whatever cost. Regardless of whether there is any benefit. After all, there is the Directive. During the last couple of years, having met hundreds of job applicants in one-on-one coaching sessions, I have had to admit that the same mindset is also visible in how surprisingly many job seekers read and evaluate job advertisements.

It is understandably frustrating, when a professional seeking employment comes across an ad clearly promoting their dream job – only to find that they cannot apply because the requirements listed for the candidates are at least to some extent above and beyond what they have.

Let me take this opportunity to share a few tips on how to interpret job advertisements. These are by no means Directives, but aimed to help you evaluate whether you should send an application to that interesting vacancy that caught your attention.

  1. Role description. The level of detail provided in a job advertisement about the role in question varies tremendously between different employers. Some are way too detailed – some too brief to attract candidates. Employers try to stand apart from the rest by applying their own style also in job advertisements. Obviously also the scope of the role determines the need of elaboration. I would recommend to pay attention to what is said – and equally well, what is not mentioned. This is often times a good source of questions to ask when you call to get more details.
  2. Work experience. If there is a specific requirement on the length of work experience required, take it as indicative. ‘Minimum five years of equivalent work experience’ does not mean you should not apply because you have three and half years. If the requirement is minimum 10 years and you have three, opt out.
  3. Education. There are jobs where a very specific degree or qualification is required, end of story. Then either you have that qualification, or you do not need to apply. However in many cases it is stated vaguely, such as ‘university degree’, or my personal favorite ‘university degree or equivalent’. That leaves a lot of room for imagination. In public sector jobs, the indicated education level is mandatory and there is rarely room for negotiation around it. In private sector, however, the level or field of education is often not a critical, carved-in-stone type of requirement. The more working years you have under your belt, the more likely it is that your competencies and experience overrule.
  4. Personality / characteristics. If the employer is looking for a social, service-oriented person, with excellent interpersonal skills, and you know you are more of an introvert type, it still does not automatically mean you should not apply if the role appeals to you. It just means you need to be prepared to put more effort on the social aspects of the role, as those are typically not as natural ways of working to you as they are to more socially inclined individual. You yourself know best what you are capable of. If you do not feel the personality traits indicated match yours, ask yourself would you still enjoy working in that role. If yes, apply.
  5. Contact person. Every job advertisement should always have contact details where interested candidates can ask further details on the role or the selection criteria. Unfortunately they are still not always provided. I personally would not apply for a vacancy where there is no contact information listed, but that is just me. If the details are there, with a specified time when to call, try to time your call as instructed. That is not always possible, or the line may be busy. Then you can of course try to reach the person at another time. One polite way to do it would be for example to send an sms to the person and ask what would be an appropriate time for you to call.
  6. Target groups. This may not be top of mind when reading a job advertisement, but this is important so I wanted to take it up here as well. Job advertisements are just another form of company communication or marketing material that the employer publishes. In addition to job seekers, the employer knows that also their competitors as well as current and potential future customers read the job advertisements. In many cases, this has a significant impact on what is, or is not, said in the role description – or why certain role requirements are defined the way they are. Job ads can be used to boost company image in certain field of expertise, for example. Or aim to direct competitor attention to certain type of resourcing – perhaps away from something else going on. The more the reason for you as a candidate to ask clarifying questions, and not take the provided text at face value.

There. My five…okay, well, six cents on how to interpret job advertisements. Feel free to agree or challenge these points. The requirements in an ad may well paint the picture of an ideal candidate for the role. If the ideal one does not apply this time, the closest ones to that stand a good chance. And high motivation, even passion towards the type of role in question, will always make a difference.

Go for it!

When to outsource recruiting?

Santtu Vehosalmi

One of the most essential activities for any organization is to take the time to draw the line between its core and context. In other words, identifying those activities where the organization truly excels, outruns the competition, and seals the deals. Those are the activities that typically result in competitive advantages. Those should form the core of the organization’s value and growth potential. As such, resources should be allocated to the core activities in adequate proportion. That, however, is often easier said than done. Any organization in any industry faces countless requirements and dependencies, many of them almost hygiene factors that just have to be taken care of in order for the core operations to run smoothly. The contextual activities are viable candidates for outsourcing.

Which one of the lists, the core activities or the contextual ones, would you expect most businesses to include recruitment in? To my surprise, exploring this with the CEO’s and the management teams, I have often found it missing from both lists! This is an interesting – and rather alarming – phenomenon given the significance the right talent in the right positions have to any organization’s sheer existence.

My punch line is this: if you do not have the time or the competence to run a recruitment process properly, you are always better off outsourcing most of it.

However, to provide you with some tools to assess this activity area in your organization, here are some of the first pointers I typically look at.

1. Availability of the needed talent in the job market
Are the types of professionals you are looking to hire, readily available and easy to reach in the location where you need them? If the answer is ’no’, or if you are uncertain, I would turn to a professional recruitment consultant or headhunter already when planning the recruitment. Especially if you have a definite deadline by when you need certain roles filled, you may not want to waste valuable months in trying a job ad, learning that it did not result in the type of applicants expected, and then having to turn to professional recruiters anyway. Also, the opposite scenario has wreaked havoc in many a recruitment process: if there are hundreds of professionals matching your vacancy without jobs in the location you want to hire, they may flood your recruitment process beyond expectation and tie far more resources into the overall process than you had planned. Also in that scenario, better go with outsourcing.

2. The confidentiality of your recruitment
Is the role you are looking to fill related to an undisclosed, new business area – or for example a replacement you do not wish to let your competitors/customers know about in advance? If that is a ’yes’, using a headhunter is in practice the only option you have. Even spreading the word internally in your own networks would be highly risky, as almost inevitably your existing customers and competitors would end up in the loop before you were prepared to answer those questions.

3. The recruitment experience
Many – I would like to say most – organizations leave the direct line manager to take care of his or her hiring. You may have some line managers who often have vacancies in their team and are seasoned recruiters; quite likely, though, you also have some who are not. From profile definition to recruitment method selection to conducting interviews and making selections, there are several critical steps in a recruitment process that also require experience to get them right. If you are lacking the experience, outsourcing the recruitment is typically an inexpensive method of damage control.

4. Time
Even if you have done more than enough recruitment in the last few years to know how it should be done and how it works, if your workload now is such that you simply do not have the needed amount of time to focus on another recruitment process and run it properly, you are better off delegating it to a professional. Remember that as a client, you can always choose which parts of the recruitment process, and to what extent, you want your service provider to manage for you.

5. Unknown territories
When you are entering a new market – usually in a geographical sense, but can sometimes apply also in the case of a new industry – and you are not familiar with the local recruitment practices in the market in question, you can save yourself from many unwanted surprises by opting to use a recruitment professional familiar with that market. One customer of mine gave me a good anecdote related to this: ”I would not dare to even drive in that country – how on earth would I know how to recruit there?”.

A few cases in point to help you determine whether outsourcing some of your recruitment would perhaps be a good idea. Just one last flag I want to raise on this one: the final hiring decision is always yours to make. If need be you can outsource the entire search and selection process up to the last two to three strongest candidates – but insist on making the final decision yourself.

It is that important.

All the best for your next interview – whether you are the one asking the questions, or answering them!

Lääkkeitä työllisyyden parantamiseen – ja ihan ilman reseptiä!

Santtu Vehosalmi

Harva asia koskettaa jokaista suomalaista yhtä paljon kun maan talouden saaminen uudelle kasvu-uralle. Työllisyys on tässä luonnollisesti aivan keskeisessä asemassa. Pitäessämme Uudenmaan TE-toimistolle työnhaun valmennuksia ja toteuttaessamme suorahakuja työnantajille, saa maamme työmarkkinatilannetta tarkastella vuoroin kummaltakin puolelta pöytää. Työllisyyden vinkkelistä nykytila onkin silmiinpistävän kahtiajakoinen. Työmarkkinoilla on yhtäältä melko selkeästi määriteltävissä olevista pääryhmistä koostuva työnhakijoiden massa, jolla on vaikeuksia työllistyä. Kuitenkin samaan aikaan on aloja joiden osalta pääkaupunkiseutua myöten on huomattavaa työvoimapulaa.

Suomella ei ole varaa sen enempää ammattiosaamisen pitämiseen joutilaana kuin yritysten kasvun estämiseen tekijöiden puutteella. Pelkkä hyvinvointivaltion ylläpitäminen, puhumattakaan minkään osa-alueen palveluiden edelleenkehittämisestä, edellyttää työnantajien menestystä ja kasvun aiheuttamaa työpaikkojen ja sitä kautta verotulojen merkittävää lisääntymistä. Tähän pääseminen vaatisi neljän nykytilan keskeisen haasteen ratkaisemista.

Ensimmäisenä kivenä kengässä on nykyisen, rakenteellisen työttömyyden poistaminen. Tämä koskettaa erityisesti viime vuosien laajojen irtisanomisten kautta työnhakuun päätyneitä, tyypillisesti paljon kokemusta jo keränneitä ammattilaisia. Kyseessä on hyvin suurelta osin sellainen porukka jonka osaaamiselle ei enää ole kysyntää ainakaan läheskään siinä mittakaavassa kuin nyt on työnhakijoita. Tässä joukossa on tuhansia suurten tietojärjestelmien ylläpitäjiä, sihteereitä/assistentteja, projektipäälliköitä, mutta myös yllättävän suurissa määrin esimerkiksi viestinnän tai henkilöstöpuolen ammattilaisia. Osalla heistä omasta osaamisesta on aika ajanut ohi, toisilla työn siirtyminen halpamaihin on vienyt työpaikat kotimaassa, ja niin edelleen. Kokemusta, kielitaitoa ja verkostojakin on tyypillisesti hyvinkin paljon – vaan tämän hetken työnantajia houkuttelevaa osaamista ei. Tämän porukan työllisyyden parantaminen on ihan omanlaisensa haaste; monelle alan vaihto on ainoa mahdollisuus. Erityisesti tätä tukevia ratkaisumalleja tulisi kehittää, esimerkiksi ansiosidonnaisen päivärahan joustoilla uudelleenkouluttautumiseen, tai työnantajien kädenojennuksella sellaisen työvoiman perehdyttämisohjelmina joissa houkutellaan kokenutta väkeä muilta aloilta mutta hyödynnettävissä olevalla kokemuksella.

Toinen selkeästi oma kokonaisuutensa on maahanmuuttajien työllistämisen helpottaminen. Tämä alati kasvava osa väestöämme on jo nyt niin suuri että se tulee väkisinkin aiheuttamaan pysyviä muutoksia maamme työmarkkinoille. Riippumatta siitä miksi tai miten yksittäiset, ulkomaista syntyperää olevat henkilöt ovat maahamme työnhakuun päätyneet, ei kymmenien tuhansien kokoisen väestöryhmän kokonaisvaltainen asuttaminen, elättäminen ja ylläpito verovaroilla hamaan tulevaisuuteen saakka ole realistista. Haasteet tämän väestönosan saamiselle tuottavaan työhön maassamme ovat kuitenkin hyvin erilaisia kuin edellämainitun porukan: kielitaito ja verkostot Suomessa toimimiseen puuttuvat monelta kokonaan, samoin toimintavat ja käytännöt joihin on totuttu saattavat poiketa huomattavasti täkäläisistä. Lähtökohtaisesti tilannetta ei yhtään helpota se että vaikka tässäkin ryhmässä on hyvinkin monen alan ammattiosaajia, niin muodollinen pätevyys (tutkinnot, sertifikaatit, todistukset) ei tyypillisesti ole meillä tunnustettua – tai sitä ei ole lainkaan, ammatti on voitu oppia tekemällä, ns. isältä pojalle. Ilman joustoja täkäläisissä toimintatavoissa ja järjestelmissä ei tämän työnhakijajoukon työllistyminen tule onnistumaan. Esimerkiksi joustavuus tutkintojen ja sertifikaattien olemassaolosta niin että haastatteluun voi päästä ilman niitäkin ja ammattiosaamisensa osoittaa esimerkiksi työnäyttein olisi yksi konkreettinen välttämättömyys tällä sektorilla.

Kolmantena pähkinänä purtavaksi on työvoimapula. Ehkä selkeimmin se näkyy ICT-sektorilla. Vaikka näihin mainitsemiini työnhaun valmennuksiin meillä tulee ensisijassa juuri ICT-alan taustaisia työnhakijoita, niin yhtään front-end kehittäjää, tietoturva-asiantuntijaa tai vaikkapa Java-ohjelmoitsijaa ei valmennukseen ole ilmoittautunut. Esimerkiksi näihin asiantuntija-positioihin joudutaan työvoimaa etsimään jo Suomen rajojen ulkopuoleltakin. Tai – mikä on maan talouden nostamisen kannalta ikävämpi mutta joskus pakollinen vaihtoehto – siirretään sellainen kehitystyö johon täältä ei riittävää osaamista löydy, sellaiseen maahan mistä sitä löytyy. Työvoimapula on kasvavalle yritykselle kasvun este sieltä konkreettisimmasta päästä. Mitään kovin nopeita ratkaisuja tähän on vaikea keksiä – kasvualoja ei ole osattu koulutuksen suunnittelussa ennakoida oikein. Jotta ei menetettäisi merkittäviä investointeja ulkomaille, olisi varmasti nopeimpana ratkaisuna hyvä helpottaa ulkolaisten työntekijöiden houkuttelua Suomeen sellaisilla aloilla joilla riittävää kotimaista osaamista ei ole saatavilla. Ensinmainittujen kahden työnhakijaryhmän kanavoimisella mahdollisuuksien mukaan uudelleenkoulutusten kautta työvoimapula-aloille luonnollisesti kaikki voittaisivat.

Last but not least, kuten amerikkalainen kofeiinittoman kirsikkacolan juoja sanoisi, on edelleen yritystoiminnan tukeminen. Tarkennan tätä vielä niin että nimenomaan yrittäjyyden ja niiden ensimmäisten työntekijöiden palkkaamisen tukeminen. Itseni on vaikea ymmärtää sitä että leijonanosa maksetuista yritystuista menee Suomessa vuosi toisensa jälkeen pörssiyhtiöille ja jo asemansa vakiinnuttaneille, monikansallisillekin suuryrityksille – ikäänkuin pysyvänä liiketoiminnan tukena. Yksityisyrittäjille on tarjolla pelkkiä pähkinöitä. Kannattaisikohan laskea suhdelukuja maksettujen valtiontukien määrästä kotimaassa luoduille työpaikoille? Keinoja työpaikkojen luomiseen nimenomaan pienyrityksiin on vaikka miten paljon; palkan sivukulujen poistaminen vaikkapa ensimmäisen vuoden osalta ja puolittaminen toiselta vuodelta, ansiosidonnaisen päivärahan kulkeminen työntekijän mukana osaksi palkkaa, tai esimerkiksi toimitilojen tarjoaminen yrittäjille kunnissa ilmaiseksi vastapalveluksena tietyn henkilömäärän palkkaamisesta.

Vaikka ekonomistit ovat jo maalanneet tämän vuoden talouskehityksen omiin raameihinsa, on Suomella vielä kaikki mahdollisuudet aiheuttaa positiivisia poikkeamia kuluvan vuoden ennusteisiin. Poikkeukselliset ajat vaativat poikkeuksellisia keinoja. Kysymys on lähinnä siitä mitä halutaan saada aikaan.

Recruitment in start-ups: When two plus three needs to equal six

Santtu Vehosalmi

For any start-up business, one element equally important to adequate funding is having the right people. The smaller the number of employees currently, I would argue, the more significant the implications of each new recruitment decision made. The qualifications, skills and aspirations of each new employee should optimally fit the role available and complement the competencies of the existing employees. Start-ups in particular aim for synergies. The deliverables need to be more than the sum of their parts. In most cases that is still easier to accomplish than getting the 25th hour into a day. So how should a start-up go about finding their next star performer?

First and foremost, spend enough time in planning the recruitment. Even though the owners of the business may have their sights set so far on the horizon that pausing for something as seemingly low-key as a job description is difficult, it will pay off in the process outcome. Pay attention to how you describe the position at hand. Clarity is important in attracting the desired candidates. What will the person in this role be responsible for? What are the deliverables? To what extent is it a team effort? What degree of freedom will the selected individual have to shape his workweek? And so on. Have at least a couple of people who have no insight on the particular job, to read the description and explain to you how they understood it.

You need the role description also to be able to define the requirements for that optimal candidate. It is often emphasized how start-ups in particular look for the right attitude and fit. No problem with that, as long as there are also other qualifications or criteria to enable right targeting of candidates. It is fine to expect characteristics like commitment, high working morale, team spirit, flexibility and service orientation. But such attributes make poor targeting criteria for initial candidate selection – those are more likely to be aspects that can be evaluated in assessment testing and interview rounds. What experience, industry knowledge, certifications or readiness does that right candidate need to have?

Once the vacancy at hand is clearly defined, the other key contributor to attracting the right calibre of candidates is of course awareness. How do you bring this marvelous career opportunity to the attention of the most capable potential candidates? Chances are most of them are currently working, and therefore unlikely to follow any job advertisements. If that is the case, money spent on paid advertisements is largely money (and time) wasted. Engaging all the company’s current employees to check for potentially suitable individuals in their own networks is likely to be a more fruitful approach. And reaching out for professional recruiters is in many cases a very sensible option as well – from both cost and quality perspectives. As an additional plus, professional recruiters will also immediately notice if the job description leaves room for improvement or if the desired candidate profile is not concrete enough.

The fun begins when the above-mentioned pitfalls have been avoided and the actual selection process can start. Every applicant may have a differently structured CV, and a different, personal angle taken in their cover letters. Reading them through is one thing – comparing them against one another is quite a different ballgame. This is why some employers favor frozen templates in their application process – the comparison and selection process is no doubt faster and can even be automated to a large extent when all applicants have been forced into the same mold. Speed and quality do not always go hand-in-hand though. When applicants are forced to follow the same application format, their chance to make a personal application gets lost. You were looking for the right ‘fit’? The fit spells personality. Also, hands up, how many start-ups out there want a rigid, inflexible application process to be the first impression they give to their potential new talent? You catch my drift. Selecting the most promising candidates from a pile of applications is of course tedious work when all applications look different – but they look different for a reason, and a key to successful selection is to explore those differences, not try to force them go away.

Planning is a critical element in any aspect of business. Recruitment is no exception. Few start-ups have experienced recruiters in their payroll. Even fewer would be able to make the right selection from an entirely wrong pool of candidates.

Appetite for recruitment – five steps that rock!

Santtu Vehosalmi

In order to type a successful blog about recruitment, I thought I would check for some additional tips on what makes readers tick with professional blogs. “You need to have a numbered list, because numbers are easy to remember. Besides, they make good headings!” “The text needs to be informative, in a logical order, and not too long.” “Anticipate questions your topic will raise, and pre-empt them in your content.” Hmm… nah. Instead, I need some cranked-up rock’n roll. Intro tape playing… lights… camera… action – go!

Firstly, you want to differentiate yourself as an employer. This is nothing as complicated and fuzzy as modern jazz: just give a face – possibly a voice – to your employees, use visuals to demonstrate work environment, emphasize company values and career opportunities you have. Make it clear what you are proud of and what you as a company stand to achieve. Prepare to sell yourself as an employer, as much as you expect the job candidate to sell him- or herself as an individual to you. You can make social media work in your favor to get ahead of your competitors in this aspect.

Secondly, apply the power chord of second or third opinion. It tends to be a norm that the direct supervisor of the role to be filled takes care of the recruitment. That person should most definitely be in a key role in the selection process, but there is a lot to be gained by allowing a couple of more stakeholders to meet the shortlisted candidates prior to final decision, and hear their feedback as well. Having multiple interviewers provides the employer with a possibility to use in-depth experts of various skills related to the role, to evaluate the real knowledge of the candidates better. Sometimes also a bit of a role-play comes handy, you can have ‘good cops and bad cops’ present in the interview simultaneously, particularly if the stress tolerance of the candidate is relevant to the role. HR professionals will also bring their own value-add to an interview situation, perhaps assessing the non-verbal cues the content-focused interviewer could have missed alone. And if customer centricity is a genuine value in your organization, why not involve relevant customer representatives to have a say in your next Account Manager’s selection process?

While the gut feel is important in personnel selection, you need also facts; to make the right choice, that is. Don’t fall into coma listening to waltz and overlook candidate reference checks – remember the most valuable references may well come from either previous customers served or previous colleagues, not necessarily the line managers. Use assessment testing that is developed to be used for personnel selection (most personality tests are not) and is both validated and reliable. These not only help to paint a comprehensive picture of the candidate, they also serve as a very inexpensive insurance for you by potentially revealing aspects the candidate preferred not to mention in the application.

I still got the blues for the quality of the candidate pool. At best, you can only select the most suitable individual from the candidates you have. So the background work in planning and preparing your next recruitment is every bit as critical for a successful outcome, as the actual selection process is. You probably do not just want to reach candidates with listed credentials and experience, but the most skilled and competent individuals that match the profile. That requires effort. Is the selection criteria for the role in question really thought through, or is it – at worst – a copy-paste from what your company always uses? How do you bring your vacancy to the attention of the best and the brightest? If they are currently employed, they most likely do not follow employment ads. Do you make it easy, possibly even rewarding, for individuals to share your employment ad to their own networks? How easy or difficult do you make it for the candidate to actually send a job application to you? Do you use a frozen template in your company website, with dozens of mandatory fields in it – or a possibility to apply using just a LinkedIn profile with a brief cover letter? If you do not provide interested candidates with a name and contact information to ask more information about the role available, what does that say about you as an employer, and about the importance of that role to you?

The fifth item on the list is pure 80’s hair metal: resourcing. What is the number of applications you expect to receive? How about if your warm-up efforts worked really well, and you get three times that many applicants – do you have the capacity to go through that many applications and review the shortlisted ones to agree who are the most promising ones you want to interview? In order to be able to attract the most qualified candidates also with your next recruitment, it is essential to keep the candidates (that is, all candidates, not just the interviewed ones) informed about the progress with your selection process. This requires some further effort from your side as an employer, but is an effort that well pays off in word-of-mouth regarding you as an employer.

That should get you off to a rocking start. Recruitment process is more than anything an opportunity for you as an employer to differentiate yourself from your competition. For those about to recruit, we salute you! Everything louder than everything else – and we are here to help .