I was reading an excellent article in the People Management magazine on ‘how to filter job applications’. Whilst the article made great points, it was primarily aimed at larger companies who had specialist in-house recruiters & HR managers. Let’s be honest, if you are a partner in a professional services firm you are often asked to be a jack of all trades and that includes staff recruitment…

It got me thinking how small and medium-sized professional service firms can efficiently recruit in staff. Here are my 5 top tips to help you recruit in good quality staff, whilst minimising your recruitment costs

1. Do you need to advertise externally?
Taking out an advert in a newspaper, trade press or internet job board costs money. Recruitment consultants will charge you anything between 10% and 40% of the first year’s salary of any candidate they place. Not a cheap option! How can you use LinkedIn to advertise your role? I recently used my Linkedin network to find 2 potential management accountants for one of my clients. Do you, or your staff know anyone who would be suitable. Perhaps you have a current member of staff who is ready to take on more responsibility? Or, perhaps you already have got some suitable people’s CVs on file?

2. Have a clear job description
Take the time to think about (and list) what this person will be doing and responsible for – and the skills needed to carry out the role. Then think about the type of person you are looking for. Remember to not include any reference to age or years experience in your job description as this could be seen as discriminatory. You can then target the job advert or ‘word-of-mouth’ advert. Most clued up candidates will ask you for the job description.

3. Do you need to take on a permanent member of staff?
You can ‘try before you buy’ by making the role temporary until you are totally confident that you have the work for the new member of the team, and you have hired the right candidate for the job. Or perhaps you could outsource the work to a contractor? Some candidates if they are currently out of work would be open to a paid trial, 2 weeks where you can see whether they will fit in.

4. Create a simple application form for applicants to fill in, which can be downloaded from your website
Include specific sections to cover your minimum requirements for the role, and limit the amount that applicants can write on the form. This way you will weed out any speculative applicants. Only serious & suitable contenders for the role will take the time to fill in an application form.

5. Prepare a simple interview plan and stick to it!
An interview plan will give you a level playing field when interviewing & allow yourself to compare candidates objectively (and protect yourself against a discrimination claim).

If you would like to give yourself some breathing space so that you can focus on client work, why not give us a call on + 44 (0) 1234 48 0123 or drop us a line, heather@theefficiencycoach.co.uk

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