Recruit stars, because you deserve the best!
Very good, you are in charge of recruiting employees for your business. You want to recruit stars, but how? Well, there are a few things you need to do: understand your expectations, identify talent, define the job, shortlist candidates, and engage current employees. Recruiting stars is hard work, but it’s worth it.
The first thing to do is simply understand the expectations of talented employees. What is the salary? Benefits? The work environment? You should be upfront and honest during the interview – candidates expect you to be up front about what it will be like to work at their company.
However, before the interview itself, you need to define the job. Don’t just provide a vague title and description. Instead, go into detail about what the job entails, but still allow leeway for the candidate to bring his or her talents to the table. After all, stars are stars because they are unique! Here are some tips for writing great job descriptions:
- Job title
- About our company
- about work
- Requirements
- nice to have
- tone and style
Start with a very typical job title and spruce it up a bit. Read a few blog posts on writing magnet headlines and apply your learning here.
The prospect should understand what you are doing in the first two sentences. Ideally, the rest of the paragraph would describe: the work environment, the company’s mission, key statistics about the company’s growth or success, how big the company is, who the executives are, and underline the company’s values (only with significant examples).
Start with a sentence or two about why this is a great job. Is it the people, the technical challenges, the manager, the growth or importance of the role within the company, the travel, the pay – what makes this job great?
These are the absolute minimum requirements for the position. Let it be brief. If you get 10, there is a problem and you need to rethink your definition of requirements. 4 or 5 is good.
This is where you can list all the things you would like to see in a perfect candidate. It won’t happen, but if one relates to 4-5 items on your 10 item list, this is a pretty strong sign that you might be in a good place.
This is the key. When reading the job posting, a candidate should have an idea of the company as a whole (works for SMB only) or the hiring manager’s style. The reader should be able to distinguish the type of person you will be working for from the writing style: funny, relaxed, very corporate, precise, detailed, etc.
Now once a candidate applies, identify their talents so you can cover this in the interview. Don’t be afraid to check your Facebook profile or do a Google search. You can also identify talent through shortlisting; that is, meet the candidate in a place like a coffee shop before the interview. This gives you the chance to get to know the candidate in an informal setting, allowing you to open up more.
Also, whatever you do, involve the assets you already have. Most potential hires are found through current employees. Let them help you recruit the best.
