Hiring The Right Fit For The Job: 5 Stages Of The Hiring Process

In today's competitive job market, candidates are receiving multiple offers and employers are having to compete for the best talent. To stand out from other companies you need to understand how to find and attract the right type of person for your role. However, despite this being an important topic, it can be difficult to know where to start.

What is the hiring process like when recruiting new talent? How do companies, and hiring managers, approach this process? Well, to help you answer these questions, below are the five stage process which can give you insights into the minds of companies and managers as they seek to hire new talent.

Identifying A Hiring Need

The hiring process usually begins with identifying a gap within your company. When your company grows, the workload can too. It's not uncommon to add employees when you need extra help keeping up with business demands. Maybe you decided now is the right time to hire a new employee? Or maybe there's an upcoming promotional opportunity? Either way, it could be time to hire.

Once you have identified what you need, now it's time to prepare a comprehensive job description. This is the most important step in the hiring process for your company. A job description is used to identify the qualities and requirements of an employee, their responsibilities and duties, and the level of authority they will have over other employees.

It should include:

• The job title
• Duties and responsibilities

• Skills and qualifications needed
• The location of the job: remote, onsite, or hybrid
• Compensation and benefits: Mention allowances, if any.

Advertising For Vacancies

Vacancies have traditionally been advertised in the classifieds section of newspapers. Today, however, most organisations are turning to online job boards to advertise vacancies. The internet has brought about a revolution in information sharing and access. It has also changed how people find jobs and apply for them. If you want to attract best candidates for your company, you have to go where they are -- the same way that they do. This helps you bring your positions in front of the people you want to hire. There are two main ways that you can advertise for hiring:

• Internal recruitment resource – All the sources of recruitment within the company or organisation. This includes posting an ad on the company intranet, sending out emails and announcements to employees, creating posters, etc.
• External recruitment resource – All the sources of recruitment outside the company or organisation. This includes posting ads on social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook, vacancies posting on popular employment websites, creating flyers and brochures, and placing ads in newspapers or other media outlets.

Screening The Candidates

It's the first step in identifying candidates who are qualified for the job, and it can be a challenging one. One of the biggest challenges that companies face when screening applicants is bias. In order to combat this issue, you need to be aware of where it comes from and how it can affect your screening process. The screening process may include:

• Background check
• Phone call, video call, or face-to-face interview with you, your manager, and HR representative
• Assessment of applicant's technical skills, experience, and knowledge

You might be tempted to use an applicant tracking system (ATS) or other software that helps organise your screening process. Or use other ways to help screen through the large pool of candidates like using the services of an employer of record.

Interviewing The Candidates

Interviewing the candidates is a crucial part of the hiring process. It gives you an opportunity to learn about your candidate's skills and personality, as well as determine if they are a good fit for your company culture. The interviewing process may vary depending on the number of applicants, company policies, and other reasons.

An example of a standard hiring process usually goes by this procedure:

1st Round of interview:

At the initial round, the interviewer has found the applicant's information and has their interest piqued. This usually leads to a phone call for the interviewer to understand more of the applicant's personality, background and overall motivations for seeking this job posting. If the phone call has went relatively well, the interviewer can extend to appoint a suitable date for a video or face-to-face call to further progress the interview status. The interviewer should also send a follow up email to encompass all details of what was said in the phone call.

2nd Round of Interview:

This is usually conducted with the human resource team and the applicant through either face to face or video call. The purpose of this is to test whether the applicant understands the company's culture as well as to evaluate if they would be a good fit to the team. By gathering information from the small talks, one can see if the candidate is prepared and if they are able to think quickly off their feet. By paying close attention to how they are answering your questions, how they choose their tone and choice of words as well as how organised their thought process is, can give you an indication whether the candidate is someone you would be willing to hire.

Other businesses who are hiring for highly technical positions will in fact administer a test to applicants to gauge their skills. These tests might be administered face-to-face or given online with a deadline for completion. Only once applicants have performed reasonably well in comparison to other applicants will they receive a follow-up call or email.  

3rd Round of interview

The applicant, the relevant department manager, and the human resources team will all participate in this final round of interviewing. This last round is when the applicant is highly likely to be considered to be hired and to test for the affinity between the manager and the applicant. The human resource team's role is to direct and coordinate the entire process while introducing each participant. More questions will be raised based on the applicant's provided resume and cover letter to understand more of their qualifications and experience.  

Selecting The Best Fits

Unknown to many companies, the final stage of the hiring process is as important as the first stage. As there are many candidates applying to the same job opening, it is crucial to analyse each one carefully to understand the pros and cons of each applicant. A meeting should be held within the human resource team as well as the relevant department manager to understand more on what they require from their new employee. This discussion should end up selecting the top few choices to rank them accordingly. This is to ensure that even if the company does not get the first choice, there are still other qualified talents available to take their place.

After successfully evaluating a candidate, it is essential to provide them with an offer letter that includes all the information they need before starting the job. For example, the offer letter should include, but not be limited to, the start date, the terms of the employment, work hours, and compensation to expect. Make sure there are no ambiguities in the offer letter.

The importance of Structured and Comprehensive Hiring Process

The hiring process is one of the most important aspects of a company's success. A structured, comprehensive hiring process will help you bring on board the best people for your organization, increase employee retention, and streamline the onboarding process for your new hires. The end result is a stronger, more effective team that's able to operate more efficiently. With the right hiring process in place, you can ensure that your company is hiring the best people to help you reach your goals.

Conclusion

Hiring the right fit for the job is always a challenge for companies at every level. Through being mindful of these five stages, you will be able to approach the process of hiring employees with a clear understanding of what needs to happen. And while it's impossible to predict exactly when you'll find the right employee, having some sort of process in mind will help you spot the best candidates and make hiring a smoother process overall.

Sprout With Us!

Hiring high-potential, willing to learn employees is crucial if you want your business to grow. Sprout Asia offers employment pass packages that can be a great option for your company if you are looking to hire foreign talents. Additionally, payroll administration will become more difficult as your business grows. Let the professionals at Sprout Asia handle it so you can concentrate more on your company's core needs.

Please feel free to get in touch with us to set up a free consultation so that we can go through this in greater detail.

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