With employment rates at a record high in the UK and the number of live vacancies increasing I’ve been writing a series of blogs on the key factors which can affect the successful hiring of the right candidate, you can read my first blog “Are you taking too long to hire? Why that’s bad in today’s recruitment market- Part 1 Working with Multiple Agencies”. The second key factor being…

Ensuring your Recruiter has a comprehensive brief

Whether you’re the Hiring Manager or Human Resources it’s paramount your Recruiter is armed with a comprehensive brief. You may ask “what’s a comprehensive brief? Why is this needed? Surely recruiters know their job and know what skills are required? Why not Let the recruiter get on and do their job?”.

A good recruiter should not only understand job skills but also each clients’ individual needs, hence taking a “comprehensive brief”.

Below are my suggestions as to what the recruiter should be doing and asking to enable them to have all the information they need to successfully recruit for you.

The recruiter should ask to meet you on site…

This will help them learn more about your persona, your wants and needs and the company culture. It will also help the Recruiter gain credibility and trust with candidates demonstrating they’ve actually met you hence improving the ability to match the candidate to the role. There’s a much stronger chance the candidate will prioritise your role over others based on trusting the knowledge you can share with them.

Candidates will be interested in knowing what the working environment will be like and if your Recruiter can’t provide this information it doesn’t give a positive impression – It’s far more compelling to the candidate when the Recruiter can talk in detail about the working environment.

A good Recruiter should compile notes on the following aspects of your company:

Numbers, culture, structure, future plans, customers, key products.

Providing this sort of information to candidates assists in the screening process, improves the candidate experience and helps the candidate see future potential.   There may not be progression opportunities from day one but if a candidate can visually see there’s a structure within the organisation, they will feel assured there might be opportunities in the future. Also, the Recruiter can honestly share plans for growth, information on the type of product and customers allowing the Recruiter to shortlist candidates with matching skills, knowledge and expectations.

Alongside this the Recruiter can take a brief directly from the Hiring Manager rather than having to be reliant on what could be a generic job specification used over a number of years.

With time constraints on HR you may well have sent out a job spec with a salary to recruiters and asked for CV’s? Does this approach consistently work for you? Are you getting the best candidates by using this approach? Admittedly, if you’re working with a Recruiter who knows your business and has filled the same role previously you may not need to spend much time briefing them but I would still expect a recruiter to find out…

• Why has the position become available?
• When is the Hiring Manager looking to hire?
• When is the Hiring Manager available for interview?
• How many stages are there in the interview process and what’s the interview structure?

As Recruiters, we are always looking to qualify candidates to ensure we can take them through A-Z of the process with no surprises along the way. By knowing when the Hiring Manager is going to interview we can manage the candidates’ expectations and assist them in prioritising their time accordingly.

At Glen Callum Associates we always look to take a comprehensive brief allowing us to meet the expectations of both our candidates and our Client.

So to conclude, how providing a comprehensive brief can save you time in the long run:

• Candidates are more likely to trust Recruiters who fully understand the company they’re representing.
• Recruiters have the information available to successfully match candidates who fit all aspects of your business.
• There will be less candidates dropping out through the process because your expectations, and the candidates’ expectations, are being met.
• There will be less candidates interviewed who don’t match your requirements thus saving YOU time.

So now you know why providing your recruiter with a brief is so vital… but what else? More tips to follow in Part 3. Remember to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to see the next chapter that will be released next week.