There are a few ways the online hiring process is different from traditional hiring selection. Some of the differences are at a real foundation level, while others are at a more “cost savings” level, if you know what I mean. Next time you’re on a quest to find employees, consider the following:
Traditional hiring:
1. Pay $ for job posting somewhere (i.e. newspaper, etc.)
2. Manually screen resumes for “qualified” applicants.
3. Rely heavily on “gut” to make hiring decisions, with unpredictable results.
4. You win some, you lose some.
Hiring online:
Post job on Craigslist or Kijiji, surf Facebook or LinkedIn for candidates, or generate employee referrals via email. All free.
Use technology to automatically screen applicants. (I’m biased, since this is what we do at SmoothHiring.)
Automatic screening uses science to help you decide which candidates are best-suited, leading to consistent, predictable results.
You win *most* of the time.
Net result of hiring online?
1. Less expensive to generate interest in your job posting, but this means you’ll get a lot of “crap” resumes and people who do not fit. Good news is there are technologies that screen these
2. You’ll cast a wider net for job candidates, finding people in places you’ve never thought about … so don’t be biased.
3. Take less time to find the perfect candidates, before you lose them to the competition.
You’ll turn fewer people over … fewer bad hires means more cost savings and higher revenue.
What are your challenges with this new approach?
1. Lose your fear of applicant volume – more is better, if you have technology on your side.
2. Have confidence in the technology – trust that it can do some of the work for you.
3. Stop asking to shortlist 5 candidates before you start interviewing – your candidates will be better, so it might take only 2 candidates to hire one!
4. Make hiring decisions based on who will perform the job best – not whom you like the most.
