The worst business mistake you can make is hiring the wrong person, right? This makes a recruiter’s job not just pressure-packed but truly daunting. My advice? Don’t go at it alone!
To build and live the ideal hiring and the interview process, involve four to six people: recruiter, hiring manager, team members and your boss. Even if you’ve never formally assembled an interviewing team, for example, I think it’s worth your effort. You’ll set yourself up for success while minimizing your stress.
Before we dive in, a word of caution: I understand everyone’s team dynamic is unique. So feel free to tailor my advice for your own team. Above all, keep things simple, and you’ll succeed.
The recruiter
First and foremost, recruiters should always be involved in the hiring process, every step of the way. In most cases, the first interaction a candidate has with your company is with a recruiter. If you have a solid, engaging recruiting team, you can expect this initial touch to be a positive one. Recruiters also play a critical role in managing the candidate experience, including pre-screening, scheduling, making offers and turning down candidates.
Meanwhile, internally, I’ve learned one key to a strong relationship with your recruiting team is constant communication. Ask for follow-up and status update emails as much as possible. Lean on your team start to finish to ensure a positive, consistent and ultimately successful hiring process!
The hiring manager
The hiring manager is arguably the most important person involved in the hiring process. When you’re hiring for your team, you need to be a key player and the ultimate decision maker. While you can (and should) delegate responsibilities during the process, hiring is not one of them.
Personally, I encourage all hiring managers to screen candidates (either via phone or in person) following the recruiter’s pre-screening to determine if the candidate should move forward in the process. At this point, the recruiter should have general information such as candidate experience level, availability, interest level, salary expectations and interview notes. It’s now the hiring manager’s job to dig deeper and really determine if this candidate would be a good fit for the organization and your team. Hiring can either make or break your business – do it right!
The team
At Glassdoor, teammates are always involved in the hiring process. The teammates you include in interviews and hiring decisions should be top performers and either already in a leadership position or demonstrate potential for leadership.
Furthermore, involve team members whom you trust (like your right-hand or No. 1), who reflect your company culture and who show real dedication to the business. Task the team with assessing a culture fit and providing a great candidate experience. By this point in the process, you should feel fairly optimistic about your short-list of candidates.
Your boss
No matter how much autonomy you have, as a final safety check, solicit the opinion of a senior colleague, e.g., your boss! Even a brief phone call or 1:1 interview can help ensure there are no red flags or glaring weaknesses everyone else might have missed. Keep in mind, however, that it may be inappropriate (or impossible, based on busy schedules) for your boss to be involved in every step of the hiring process. You may need to be content that she sit in on the final candidate presentation.
Finally, now that you know who the key players should be in the hiring process, I’d like you to take a step back and review your overall interviewing experience from the candidate perspective. A good place to start is monitoring your interview feedback on Glassdoor to see what candidates like and dislike about your current process. I promise you, this feedback can be a real eye-opener. But whether it’s critical, positive or somewhere in-between, consider it free, actionable advice your entire recruiting team can profit from.
