Hiring Journey Best Practices

Putting yourself in your candidates’ shoes is the best way to practice empathy with your collaborators. Establishing a great hiring journey is not an easy task, and it plays a crucial part in your employer branding. It needs to be a memorable experience for candidates applying to positions within your company, encouraging your new collaborators to refer and recommend others to apply for open job positions.

Best Practices to Consider

1. Mapping All Touch Points

In a hiring journey, there are many touch points that need to be mapped from beginning to end. Important touch points include:

• Viewing your job on a job board
• Visiting career pages
• Scrolling through your social media
• Getting in touch with an acquaintance in your company for a referral
• Talking to someone in your talent acquisition team
• Submitting a job application through the careers page

Make sure that at every step of the process, potential new candidates are well-informed and have the necessary information to make informed decisions. A solid first impression on your careers page and social media builds strong employer branding. Note that 3 out of 4 applicants consider references before applying.

2. Preselection

Job boards or career pages receive applications. Once you have received an application, it is crucial to inform the applicant about the next steps in the process. Having a clear path to hiring will give them clarity on how long the entire process will take and what to expect in each step of the funnel:

• How many interviews will be required
• Who they will meet in those interviews
• Assigning time frames and responsibilities to set a cadence
• Using a case study or business case if required

3. Screening

Once you have filtered candidates based on their expertise, certifications, and talent, it is time to narrow the search further by using assignments and business cases. These will showcase their approach and execution. Move forward with the candidates who performed best in business cases and screening interviews, and ensure they have the right experience and skills. This will lead you to the top 3 candidates.

4. Selection

Build a robust interview process by arranging interviews and ensuring a rigorous approach. Verify that both candidates and hiring managers have confirmed the date, time, and format of the interview. Provide candidates with time to prepare by helping them analyze past interviews through performance analysis, ensuring they understand the format and the process.

Set up a system to remind both candidates and hiring managers of upcoming interviews at regular intervals to ensure that they have the details in their calendars.

5. Hiring

At this point, candidates have invested significant time and effort, so you must treat them with the utmost respect and professionalism, regardless of the outcome. Candidates who feel brushed aside at this stage are likely to share their negative experiences on social media or employer review sites. Follow up until the end and provide feedback to candidates who couldn’t make it through the process.

6. Onboarding

Employee onboarding is one of the most critical phases of the hiring process. It is a strategic plan to help new hires understand their day-to-day responsibilities, the projects they will be involved in, work processes, meetings, and their teammates.

New hires should meet their teammates and hiring managers to learn whom to approach for specific questions. During this phase, it is crucial for hiring managers to schedule time to meet face-to-face regularly to share feedback.

By the end of the onboarding process, new hires need to have a clear understanding of the processes, tools, and connections required to perform their jobs. Although there is no standard timeframe for onboarding, it can take anywhere from 4 weeks to 6 months, depending on the role and the individual.

Emptor Helps You in the Screening Stage

Every step of the hiring process matters, from screening questions to creating a great strategy to hire and retain top talent. It’s important to emphasize that all new hires should undergo a background check prior to any official hiring to protect the company from potential risks through proper due diligence.

Emptor can provide companies with fast and reliable background checks, allowing you to rest assured that you are hiring the right people for open positions. Feel free to book a free demo by clicking on the image.