Title: Starting out: Top 6 Tips to Define and identify your

recruiting needs
Category: Recruiting
Type of Article: Blog
Heading: Starting out: Defining and identifying position
requirements with HR managers and recruiters
Image alt tags:
Meta Description: Good preparation is the key to good hiring. It
keeps things in order so that the actual
recruitment process would go smoothly and cost-
effectively, raising the chances of finding the
suitable candidate for the position.
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Focus Keyword: Recruiting
Focus Keyword Synonyms: Hiring, new employees, preparation, new hires
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Post length: 1,974

Starting out: Top 6 Tips To Define And Identify Your Recruiting Needs

While some might think that the preparation process can be glossed over, this is, in fact, the most
important stage in recruiting new employees for your business. Think of it this way. When starting out on
a journey, the first thing we need to do is to prepare. We make sure that we have everything for the trip,
that we know where to go and how to get to our destination. That’s how recruiting works as well. We need
to have a clear vision of what position the company needs and how we can hire the most qualified person
for the job.

A kick off meeting before diving into the actual recruiting part can ensure that the whole process will have
a solid foundation. This is where the HR department and the team who needs the new hire coordinate
with one another and create a guide to what kind of person is suitable for the available position.

Here are the top 6 questions which I believe should always be asked and answered during the meeting to
ensure that you are ready to start with your recruitment:

Why do we need to hire someone?

This question sets up an objective for the company at the beginning of the recruitment process. Likewise,
this serves as the fulcrum with which we have to base the answers to all the other questions on. By
asking the why, it gives the whole recruitment process a direction and an end goal.

For example, one of your goals for the year is to increase your business’ presence in social media. You
will need to hire either a social media manager or a PR person who will manage all of the company’s
social media accounts.

Another example with a simpler objective is if your company is looking for a replacement hire because
someone in the team resigned from their position. This means you need to figure out first why this
employee decided to leave the team in order to make sure that your company can avoid having the
replacement employee quit again.
With this, you already have an idea of what the new hire needs to do, what they will be dealing with, who
they will work with in the future and what kind of personality and skills they must have in order to actualize
this goal you have set up.

What kind of job is needed in order to achieve your goals?

Now that you have a goal, you can then move on to outlining the actual job description. To start, you need
a job title that will perfectly encapsulate what the position is all about. This is so that by just hearing the
title itself, job seekers can have an idea of what the job is. Likewise, this makes it easier for them to
search and access your job ad in the web or whatever platform you choose to place your job ad in.

This is followed by listing down the daily tasks and responsibilities that the position entails. Keep in mind
that these activities must be clear, specific and in line with the objective you’ve already set previously.

Continuing with our previous example, you will need a social media manager who can man the
company’s social media accounts and ensure that everything is up to date. From this you can start listing
down their daily tasks and the importance of their role to the company.

At this point, it is crucial that you consult the team in which the new hire will be working with so that you
can get a picture of what a day for a social media manager will look like, what they do and how they do
their job.

What requirements will make the candidate qualified for the position?

Having an idea of what kind of job needs to be filled, it is then time to think of what type of person is
suitable for it. This means looking into the background of the candidate. This includes the type of
education they received, their prior job experiences, their skills and their personality.

When listing down these things, we must always take into account the list of responsibilities and tasks
that the candidates will have to do in the future. Being too broad or general can end up with having
difficulties in selecting suitable candidates for the position.

Going back to our previous example, a social media manager needs to be someone who is tech savvy
and is up to date with the latest trends and go-tos in the web. Someone who expresses themselves
clearly and knows how to interact with various types of people. A plus if this person has an educational
background or previous work experience related to social media or media in general.

Listing down all these things, you can start hunting for these types of people later on.

Where and how can we search for potential candidates?

Nowadays, technology play a huge role in recruiting especially for jobseekers. According to Undercover
Recruiter, 45% of job seekers worldwide search for jobs daily on their mobile device. In another different
study, on the other hand, 73% of companies have used social media to successfully recruit and hire a
candidate. Lastly, 67% of unemployed and 61% of employed internet users between the ages of 16 and
24 had visited a job or recruitment website in the past month.

Read More: What is Social Recruiting and how can it help you?

Knowing where to start your recruiting can also hasten the process. It is important to know the trends of
job seekers nowadays to ensure that your job ad gets as much exposure as it can. This works almost like
a lottery. The more people send in their application, the more chances that you will find a diamond in the
rough.
Read More: Get the words out there: Best channels to start recruiting (Job sites, Career portals/Company
website, Social Media)

Likewise, you can also find potential candidates by asking around your current employees for people they
know who would like to apply for the position. This is especially effective if you ask your best performing
employees for referrals.

Read More: Top places to source for talents (Boolean Search, LinkedIn, other sites like LinkedIn, Social
Media, Personal connection, referrals)

How can we check that they are qualified for position?

The first step in checking the qualifications of the candidates is through their resumes. By scanning and
highlighting the items that fit perfectly to the position’s tasks and responsibilities, you can easily identify
qualified candidates while unqualified ones can immediately be filtered out, lessening the list of those who
will proceed to the next step of the recruitment.

Job interview then follows right after the filtering. Being able to talk to them yourself gives you a better
idea of their personality, the way they present themselves to other people and how they interact with
others.

Alongside job interviews, providing a skills test can further check out if the candidate has the correct skills
needed for the position. This ensures that they can actually do the tasks and responsibilities expected of
them.

At this point, you can start planning for the questions or exams that you will be administering to your
prospective candidates. Make sure that the questions align with what the position need to accomplish its
tasks and responsibilities as well as the goals you have initially set up. And so, when hiring an IT-person,
your questions and exams should also have computer-related topics.

Read more: The Selection Process: Finding the perfect match for your company

Who should be involved in the selection?

Preparation in a form of a meeting between the person doing the recruiting and the employees in the
team needing a new hire is vital in the recruitment process. The latter’s valuable insights can give the
recruiter a good idea of what the job entails and what kind of daily routine it will have. It is through this
coordination that a clear job description can be made. This in turn gives the recruiter a good idea of what
kind of person is needed by the team. It is important then that managers or senior members of the team
are included in the selection process alongside with someone from the HR department.

Picking up on our recent example, when meeting a potential candidate for a position in the IT team, it can
be useful to have the IT head involved in the process. Let them administer or create the exam with which
the candidate will be tested. Let them gauged the skills of the candidate and meet them personally to get
a feel of the candidate’s personality. After all, they are the ones who have hands-on experience of the job
and thus would know who will fit perfectly for the position.

Recruiting is not merely a job of the HR, but a collaborative effort of the HR and the department that
needs the new hire.

Other tips and reminders for your preparation

The goal of every recruitment is to hire great and talented employees. The question then is how to get the
attention of these talented bunch. One way is to try thinking the same way that this type of people thinks.

Think of what kind of job they want. Often, this means being surrounded with equally talented and
competent people like themselves. They would like jobs that are challenging but would allow them
freedom in their work.

An example of such practice is Netflix. The company’s best asset which they utilize to attract great new
employees is their stunning and talented staff. They are proud of the fact that they only keep the best so
that the best is also attracted in joining in the company. Another one of their best points is their
willingness to give freedom to their employees--freedom on their schedule, their vacation leaves and
many more.

While it may be too much to follow in the footsteps of Netflix especially for small enterprises, what you can
do instead is to start listing down or make a presentation on why jobseekers should choose to work for
your company. Identify its strongest and best features which you think will most attract talented people
and show how much the company can help them in their career.

Read More: Stand out: Looking into various company branding tools for your business

After all these things, you can start planning on the strategy you will be using for recruiting these talented
candidates. Consider looking into referrals or actively reaching out to passive job seekers or prospect
calls. There are various ways to go about this and you can eventually find the most cost-effective method
for you company.

Read more: Tips on Planning and developing your recruitment strategies

Good preparation is key to good hiring

Like a traveler on its way to an adventure, your pack is full and bursting of supplies and sustenance for
the journey. By answering the questions above, you are all set to go.

Good preparation is the key to good hiring. It keeps things in order so that the actual recruitment process
would go smoothly and cost-effectively, raising the chances of finding the suitable candidate for the
position. And it also makes sure that the interview would remain objective wherein the questions are
connected to the position itself instead of being too general, subjective and generic.

The most important thing that you should get out of the kick off meeting, before beginning with the hiring
process per se, is having a clear picture of what the vacant position is and does for the company. By
doing this, then you can have a specific idea of who you want to hire for the job.

Read More: Introducing ATS to your business

 Related Videos:

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Startup CEO: Building Your Team - Recruiting & Hiring

In this series, Matt Blumberg coaches entrepreneurs through the crucial transitions that turn a startup into
a sustainable business and a founder into a CEO. Blumberg explains how thoughtful processes help
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Video 2:

Hiring Your First Employee as an Entrepreneur

You're an entrepreneur. You just started a business, and you're asking the question everybody struggles
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Video 3:

4 Things to Do Before Hiring an Employee

This video provides four important things to do before you start hiring for your company. The first of which
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