How a great hiring process can help you strike gold

Simple steps taken early in the recruitment process can remove some of the hard work from finding the right people, so that employers can grow their teams and focus on their businesses with confidence, writes Alex Hattingh, Chief People Officer at Employment Hero.

There are around five unemployed Australians for every job vacancy, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.¹ As a result, many businesses hiring this year may be flooded with applicants.

At Employment Hero, I’ve personally seen a role attract hundreds of applicants. This may prove challenging for hiring managers. How can you find the gold amongst a stack of applications?

My advice is to organise before you advertise. Before you put your job out in the public eye, create some processes for your team to follow.

All the key information in one place

Ditch the spreadsheet and create a central point of knowledge to store details about job posting, communications with candidates, applicant resumes, internal notes, interview schedules and offers.

A great option for this is using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), which is a central piece of software that keeps track of all recruitment activity. Knowing that my recruitment ‘paper trail’ is stored in a single location can relieve my anxiety at overlooking any details.

An applicant tracking system can also streamline the pre-interview recruitment process as it can filter applications and rank candidates on how appropriate they would be for the role.

From there it’s on to interviewing. What are your dream attributes for this position? What are some common qualities in your company’s top performers that you would like to see from the incoming hire? Use these questions to prepare solid criteria for the role.

Ask the right questions

Feel free to abandon stereotypical interview questions and instead opt for more relevant and practical questions tailored to a person’s experience. Remember to leave space for follow-up questions, which can often be more illuminating than your original questions.

All going well, you may soon arrive at your reference checks. Be specific about what you’re looking for in the applicant and ask for some demonstrable examples. Don’t just enquire about practical skills, ask for examples of how the applicant showcased soft skills to be a valuable member of the team.

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The opinions expressed and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the QSuper Board. No responsibility is taken for the accuracy of any of the information supplied and you should seek advice for your circumstances.

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1 October 2020, Job Vacancies, Australia, August 2020 at www.abs