Typically, having a large pool of qualified candidates to pick from during your hiring process is a positive thing. However, even with the national employment rate being under 3.9 percent, its fairly easy for employers to find themselves overwhelmed with candidates looking for work and better opportunities. At times, employers don’t have the time to allocate giving each candidate the attention they deserve and can result in selecting someone that isn’t the best fit culturally or lacks some competency for the job. How can employers take advantage of the qualified candidates in their pool, without being overwhelmed by the amount of submitted resumes? We have some ideas.
What Are You Looking For?
Analyze exactly what you’re looking for before advertising the position. Determine which traits and qualifications are critical for the job type within the organization. Get some insight and find out of the best employees in holding positions have specific work experience. Pay attention to personality traits; are they creative self-starters, or do they follow instructions down to the last detail? By knowing this information and developing very specific benchmarks, you make it easier to nail down the best candidate. Use assessment tools to automate the process.
Create a System
The key to creating a system is to allow yourself to spend time on valuable candidates. You can find many different online tools like ServiceNow ans Simplified Talent Management, which are applicant management applications, that will parse thousands of resumes and filter candidates for you to easily find the one’s with the necessary skills for each job. With the job market being such a competitive industry, you don’t have ‘extra’ time to spend individually reviewing every single resume and online applicant- this is where knowing your client becomes so beneficial. Technology is ever-changing and is designed to fit your needs. Develop your system and let it do the time-consuming work for you to allot you with time to set up preliminary interviews.
Once You’ve Narrowed Down Your List
Upon narrowing down your list, make a conscious and thorough effort to review the candidates once more. More times than not, an employer will be elated to have narrowed down their list to a small number of candidates and rush through the hiring process, making a final decision to quickly. Finalizing a new hire is always exciting but perform your due diligence and be sure that you chose the right candidate that fits well with company culture. Conducting your behavioral interviews gives you power to reduce your risk of hiring the wrong fit. Are you positive you found the best candidate? Be sure to perform thorough background and reference checks.
While the struggling economy can be a major issue for some businesses, the positive side is that there are hundred of qualified candidates looking for a job. Get your hiring teams together to create a plan and system that will benefit for this opportunity. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the amount of submissions, but take your time, use your technologies and resources, and be sure that your next hire is the perfect fit for the position.
About the Author 
Ryan leads the sales and business development efforts of the Denver team to expand relationships within the market and drive revenue through consistent delivery of services and solutions. He is a huge live music fan and try to catch as many concerts around Colorado as possible. If he had to pick one band as his favorite, it would definitely be the Grateful Dead.
