Finding employment is a two-way street; hiring managers are just as keen to find the right match for a company as a job seeker is to find the right role to pursue their career aspirations. As a recruiter, you are under a little bit of pressure because hiring an employee is an expensive process. The cost increases the higher up the career ladder you climb.
For example, replacing an employee in a ‘high turnover, low salary’ job (less than $30,000), costs around 16% of their salary. Replacing a salaried employee can cost the equivalent of 6-9 months’ salary on average! For a $50,000 a year employee, that equates to $25,000-$37,500. No pressure then!
When you get it right; you’ll hire an employee that increases the company’s productivity by introducing innovation to the workplace. If you want to hire the best people, it is crucial to make the recruiting process as focused as possible.
WHAT ARE THE CANDIDATE’S WORK DUTIES?
Begin the candidate profile by focusing on the new hire’s duties and who they will report to in their department. This requires some digging on your part which means:
• Speaking to the Manager of the Department: Ask the manager for a list of requirements such as skills and educational qualifications along with specific questions about what the candidate is supposed to do. For instance, does the manager need a new hire to handle an increased workload or is the department expanding?
• Speaking to the Department’s Staff: As these individuals are already in the role, they can offer important insight. As them for details about their role and the kind of qualities a new member of the team would need.
• Analyzing the Competition: Look at the vacancies of rival companies in Trinidad and Tobago for the sake of comparison. If you find that your requirements are excessively demanding, you may want to trim the description. Likewise, if you determine that your description isn’t detailed enough, you can add to it.
WHAT ARE THE COMPANY’S GOALS?
As well as possessing the right traits for the role, the candidate must also be a perfect ‘fit’ for the organization. Here are a few things to consider before creating the description:
• Company Values: The right candidate will believe in the organization’s cause and share its values. For a non-profit organization, you would want someone with a charitable streak. A tech company would want an innovator bent on shaping the world and so on.
• Candidate Attitude: If your company is trying to become an industry leader, you want applicants who enjoy the challenge of suggesting and justifying new ideas. If the organization is already a top brand, you want someone who never rests on their laurels and always seeks improvement.
• Candidate Personality: For example, if the company focuses on having fun in the workplace, you are looking for an extrovert. Hiring a serious individual could disrupt the office dynamic regardless of how talented they are.
WHAT ARE THE RIGHT CANDIDATE’S KEY TRAITS?
Now that you know what the company is looking for in a candidate and what the individual is expected to do, you can create a description based on the traits successful applicants need. As well as improving the quality of applicants, you will also make the interview process easier since you’ll have a good idea of what to look for in the interviewee.
Although skills, work experience, and educational qualifications are important, there are a few traits not easily identified on a resume. Of course, a candidate can look like the ideal fit on paper only to fall short in the interview process; that’s why you have an interview! Here are a few key traits to look for:
• Initiative: Training employees is expensive as it is; so the last thing you want is a candidate that needs to have their hand held the vast majority of the time. The right candidate is capable of making decisions and suggestions without prompting.
• Pleasant: No matter how good someone is at their job, if they are a pain to deal with, it upsets the team dynamic.
• Honesty: Since the successful candidate will probably handle sensitive company data, you need someone with integrity. You can learn more about a candidate during the interview and of course, if they lie on their resume, you know they are dishonest and not worth hiring!
• Competence: Although you never know for sure until they are in the job, you get a good idea of a candidate’s competence from their resume and interview. Highly competent individuals tend to add quantifiable achievements to their cover letter or resume.
• Intelligence: An intelligent employee is capable of handling their workload, excels at problem-solving and can think critically.
• Reputation: The best candidates usually have a detailed track record of their accomplishments. Check their references.
KEEP THE JOB DESCRIPTION SHORT, SWEET & TO THE POINT
Once you create the right candidate profile for a company in Trinidad and Tobago, the final step is to write and publish the job description. Top professionals don’t have time to read long-winded descriptions. After all, you hate receiving long boring resumes, right? You’ll attract the best candidates by outlining how great the company is, and as such, your job description needs to be attractive and gain the attention of the reader from the beginning.
Here is a quick anatomy of a successful job description:
• Compelling Headline: Add some descriptive words to the job title to spice things up and outline the nature of the job and company.
• List of Requirements: Focus on 4-5 skills, work styles, and traits. If you include more, most candidates won’t have them all and will not apply.
• Job Specifics: Create a short, detailed and interesting overview of what the job is all about. Make it exciting or else qualified candidates will move onto the next job description.
• Benefits: What’s in it for the employee? As well as mentioning the salary and typical benefit packages, include details of training and promotion opportunities. If a talented candidate knows he is getting $10,000 worth of training for free and has the potential for career advancement, you better believe he is sending you his application!
• Company Culture: Mention the company’s culture and highlight why it is such an exciting and fun organization to work with. Candidates want to feel as if they will be part of a team heading towards the top of its industry.
Create the right candidate profile
When you create the right candidate profile in Trinidad and Tobago, you ensure the recruitment process is quick, easy and effective. Not only will the best candidate have the requisite skills and qualifications, but he will also fit the company culture, inject positivity into the workplace and add value to the organization.
