Recruitment process: what does it involve and why is it important

Recruitment consists of a series of punctual actions that occur when the demand for personnel arises to search for a group of candidates that, in principle, fit the required profile. 

It is the beginning of the entire personnel selection process, although they are often used as synonyms. In any case, the differences between both phases are apparent, as we explained previously in this post.

In this case, we will dedicate an entire post to the topic to explore the subject of Recruitment.

What is a recruitment process?

It is the process of identifying and summoning potential qualified and suitable candidates to fill vacant positions in our company. Vacancies are usually filled in internally (by moving an area or promoting an employee) and externally (by looking for workers outside the organization, expanding or renewing the workforce).

The aim is to put companies and candidates in contact with each other. In this sense, it is the art of bringing together those looking for personnel with those currently looking for a job or wanting to change jobs. Although it is quick and inexpensive, it is a decisive stage since the consequences of wrong recruitment can be devastating for the company.

What does recruitment involve?

The purpose of recruitment goes far beyond filling a vacancy. Its objective is to find the ideal candidate, a professional who:

• Fits the characteristics and needs of the vacancy, identifies with the organization’s values, and makes a good fit with the team.

• A candidate with good skills who does not fit with the company’s philosophy is half as good a candidate.

Internal and external are the two types of the recruitment process:

Why is recruitment important?

As you know, part of a company’s competitiveness lies in its work team. So each member is crucial to bring a touch of creativity, solutions, ingenuity, and intelligence to optimize the operation of your business.Attracting the best talent to your organization is also part of a business strategy.

So, the HR recruitment process consists of finding a new employee with the skills and requirements needed to perform the functions of the vacancy. Of course, it is not a simple process since you will have to examine all the candidates and discard those who do not meet the skills and experience required. 

But with good recruitment planning, your hiring team or managers will help you to save time and money for your company. 

Main steps of a recruitment process:

As in any process, to carry out good recruitment work, it is necessary to follow structured steps to help you complete this task.

Briefly, the main steps of a recruitment process to follow are:

1.) Study the needs of the vacancy, as well as the requirements demanded

The first step in the recruitment of employees task is to identify the real needs that exist. Before creating the job offer, it is necessary to evaluate whether it is a replacement or a new position. 

In the first case, a candidate is being sought to replace an employee who has left their position; in this situation, it is not so complicated to identify the hiring need since it already existed previously. 

On the other hand, if the position is new or if you want to change the responsibilities of the position, it is necessary to complete a hiring needs checklist.

2.) Launch the offer through different channels and sources

With the help of recruitment tools (job portals, ETT, LinkedIn, social networks, etc.) and good job descriptions, you can minimize candidate search times. For example, if you bet on an ATS (Applicant tracking system), you can filter the most qualified candidates by keywords that determine the candidate’s profile. 

On the other hand, these tools also allow you to send programmed messages to discard applicants who are not as qualified.

3.) Manage the candidates who respond to the job offer

After receiving the resumes, make personalized contact with them by email or phone and make each one feel unique. Find the best candidates and inform them of each step of the recruitment process. This way, you will be creating a positive candidate experience strategy.

After that, you can conduct one or two job interviews at most with the most highly regarded professionals based on a series of questions and tests that are relevant to the job position. Creating this talent pool will help your company in this hiring process.

4.) And then… begin with the selection process

That’s right, here we would enter the selection process phase. 

Remember that recruitment is the process of finding candidates for the vacant position and encouraging them to apply for it. At the same time, the selection consists of choosing the best candidate from the pool of applicants and offering them the position. 

How to make a safer recruitment process?

Searching for interesting profiles for a job is already quite laborious. In addition to this, the possibility that fake profiles may slip through exists.

You can avoid this type of fraud by using tools such as Smowl, which through its biometric identification system, will help you ensure that people are who they say they are throughout the process.

Ask for a free demo of our software and try it without obligation.