How to Make the Most of the Recruitment Process

We attended the Recruitment Expo in February and sat in on some fantastic seminars on a range of recruitment topics. We are going to be sharing what we’ve learned over the next few months.

This month we will be talking about how to keep candidates engaged throughout the recruitment process.

This post is based on CV-Library’s seminar ‘What’s putting Candidates off your jobs?’ given by Mike Powell, Head of Sales.

CV-Library carried out a survey on 1000 of their UK job seekers and found the following:

• 80% would not compromise on what they are looking for

• One in five would be put off by a job with a low salary

• 20% are put off by badly written adverts or when it's not clear what the job involves

• 10% are put off by a long recruitment process

• Almost one in 10 would avoid a company with an unpleasant working environment

• 7.8% will leave the application process if the company fails to keep them up to date with the progress of their application

• 7.1% are put off by companies with high staff turnover

Here are the 8 points which were given to help improve the recruitment process:

1. Start by writing a clear job description - put time into writing a good job description and a punchy job advert, one in five will not apply for a role if the advert is poorly written

2. Set a deadline for the role to be in place – work backward from when you need to fill the post. Ensure you fix dates for all the key timings for the whole recruitment process 

3. Screen candidates with an initial phone call – chance to see if candidates are a good fit for you and if your vacancy and company is right for them

4. Skype/telephone interviews to speed up interview process – it’s a good option if both parties are finding it difficult to agree on a date and time for an interview

5. Set time aside to go through applications – an interview is a two-way process. Ensure you have read a candidate's application form before the interview to show your interest in them and to help you ask the right questions

6. Follow up with candidates you interview – take time to thank all candidates for coming in to interview and not just the person you are hiring

7. Getting back to candidates after the interview – don’t take too long to make your decision as you risk losing your chosen candidate to another job

8. Give constructive feedback – interviewees will appreciate this and even if they don’t get the position they will still feel positive about the experience and company

We understand that recruitment can be a time-consuming process. Given the current competitive climate in the education sector, it may be worth trying out new ideas if you are experiencing difficulties in your recruitment. 

While it may add time to your recruitment to call candidates it's worth considering as it can help to keep them engaged in the process and it’s a chance for you to glean more information.

It is very important to read every application submitted. If the candidates applied on Kent-Teach via the online form they will receive a status update when their application has been viewed or opened. 

Make it clear in your advert how you are going to get back to candidates whether or not they have been successful in securing an interview. If it is a role that will attract a large number of applicants and you will only be contacting successful applicants then mention this in the advert. It’s not good practice if candidates aren’t aware of the recruitment process and are still waiting to hear a response as the interview date looms. 

Your school is a brand and it is necessary to ensure your brand has a good reputation, especially with candidates. Even if they do not end up working for you, it is beneficial to ensure they have a good experience during your recruitment process. 

These were the 4 key things that were raised in the seminar by the speaker:

1. Candidate expectations

2. Entire journey

3. Story/brand

4. Stay on top of trends

We recommend envisaging the candidate journey yourself and see how you would feel as a candidate going through your recruitment process. Communication is important and let candidates know what is happening at each stage.

Make your school stand out by incorporating your brand/story in job adverts and when dealing with candidates during the recruitment journey.

We encourage you to use the Kent-Teach online application form to make the application process quicker for candidates. Areas of the form are prefilled and which makes it much easier and faster to complete. The Kent-Teach application form will be branded with your logo and contain all the relevant information required for school recruitment.

At Kent-Teach, we look at recruitment trends and attend recruitment events like the Recruitment Expo so we can keep you up to date. It's useful to see what the education sector and other industries are doing in terms of recruitment to see what we can learn.

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If you haven’t yet set up social media accounts for your school and would like to here is a guide on Using Social Media in Education Settings. 

In our next blog posts, we will be looking at advert writing, building your brand and how to increase the exposure of your advert via Kent-Teach and beyond.

If you have questions or would like advice on any of the information within this blog post, please contact us on 03000 410 230 or email kent.teach@kent.gov.uk.