14 Recruiting Tips for Finding Better Candidates

A group of pilots were being interviewed for Southwest Airlines when they were told to change their uniform ties to Bermuda short-sleeved shirts while they were at work. Some of them refused to execute it, and some complied. As a result, only those who complied with the requirements proceeded to the next stage.Herb Kelleher, former CEO of Southwest Airlines, once said that the most important thing for Southwest Airlines is "the attitude of the candidates." The company believes that "the intangible assets of the company are more important than the tangible assets, because the corporate culture of Southwest Airlines is its competitive advantage." One of the core of the company's corporate culture is to provide passengers with a happy travel experience. "Teamwork is at the heart of our success," Kelleher said. "It's the last of our competitors to imitate."

How can I be successful in recruiting?

To ensure that new hires are comfortable with this corporate culture, Southwest Airlines has adopted a personality test system evaluates candidates in seven aspects: positive emotion, optimism, decision-making ability, team spirit, communication ability, self-confidence and initiative.

Southwest Airlines has been a forerunner of this worldwide trend by integrating its personnel recruitment process with the company's development strategy. The world's leading companies realize that they don't want to be the "best employer" for everyone, but simply target those who fit with their corporate culture and strategy. "The 'best employers' have come to realize that the ideal work environment doesn't mean the business is right for everyone, and sometimes not for most," says Workforce magazine. The company's recruitment process is very strict, focusing not only on the ability of the candidate, but also on whether the candidate can adapt to the company's environment. These companies are at the forefront of the practice of "talent management".

In China's rapidly growing business environment, the speed and quality of corporate talent pools often become the bottleneck restricting corporate development.

"All of a sudden, 'talent management' has gone from an emerging idea to one of the core functions of a business," said David Creelman, senior managing editor at HR.com. Michael Foster, author of Recruiting on the Web, said: "A new round of global talent scramble is imminent. Only the most forward-thinking companies with the most advanced technologies of the day will gain the upper hand."

Chinese companies are also caught in this war. Just two years ago, senior recruiters viewed recruiting talent in China as a "risky move", with great opportunities but greater risks. The rules for recruiting talent in other parts of the world simply do not adapt to the specifics of China.

According to Stephenie Overman of Human Resources (HR) magazine, "In China, no matter who is recruiting for any position, they must adjust their thinking. In China, talent recruitment has its own unique set of Therefore, in some cases, you need to re-examine your own experience in talent discovery and hiring."

For example, you must make hiring decisions as quickly as possible so that talent does not fall into the arms of other companies. For another example, in order to determine the credibility of the information provided by the applicant, it is often necessary to conduct multiple interviews with the same person. In any case, the fast-changing situation is indeed one of the main characteristics of the Chinese business world. At the same time, companies in China quickly grasped this feature and responded quickly, drawing on the recruitment techniques of the world's advanced companies to adapt to the requirements of the situation. These techniques are introduced one by one below.

1. Establish its own unique employment standards and absorb suitable talents for the enterprise.

The Southwest Airlines example above illustrates this. The uniqueness of the corporate culture determines that the employment standards of the company must also be unique. In his book, Clems wrote: "List the qualities and characteristics that are most important to you and your business as criteria for hiring applicants."

In addition, the experience of Southwest Airlines should be Intangible qualities of personnel. Like professional sports teams, they must not only require quantifiable conditions, but also must pay attention to the inspection of intangible qualities such as attitudes, opinions, and ways of thinking of personnel.

2. Establish the professional brand of the enterprise.

Many businesses spend a lot of time, money, and effort building awareness for their products, and rightfully so. But few companies are willing to go to great lengths to build their professional reputation. Similar to the competition of products, in the competition for talents, enterprises must ensure their professional reputation and attractiveness to talents.

Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood, authors of Why the Bottom Line Isn't, argue that building a company's professional brand requires a clear image of a good work environment. "Only by creating a visible and positive working environment for employees can an enterprise be favored by talented people."

To measure a company's professional reputation, similar criteria can be used to evaluate product brand awareness: recognition, memory and recognition Spend. Talent war is a competitive activity. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the professional reputation of competitors, and establish the brand strategy of the company accordingly, highlighting the difference between the company and the competitors.

3. Determine the connotation of the corporate brand.

In order to establish the professional reputation of the enterprise, it is necessary to establish the connotation of the enterprise brand. In an interview with Fast Company magazine, Ed Michaels, director of McKinsey & Company, believes that four types of corporate brand connotations are the most attractive to talented people.

The first: "Moving forward with the winners" is most effective for talents who want to join successful companies. Second: "The greater the risk, the greater the reward." This atmosphere is best suited for people who like to take on challenges and want to do great things and earn high rewards. Third: "Save the world", suitable for talents with a lofty sense of mission. Fourth: "Multiple lifestyles", suitable for talents who enjoy a more flexible and superior lifestyle.

What do you want your business to convey?

4. Encourage employees to recommend talents for the enterprise.

Who is the backbone of promoting the company's professional reputation? The answer is "employees of the enterprise". So, how can they be motivated to contribute to the promotion of corporate career visibility?

According to Chief Executive magazine, Deloitte and Touche have found that companies are so successful in attracting talent that they recognize that their employees are the people who care most about the business, and that they are also the source of talent information. the best source. A manager of a company said: "The employees of the company will never risk their own reputation when recommending people to the company, so the talents they recommend will never be general. Therefore, what we need to do is to encourage employees. Actively recommend talents for enterprises." Deloitte hired 8,500 new employees last year, of which 2,000 entered the company through the recommendation of corporate employees.

5. Summarize the characteristics of the outstanding talents of the enterprise, and employ personnel based on this standard.

Smart corporate recruiters follow up on a company's top employees and summarize their strengths and strengths. The enterprise organizes the outstanding talents to conduct group discussions, summarizes their successful experiences, and uses the personality test to evaluate their personality characteristics, and use this as a reference standard for recruiters.

JG Summit, one of the largest conglomerates in Southeast Asia, has carefully analyzed the background information of outstanding managers in the enterprise, and based on this, it has formulated corporate recruitment standards and strives to attract talents who meet these success criteria. For example, going through a bumpy early life and eventually overcoming it often indicates that a person has the strong will needed to succeed. Therefore, when investigating the background of talent, companies are specifically looking for people with this kind of experience overcoming setbacks.

Dell Computer Corporation took the same approach and identified five key qualities for hiring managers: the ability to learn quickly, the ability to excel in a changing environment, the ability to achieve goals, the ability to solve problems, and the ability to build teams .

In addition to finding suitable personnel for the enterprise, this method has another advantage: ensuring mutual adaptation between personnel. Since newcomers to a company's management team have the same background experience and perspective, it is easy to form a tacit cooperation.

6. The company's senior leaders actively participate in the absorption and selection of talents.

How much time do you spend working as a recruiter? If you are hesitant to answer this question, it means that you are not investing enough time. Since the personnel problem is of great significance to the enterprise, talent recruitment should be an important task of the enterprise leadership. "You have to go out there and find, screen, and retain the best people," say human resources experts Yuriqi and Smallwood.

Not just for leadership, but managers at every level of the business should attract talent as an important part of the job. Cisco, HP, Microsoft, and Nike have all done this. Apple's Steve Jobs is known to often leave in the middle of meetings to personally participate in the hiring and retention of key people. Dell (Michael Dell) also often calls interested people in the company in the car, striving to recruit talents to his own banner in front of his opponents.

7. The team selects new members independently.

Prolific writer Warren Bennis, who has always been on the subject of leadership strategy, says bringing in talent is one of the fundamental responsibilities of business leaders. Strategy + Business magazine interviewed him, asking business leaders how to find the right talent and create a "good collective." This collective power is extraordinary and can often achieve great things with limited resources.

Bennis replied: "First of all, the people on the team must be like-minded. That is to say, there must be a tacit cooperation in the group, and the work should be taken seriously together. At the same time, the team must have the decision-making power in selecting new people. Sometimes, new people There are also various tests that must be passed in order to be recognized by the team."

8. "Online Recruitment": Make full use of advanced electronic technologies such as the Internet.

As in other areas of business, talent acquisition is becoming more and more connected to the Internet. Online recruitment has become more and more clear about the requirements of computer recruitment system.

Online recruiting at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas is a testament to that. At one point, restaurants had to enroll 9,600 staff within 24 weeks, Fast Company reported. This task simply cannot be accomplished without the assistance of electronic technology. In the end, the HR team adopted online recruitment and completed the recruitment on schedule in a "completely paperless" manner.

The Internet provides many convenient technologies for online recruitment. To make full use of network resources, generally the following steps should be taken:

●Create an online career application system.

●Design a questionnaire system suitable for the network environment.

● Conduct web job presentations and continuously improve.

●Establish a time planning system to facilitate job seekers to schedule interviews online.

●Screening and evaluation before the interview.

●Interview examiners use the computer system to inform job seekers of future arrangements.

The benefits of online recruiting are clear, but the disadvantages are also clear. Online recruiting has added a recruiting burden to managers at all levels of the business, and many managers are neither reluctant nor ready to take on this responsibility. Since managers at all levels are recruited through the network, the human resources department must strive to develop network recruitment system technology and provide relevant technical training to enterprise managers. When adopting an automated recruitment system, training and guidance on methods and skills must not be overlooked.

9. Ensure the perfection of the corporate website.

Recruiting through corporate websites is not new. About four-fifths of U.S. businesses with more than 250 employees have adopted this approach.

However, for many corporate sites, the integrity of the site needs to be improved. Inc. magazine recommends that the corporate website should have the following conditions or content:

●One-click links to all the company's web pages

●The website's external recruitment column publishes a list of corporate positions and guides applicants to apply through the web page

●Enterprise benefits, corporate culture, work/life philosophy, education and training, and personal development information

●A detailed and clear job description, preferably a salary standard at the same time

●Establish and store a set of professional skills overview , for applicants' future reference

●Provide technical support for online job search

●Notify applicants by private e-mail

●Support readers to recommend friends or colleagues

●Provide space for registered applicants Immediate job notification service to automatically notify applicants of suitable job vacancies via email.

●Provide a separate questionnaire for each position, which is convenient for enterprises to screen personnel and help to determine suitable positions for applicants.

10. Introduce "continuous recruitment".

Most companies are now adopting a "creepy" hiring principle. For example, when a marketing and sales manager leaves, the company is left scrambling to find a replacement. This type of hiring is called "emergency hiring". In fact, there is a better form of recruiting called "continuous recruiting."

The purpose of recruiting at leading companies is not just to fill vacancies. These companies know that the best talent in the industry is already employed. Therefore, companies are constantly looking for those who are suitable for the company and keep job offers to them. Business managers have also been looking for the people the business needs at meetings or cocktail parties. This allows businesses to pre-assess them to determine if they have enough capabilities to take a place in the business.

These giants will never advertise for talent. "If you're a top company, you have access to top talent," said a vice president at Hewlett-Packard.

Once you've identified great talent, keep in touch with them. Electronic Arts has accumulated information on thousands of potential talent through online applications. These applicants have submitted their background and personal development plans to the company. Once an applicant's situation meets the requirements of the vacant position in the enterprise, the enterprise management system will immediately notify the relevant management personnel and quickly start the recruitment process.

11. Use special tests to determine a person's intellectual and emotional intelligence suitability.

Many businesses use certain testing systems to assess the ability of candidates. Also tested are the candidates' learning methods, conflict management style, and emotional intelligence. The test systems that are gradually popularized mainly include the Myers-Briggs index system, the Kolb learning method evaluation and the Thomas-Kilman conflict mode control system. But keep in mind that the significance of these tests is by no means just a means of screening candidates, they should be used to further understand the personality of the candidates.

As we all know, high-tech enterprises usually use their own special evaluation test system to determine whether the applicant has the special qualities required by the enterprise. For example, Google, known as a search engine, applies its creativity to new employee searches. According to CNET, Google used Google Labs' aptitude test results to carefully design a series of bizarre test questions and a mysterious two-page advertisement, which recently appeared in some technical magazines.

Google spokeswoman Eileen Rodriguez told CNET: "Doing this helps attract the attention of all different types of people. We're always looking for creative talent at every opportunity, so we Always trying new methods."

The test has 21 quirky questions, such as:

● Describe various methods of periodic forecasting of search traffic in the form of Japanese lingering sentences.

● How many ways are there to color an icosahedron with three colors, one color per face? Which colors would you choose?

●This is intentionally left blank. Please choose a way to fill this gap.

12. Use Internet search engines to investigate applicants.

Companies like Google are taking creative approaches to recruiting, and some corporate recruiters are using Google's search engine creatively. According to the online edition of the Wall Street Journal, researching applicants' backgrounds through Internet searches has become a common method used by corporate recruiters. Recruiters report that using this method can sometimes yield very useful information about applicants that cannot be obtained from resumes and cover letters.

A corporate personnel manager told the daily reporter: "Smart recruiters usually use Google to search for candidates." She said the search engine is very helpful to understand the applicant's situation. The higher the position of the applicant, the more information there is about him. Internet searches are often more valuable than an applicant's CV.

13. Participate in cross-industry business exhibitions.

Business Asia reports that business and talent exchanges are becoming more common in China. Many companies use such exchanges to attract foreign investment and seek out talents from the region and the industry. Cliff Stoneman said: "This kind of trade show provides a great opportunity for companies. Companies can not only showcase their corporate reputation to the talent market, but also introduce their products and services to consumers and potential customers."

Therefore, our suggestion is: attend a cross-industry business and talent exchange meeting to search for talent among exhibitors and visitors. This method is very effective because there are many jobs available for people who visit the exhibition, and companies that contact them early can have an advantage. These businesses have a unique opportunity to prove to job seekers that they are their first choice.

14. Evaluate the quality of employment of the enterprise.

After successfully hiring an applicant who meets the company's requirements, this experience should be used to summarize and adjust the company's recruitment process.

Workforce interviewed Nick Burkholder, founder of Staffing.org, about the key metrics for evaluating the effectiveness of a company's recruiting process. In this regard, Burkhold said: "The most important factor is neither the qualifications of the applicant, nor the personal resume, nor the recruiter, but the quality of the company's employment. Another criterion is the efficiency of the company to fill vacancies. ."

Hiring quality is assessed by dividing the employee's average recruitment cost by the employee's salary. "The problem is that a lot of companies don't count individuals individually, they count all their hires together. It's like comparing a Hyundai with a Mercedes, with a huge price difference, but a premium product. The rewards for you are also much greater. It seems that it is very necessary for companies to evaluate the efficiency and value of personnel recruitment."

Jet Magsaysay is a consultant to this magazine, translated by Zhu Xiaofan.