If your company is working with a recruiter to identify the best talent for open roles, you are putting a lot of trust in this talent acquisition specialist to find the best possible candidates for job openings. If you have never worked with a recruiter before, or you have found that a few of the most recent candidates did not match up with the positions they were interviewed for, you may be wondering how to go about approaching this area of hiring.
With a little research into some of the best practices of recruiting, you can make a solid judgment on if this recruiter is seeking out the best candidates for your company. Here is how to determine if your recruiter is looking for the right talent:
Determine if the Recruiter is Asking the Right Questions
Some things recruiters should look for in any candidate, like communication skills. These skills can be assessed with a variety of questions and observing how the candidate best expresses their response to the questions. If they respond clearly and with confidence, this is a skill that the recruiter can easily observe.
However, you may want to determine if your recruiter is looking at deeper skills that match up to your company’s field, values, goals, or the specific job descriptions. In this way, you may want to ask the recruiter what types of industry questions they ask, such as scenario questions, case study questions, or even a question about your specific company. Finding out what types of questions your recruiter is asking can help you to determine if they are reaching out to the right talent.
Determine if the Recruiter is Assessing the Entire Resume
While recent certifications and professional development are certainly desirable, you will want to ensure that your recruiter is assessing the applicants’ entire resume and not just sending along candidates with recent certifications related to your company’s area or field.
By reading the entire resume and taking into account applicable experience and education, as well as unrelated experience that could be applicable to aspects of the open job, your recruiter will be able to make a better call on each candidate. Ensuring that your recruiter gives each application a thorough read will help you to make sure that are finding the best applicants for your company.
In-person Interviews
If your recruiter is focusing mainly on paperwork, like resumes and applications, they may miss something that could have been obvious with an in-person interview or meeting. To determine if your recruiter is looking for the right talent, ask if they are conducting any type of in-person, Zoom, or phone conversations with the candidates.
A simple Zoom call or other video interview can really tell a recruiter a lot about a candidate, their personality, their experience, and their communication style that would really help to determine fit with the company.
Overall, there are several ways to make sure that your recruiter is looking for the right talent, including asking the right questions, assessing the entire resume, and speaking with candidates via phone Zoom, or in person.