The design of your recruitment process – it’s not something you’ve probably given much thought to.
You advertise, recruit and onboard team members as and when you need them, using the same framework you have always used – simple. Or is it?
There is a growing school of thought that advocates for a new type of recruitment process – one which creates a shift in the paradigm of the interviewer-interviewee relationship and makes your recruitment much more accurate and successful.
Today I want to share three strategies to include in your recruitment process to get the most out of every candidate and improve your retention rates, strengthening your organisation.
Let’s get started with a new kind of interview question.
New Interview Questions
‘Tell us about a time you overcame a challenge at work’, ‘talk about when you had to step up to become a leader’ – do these questions sound familiar?
In recent years, interviews have gone from being traditional question and answer type affairs to competency-based interviews, which are much better at ascertaining a candidate’s competency for a specific role.
While competency-based questions are beneficial and I would encourage you to continue to use them in your interviews, there are different types of questions which you should be including.
A great question to ask the candidate is ‘can you teach us about one of your passions or interests?’. This question allows the candidate to flex their knowledge and demonstrate their communication skills. They should have the authority to speak as an expert about this topic which is close to their hearts, and it will allow you to see how effectively they can deliver information to people less informed about a specific topic.
If the candidate either can’t communicate an idea of their own choosing effectively, or they pick a topic they are not particularly interested in, this can tell you a lot about their drive and their mindset.
Including a Role-Specific Interview Section
Many interview processes include a period for the candidate to effectively ‘try out’ the new role; this can consist of a few hours or even longer (sometimes an entire day) where the candidate trials working in their prospective new role.
This part of the interview is included to see how well the candidate can navigate their new role, and how well they will integrate into the company. It can tell you a lot about the character of a candidate and is a useful part of any interview process.
But consider going one step further – as well as trialling your candidate in their potential new role, have a current team member spend some one-on-one time with the candidate.
Allow around half an hour for a team-member-on-candidate interview, so that they can get to know them outside of the potentially stuffy atmosphere of the interview room.
Candidates are much more relaxed when talking to a potential future colleague than a potential manager, and this can allow them to act more naturally, and let their real personality, and their skill and knowledge to shine.
Making Use of Writing Samples
Writing samples are often used during interview processes, though admittedly generally not for financial roles.
But employers who introduce a writing sample stage in their interview process can glean valuable information about their candidates which can help them make more informed and better decisions.
Depending on the role that you are interviewing for, you can introduce a stage in which you ask the candidate to produce a writing sample for their potential position. It could be an email to a client or customer or an email to colleagues or management regarding a specific issue.
You can provide them with an example of what you are looking for, in terms of subject or length, but leaving it up to the candidate as much as possible will give you the best idea of how they are at communicating ideas and acting professionally.
Be on the lookout for how clearly they communicate ideas, how accurate they are with information, and how professional they are in demonstrating their own, or the companies tone and voice.
Why Change Your Recruitment Process Now?
In a post-Covid world, many companies have had to rethink their entire business model, with cost-saving a top priority.
Redesigning your recruitment process is not only free to do and cost-effective, but it also ensures that you have the right people in the right roles in what is probably the most business-critical time we are facing in decades.
While some companies are making redundancies, now is the time to look at filling the positions you do have with only the best from the available talent.
If you have current financial vacancies and need the best talent to fill these roles, we can help.
Get in touch with our finance recruitment experts here to discuss getting the best talent for your current or future vacancies.
Thanks,
Rachel
About Rebus Financial Recruitment
Rebus Financial Recruitment provides a specialist and focused recruitment service to its customers, which historically range from a wide variety of organisations including SME’s to large PLCs.
We strive to offer both the client and candidate a seamless recruitment experience. Using our expertise, we get to the heart of employer and employee needs; and, in doing so, we match the two perfectly. To find out more, get in contact with one of our team today, or you can call us on 01282 930930.
