Five Ways to Make Your Finance Recruiting Process More Effective

Speed and efficiency are two essential components of a successful finance recruiting process.  

Unfortunately, the average time to hire someone stands at around 43 days in most sectors, and recruitment can be even more complicated for the financial sector. At present, the financial industry is experiencing a significant skill shortage. In the UK, between April and June 2022, there were more than five vacancies present for every 100 jobs.  

The slower and more complicated your hiring strategy is, the more likely you are to miss out on top talent. Plus, you’ll have a gap in your team which can lead to lost productivity, revenue, and even reduced employee engagement.  

Taking steps to boost the efficiency of your hiring process can improve your chances of securing the right candidates and staying one step ahead of the competition.  

Here are some of the best ways to improve your recruitment strategy. 

1. Define Your Goals First 

 

 

One of the biggest mistakes business leaders make in hiring is failing to determine what they really need from a new candidate. If you’re hiring for a newly created role, you’ll need to think about the skills your ideal individual should have and their responsibilities. 

If you’re replacing a lost employee, you may need to update the job description for their role. After all, the financial industry moves rapidly, and the job ads you created several years ago may no longer be relevant in the new market.  

Create a list of hiring objectives, and make sure all of the leaders in your team are on the same page about how you will define the perfect hire. You might create a checklist of specific skills to look for or assign points to certain certifications and characteristics.  

If you discover you may be asking for too much from a single candidate, you may hire multiple people for slightly different roles.  

2. Create Clear and Compelling Job Descriptions  

Once you clearly understand who you need for your finance company, the next step is ensuring you can attract the right candidates. This starts with creating effective job descriptions, highlighting all the information an individual may need about a job.  

Provide useful, specific details about your open roles. Mention the kind of finance projects your new hire might be responsible for and which teams they’ll work with. Distinguish between “must-have” requirements and the skills you’d like to see to attract a broad range of talent. 

Highlight the perks and benefits your potential employees will access within your role, and promote details about your company culture and vision. Describe what makes your business unique and why talented professionals might consider wanting to work with you. 

Crucially, make the language in your job description as clear, inclusive, and straightforward as possible. Choose simple job titles, avoid jargon, and avoid discriminatory terms like “young and energetic”.  

3. Work with a Recruitment Company to Improve Efficiency 

 

 

One of the easiest ways to make the hiring process more straightforward and efficient is to work with a professional financial recruitment company. These agencies can help with multiple different parts of the recruitment process, including: 

• Sourcing candidates: Recruitment agencies can source potential employees from their contact list, social media, universities, and a range of other environments, to ensure you have a wide selection of available candidates.  
• Screening professionals: Recruitment teams can help with screening the people who apply for your roles and making sure they’re relevant to the job. They can conduct tests on your behalf and engage in preliminary interviews.  

• Guiding your team: A recruitment agency can also give you advice on how to streamline your recruitment process with strategies like video interviews to save time on in-person conversations, using automated tools for filtering applicants, and creating pre-screen tests, questionnaires, and standardised procedures.  

A recruitment agency can give you the insights you need to make faster decisions about who to hire without compromising on excellent candidate quality. 

4. Fill Your Talent Pipeline 

Another way a recruitment company can help make your recruitment process more effective is by helping you fill your talent pipeline. Most of the time Finance companies spend on recruitment is dedicated to finding and screening candidates. At a time when 95% of business leaders say they struggle to find the right candidates, it’s helpful to have options lined up already. 

Filling your talent pipeline means working with a recruiter to source “passive candidates” for potential future roles in your company. Your financial recruiter can work with you to understand the values and characteristics you look for in an employee and then create a pipeline on your behalf. 

With a talent pipeline, whenever you need to hire a new staff member, you’ll be able to connect with your recruiter and dive into your existing contact list. These contacts will already be pre-screened and especially suited to your business, which can save you a lot of time. Recruiters can even stay in touch with your pipeline on your behalf to keep them engaged. 

5. Enhance the Candidate’s Experience 

 

 

If you want the top talent from the Finance industry to say “yes” to your job offers as quickly as possible, you’ll need to ensure you have a good candidate experience. The better the experience you can give your candidates, the stronger your employer brand and talent pipeline will be. Some of the ways you can boost the candidate experience include: 

• Shortening the application process: Make sure professionals can apply for your roles as easily as possible. Ask candidates to upload their cover letter and CV and answer a few basic questions to use for each job. If you like what you see, you can invite candidates to participate in standardised tests later. 
• Update your employer brand: Focus on making your employer brand as compelling as possible. Ensure you have an active social media presence, and ensure your careers page is attractive, informative, and user-friendly. Make it easy for potential candidates to see the benefits of working for your business, and be transparent. 
• Keep candidates in the loop: Failing to follow up quickly with a candidate after an interview can mean you lose the opportunity to hire them. With this in mind, keeping your candidates up-to-date throughout the hiring process is important. You can set up automated emails and messages to keep them in the loop.  

Improve Your Hiring Process 

Optimising your hiring and recruitment process doesn’t just save you time finding new employees; it can also save you money and improve your employer brand. The more efficient and effective your strategy is, the more likely you will ensure you don’t go without critical talent for your finance business for too long.   

 

Thanks  

Rachel Mitson M.D. 

About Rebus Financial Recruitment     

Rebus Financial Recruitment provides a specialist and focused recruitment service to its customers, ranging from various organisations, including SMEs, 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. Contact one of our team today to find out more, or you can call us on 01282 930930.