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With more than 10 million Americans out of work, there is no lack of potential job candidates searching for jobs. However, despite talent finder, recruitmentthe numerous amounts of people wishing to join the job force, assuring that your company hires the right candidate isn’t as easy as placing a “Help Wanted” sign in the window and interviewing the applicants that happen to pass by. If a company wants to assure that it recruits top talent that is well suited for the position and an asset to the team, here are some simple guidelines that can be followed:

Create a Strong Job Description

Assuming the goal of the job description is to intrigue potential talent, get that talent interested in reading more about the position and applying for the job, it should be fairly obvious that some time should be spent in crafting an engaging job description. In doing so, work along these guidelines:

  1. Use a catchy title – “Energetic Sales Expert” reads much more engagingly than “Sales Person Needed”. At the same time, be specific about the company in the job title - “Energetic Sales Expert at Top Car Dealership”.
  2. List specific requirements - Consider successful employees who have held the position – what traits did they share that are necessary to complete the job? Be specific about these requirements, but assure you aren’t excluding potential candidates by making your requirement section a wish list rather than an actual blueprint of what is needed from an employee.
  3. Describe the position – A truly talented candidate has a wealth of opportunities available to them, so you want to sell them on why a job at your company is the best choice. At the same time, it is a waste to draw in potential candidates who aren’t really interested in the position, so be sure that the job duties are clearly defined.

Advertise the Job Successfully

Gone are the days of finding successful candidates from the classifieds or on job boards. Once a strong job description is created, the next step is to find a suitable place for recruiting the talent your company is seeking. In this case, more isn’t always better, and strategically refining the placement of the job position can help assure that top candidates apply. In doing so, consider the following places:

  1. Company’s website - Never miss the opportunity to advertise the job to those who are visiting the website and thus already somewhat interested.
  2. Inter-office - Referrals can be a great lead! Be sure current employees are aware of the job posting and can point interested candidates in the right direction.
  3. Specialized markets – Consider trade organizations, as well as technical and professional websites. Reach out to those who are already involved in the field.
  4. Social media - Post the job on LinkedIn, your company’s Facebook page, etc. On places like this, others “sharing” the posting can attain even more referrals.

Interview Candidates Effectively

The well-placed, strong job description is effective at pulling in talented candidates, but now how do you filter through these to ensure that the top talent is hired? A well-designed interview process, of course! Consider the following:

  1. Email Screening - This presents the opportunity to get an initial opinion about candidates and weed through any who are not prompt in their reply or who do not proofread their response.
  2. Phone Screening – Call those who have passed the email test. Find out more about the candidate and their interest in the position, and learn more about their communication skills.
  3. Interviews – The next step is to meet the remaining potential candidates. Assure that you prepare for the interview by brainstorming important questions to ask during this process. Also consider having more than one employee meet with and ask questions of the interviewee.
  4. Shadowing – Consider having the remaining candidates follow those in the position for which they are applying for one day (or more, if necessary). This gives you as the employer a really accurate look at how the candidate will handle the position and allows the candidate to better determine if they truly want the position.

Despite the demand for jobs in today’s market, it can still be difficult to find a talented employee. A simple job ad with an email address published in a newspaper isn’t likely to find you the professional you want for your company, but if you take some steps such as creating an engaging job description, posting the job efficiently, and interviewing candidates effectively, you can help assure you land the top candidate for the job.

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Kate Simmons

Kate Simmons is a blogger and writer on recruitment-related topics. She is currently experimenting with how effective phone answering services are in pre-screening applicants. You can reach Kate via Twitter.

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