I am a pretty independent and resourceful person. I like a good challenge. I am willing to try almost anything once. Maybe you are the same?

So when something breaks in my house, I will give it go and try to fix it myself. The air conditioner went out last week and I gave it a try. Flipping breakers, replacing filters, oiling fans, etc. No success. The feedback was pretty immediate, no cold air meant sleeping in a house that was near 85 degrees Fahrenheit, so fairly hot and uncomfortable for Maryland. Time to call a professional. Next day, the HVAC professional got us back on the path to cool air and comfortable sleeping.

When tax time comes around, I could do it myself for home, but the business is too important to mess with the do-it-yourself models. We are in business for reasons other than doing the taxes…that is something a professional needs to do. If I get a letter that requires legal review and attention, a professional is called in to help. Professionals serve a purpose and frequently do things better, more effectively and with less negative consequence than going it alone.

So what does this have to do with recruitment? These are tough times to find and attract qualified talent. So why are so many using employers using homegrown, do-it-yourself, and internal methods? Maybe independent recruiters need to better explain the value they deliver. Or perhaps being a professional recruiter is so easy anyone can do it?

Here are some reasons I think using a professional recruiter makes more sense than homegrown methods of recruiting:

Top 10 Reasons to Call a Professional Recruiter

10. Hiring a recruiter keeps you focused on your core business.

9. Recruiters know employment law. One false move on your own could cost you way more than what you might save on a fee.

8. Recruiters can engage candidates that you cannot. For example, the best talent at a competitive business.

7. Your time is worth money. Your time and your staff time is not free.

6. Missing opportunities to get the right candidate can be very costly.

5. Recruiters will make you define the job requirements in a clear and accurate way. This gives you a higher likelihood of retaining top talent. People leave because the job was not what they were told it was.

4. Recruiters will find talent for you for years into the future once you have them on your radar. They may locate a talented candidate that is a super fit in your organization two years after a targeted search is completed.

3. Recruiters will help reduce the time to hire. Open positions are costing you money. Filling openings quicker saves you money.

2. Recruiters can negotiate salary, benefits and details less emotionally and with greater likelihood of success than you can directly.

And the number one reason you should hire a professional recruiter is:

1. A recruiter can make you money – if a professional recruiter finds even one significant candidate you might have missed on your own, or better yet, brings you a talented candidate long after a specific search is done, that candidate can drive thousands of dollars of profit to your bottom line over a 10-, 20- or 30-year career.

When it comes to attracting and retaining key talent, can you afford the homegrown, in-house method versus the use of a professional recruiter?

Too Many Job Interviews!

Too Many Job Interviews!

I think I have a new pet peeve - candidates who are subjected to endless job interviews. 

I'm talking 5, 6, or more interviews. 

It is madness! 

What do employers think they are gaining by this?

Here are 3 ways excessive job interviews are harmful to employers:

1. The best candidates back out. Top candidates simply don't need to put up with an excessively-slow hiring process. They have other options, and will exercise those options.

2. The employer looks indecisive. Having candidates interview repeatedly sends a message that that a company is disorganized, or indecisive, or both (or worse). That is not a strategy for attracting top talent.

3. The employer's reputation is harmed. More and more candidates are posting reviews of their interview experiences on sites like Glassdoor. If the interview process is long, drawn-out, poorly communicated, with silly questions, candidates are going to share that information online. This negatively impacts an employer's ability to attract top talent for future roles.

What's behind all these job interviews? Fear of making a bad hire. No doubt about it, hiring decisions are big and important and need to be "done right." 

Here are 5 ideas that will help employers feel more confident that they have an interview process that both evaluates candidates fairly and accurately and allows the employer to hire the person who can best "do the job."

1. Develop a standard set of questions. Make sure every candidate is asked the same set of questions (and that the answers are documented). This is the only way to know if candidates are being evaluated on the same criteria. Pre-recorded video screening is a great way to do this.

2. Develop (and use!) a scale to score a candidate's answers to interview questions. For each question, determine in advance what would be strong, average, and weak answers.

3. Determine, in advance, what success on the job looks like. For example, a specific project will have been completed, a new store will open, sales will be increased by a certain percentage or similar. Once success has been defined, it will be easier to develop questions that help an employer determine which candidates are likely to meet those targets.

4. Figure out which information needs to be gathered during each step of the process, and who needs to be involved. Without a defined process, candidates often are asked the same questions over and over again. Not only does this frustrate the job seeker, it also does NOT add value to the hiring process, since there is no new information being shared. If possible, limit the number of people involved in the interviews.

5. Tell the candidate in advance what kind of information is being sought. Job interviews are stressful! It *is* possible to have a rigorous interview process that still allows a candidate to focus her preparation on the skills and information that is most critical to an employer's needs.

Too many job interviews alienate the best candidates and don't improve hiring results. 

What's your best tip for improving the hiring process?