Basic steps in the talent acquisition process to produce positive candidate experience

The current paradigm shift in the economy is changing the way business functions are managed, including HR. However, that cannot and will not change certain basic steps in the talent acquisition process. The tough economic conditions have made professionals revisit their skills, diversify, and look at opportunities that fit the need of the hour and are promising in the long run. Hence, recruitment managers need to get on top of things now more than ever. Ergo, the talent acquisition process that you follow will define the kind of talent you acquire and retain for your organization.

The best practices in this HR function involve a few basic steps. Here’s a detailed layout for easier understanding.

But before we get there, it’s important to understand how the talent acquisition process itself is undergoing a change, because of changing work practices and the increasing integration of machine learning, cloud competency, exploitation of digital channels, and so on. The process that you would adopt to acquire new talent needs to incorporate each of these latest tools.

Step 1: Marketing/Promoting the opportunity

When sourcing talent, you would want to attract the best. And to do that you need to generate enough awareness of your organization and the role you are seeking to fill. That is where you need a robust marketing strategy, both inbound and outbound. Building a powerful employer brand and running recruitment campaigns, using a smart recruitment portal, leveraging employee referrals, and creating candidate-focused content is the first step to finding the best talent. For outbound marketing, exploit social media platforms, email campaigns, and mobile-first communication.

Step 2. Screening and sorting

Once you have enough applications/candidate profiles, it’s time to sort them by the defined parameters of the role and also of the organizational values. This is where an ATS (application tracking system) with smart tools come in handy. There are a million ATS available for recruiters but you need to see what fits your need and meets the talent acquisition goals. Educational qualifications, soft skills, domain expertise, professional personality, work ethics and values, career goals, compatibility with organizational culture, etc. are a few basic parameters to look at. 

Step 3: Assessment and test analysis

Using assessment tools enabled with AI can give the best analysis of the candidates. Evaluating a candidate’s performance is not just about their technical or even soft skills anymore but also about their EQ, behavioral patterns (during the interviews/test), and so on. Recruiters today need an assessment tool that harnesses the power of machine learning and NLP to come up with the most detailed analytics. Such scientific methods are important to eliminate the bias of the recruiter.

Step 4: Setting up the interview

Interviews are not just for asking questions. With changing norms, more so in the current scenarios, there is a rise in video interviews and tests. Powerful video interview tools can assess the coding skills of candidates, serve live questions and present real-time results.  From setting up the right questions to observing the behavior of the candidate, high-end online interview systems can replace physical interviews much more efficiently. Opt for a customizable testing system, where you can personalize questions based on the candidate’s profile, so it yields the sharpest results.

Step 5: Conversion, onboarding, and retention

The last basic step in the talent acquisition process is converting the screened candidates into final hires. This is the stage where the recruiter evaluates the entire candidate journey to decide on the selection. This is followed by negotiation in salary, explaining the job role, and helping the candidate get on board.

While the above five steps outline the basic steps in the talent acquisition process, it is important to note that the process is also an experience for the candidates. The tools and technologies you use during this process can produce a positive and favorable image of your organization. 

Studies have shown that nearly 30% of new hires leave within the first 100 days of joining. And the steps followed in the talent acquisition process have the potential to create an inspiring hiring journey.

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