Halloween & Recruiting – Sweet Parallels
Halloween was my second favorite holiday, just behind Christmas.
Each year I’d chart out the neighborhoods and plan where I would trick-or-treat. With a few years of experience under my belt, I knew which houses passed out the best candy.
My friends and I moved in a pack because it was more fun, but mostly for protection from the bigger kids who would try to steal our candy.
The key for us was to visit the most houses so we could to fill the biggest bag of candy. That gave us better odds of getting candy that we liked. Because for every 6 Starbursts I received (not my favorite) I also got a Snickers (yum). I just hated those stale popcorn balls that were supposed to be ‘healthier.’ Whose idea was that anyway?
That’s just the beginning of a recruiting strategy
In retrospect, I was using good recruiting strategies in search of maximum ‘good’ candies. My strategy to maximize the amount of ‘good’ candy is similar to the goal of recruiters to uncover and hire ‘good’ qualified candidates.
But that’s just the beginning of the recruiting strategy. Here are a number of parallels that you can use in your recruitment strategy…
Wider range, more candy
My primary Halloween strategy was to reach the greatest number of houses possible. Then I would go where I knew the houses gave ‘good’ candy. Also, this meant not wasting time walking to neighborhoods with few houses or didn’t give out candy. The only restriction was our time curfew and/or how inclement the weather was while we were trick-or-treating.
In recruiting, the goals are the same. You want to use as many ‘good’ sources as possible to get as many qualified candidates as possible – the ones that give the best candidates.
In order to do this, you must look at your past successes and failures in recruiting, analyze which recruitment methods worked or didn’t, then decide what route is best for your team. Our restrictions may still be time. Maybe you’re on a tight deadline. But the primary concern is usually money – the hiring budget. You need to decide where is the best place to spend those dollars.
Combing through your Halloween bag
One of the most fun times during the night was seeing what kind of candy I received. I’d empty my bag (always an old pillow case) and review what I had, sorting the good candy from the candy I wouldn’t eat. I would put the candy I liked back in my bag for later and then I’d try to trade with friends for candy more to my taste.
Once you have collected a quantity of candidates from your recruiting efforts, start screening through resumes & candidates. Much like splitting the candy, you need your recruiting team to sort candidates into qualified and unqualified for the position. You want to collect as many qualified candidates as possible to give you a candidate pool with more alternatives and choice.
Don’t forget to look out for candidates whose qualifications don’t fit the position you are recruiting for but may fit another position that needs to be filled.
Making the candy hang in there
After returning home with all my candy, I tried to make it last as long as possible. I squirreled away my candy in the pantry and when my friends had run out after Halloween, I still was hanging in with candy for snacks.
Similarly, you should keep in touch with the ‘good’ candidates that your efforts have dug up. Don’t abandon any. All qualified candidates should be interviewed for the current position and also placed into your database for consideration for future assignments. Some ‘good’ candidates just aren’t right for the current spot, but may be perfect for a future position.
Just like a kid on Halloween, you need to make sure you are able to optimize the amount of candy or candidates you get from your efforts. If you use the best recruiting techniques and effectively screen the candidates you have found, you may just have sweet success!
Business is always changing. Flexicrew supports you as your business strategy and recruiting challenges evolve – so you always stay ahead.