The 7 Stages of the Recruitment Process

The secret to finding the best Cloud & IT Infrastructure candidates on the market is in your understanding of the recruitment process.

A solid grasp of the different requirements at each stage of the process will keep you one step ahead of your competition in the race for top talent.

Will Martin takes us through the 7 stages of the recruitment process:

“Recruitment from the outside can seem very hectic, a bit unstructured and simply calling and emailing any relevant candidate.

However there is method to the madness.

There are 7 key stages within the recruitment process.

1. Preparing your ideal candidate

Firstly, you should begin by defining the characteristics of your ideal candidate.

This starts with a full requirement analysis taken directly from the hiring manager.

A requirement analysis ensures that we have the exact profile of the required candidate, not to leave your recruiters to work out the details from a job specification.

This will include:

The must-have technologies in the candidate skill set
The nice-to-have technologies
The short, medium and long-term plans for the successful candidate
The candidate’s previous employment background
Certifications needed for the role

2. Sourcing and attraction

The second stage is sourcing and attracting potential candidates.

This can be done via LinkedIn, advertising campaigns, CV libraries as well as specific businesses from which to head-hunt individuals.

Recruiters will use these platforms to search for specific technology keywords, job titles and other IT Solutions & Services providers.

3. Converting candidates

After you have sourced and attracted Cloud & IT Infrastructure professionals, you need to convert them into candidates.

This includes conducting a thorough profile pre-screen to determine if they can perform the job duties and responsibilities in their current role, as well as certifications, technology expertise, types of projects they have worked on etc.

4. Selecting and screening candidates

Once candidates have been qualified, it’s time to choose which of these applicants will be put through to interview.

Through targeted searches against technologies, job titles, duties and responsibilities you will be able to find those suitable individuals through a thorough profile and pre-screen.

After this, you are able to determine which of those you want to talk to more closely about their interest and ability to perform the role within your organisation.

5. The interview processes

The next part is the most daunting for candidates; the interview process.

A specialist recruitment consultancy like InfraView will prepare candidates 24 hours before their interview, as well as taking very detailed de-briefs from them.

This not only allows us to better learn what you are specifically looking for in candidates, but to also allow us to better prepare those meeting your business so they know how to show their best side to you.

Throughout the interview process recruiters will continuously check progress against salary expectations to see if anything has changed or they would consider accepting a counter-offer from their current employer.

Having as much information on the status of the candidate is crucial if you want to ensure you are making the right hire for your business.

6. Reference checks

Reference checks are pretty standard fair in any hiring process.

At InfraView we ask for references at the beginning of the process. This saves time at the end of the hiring process, and most candidates are happy to share their references.

As with all stages of the recruitment process, you will see greater success by finding ways to keep your hiring machine running smoothly.

By asking for references at the start of the process, you will save effort later on.

7. Onboarding

Finally, once the candidate has accepted your offer it’s time to think about onboarding.

This really is the icing on the cake for your recruitment process.

If onboarding becomes painful and difficult, it can be much easier for the candidate to accept a count-offer in their current organisation and stay where they are.

To avoid this, ensure your onboarding process is as slick as possible. Have your onboarding plans ready to go for when the candidate has accepted, make them feel welcome and get them excited to start their journey in your organisation.

Get these 7 stages right and your recruitment strategy will be on its way to generating top quality candidate leads for your business.”