I think world-class recruiting is really about three things:

1. Building a pipeline of qualified talent before you need to hire someone.
2. Accurate, valid selection criteria.
3. A fantastic candidate experience.

Those three things are the real game-changers. Everything else is just fluff.

Building a Pipeline

The key here is to have a pipeline of great people who want to come work for you before you’ve posted an opening.

How do you make that happen?

Employer branding. Networking. Building relationships.

Will there still be times where you need to go out looking for someone whose got the right stuff? Of course! But building a pipeline can shave a lot of time off your normal recruiting process.

Valid Selection Criteria

I know a lot of seasoned recruiters will disagree with me on this, but I don’t think interviews are a great way to select someone for a job.

(And the data backs me up on this!)

People who interview well don’t always perform well. People who interview bad are often rockstar performers. Interviews are subjective, inconsistent, and often don’t measure the things that really matter when it comes to whether or not someone can do a job well.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying we need to scrap them all together. I think they’re great for figuring out if someone would be a good fit for the team or organizational culture. But when it comes to determining performance capabilities… Not so much!

So what should you be doing?

• Mental Aptitude Tests. These make people uncomfortable, but there’s a mountain of evidence of that these are one of the strongest predictors of performance, especially for complex jobs (Aptitude is not the same as intelligence).
• Job Simulations. Why not have someone actually do a simulation of the job you’re hiring them for? Looking for a marketing manager? Give candidates a background story, product and some criteria, and let them create a campaign.

A Great Candidate Experience

Everything about a candidates experience applying for a job at your organization should be magical and exciting.

Searching for open positions should be easy. Applying for them should be easy. When someone applies, they should get a response and know what’s going on behind the scenes.

The selection process should be smooth. No surprises. No last-minute cancellations. No we-interviewed-you-a-month-ago-and-haven’t-talked-to-you-since.

What happens now?

For far too many candidates, the career page is difficult to navigate, applying for a job is like taking the SATs, and resumes get lost in a black hole. The interview process is chaotic, unclear and often scary. And communication before and after is awful.

I get why it happens. Lots of people apply for a few jobs. Recruiting teams – if there’s even a dedicated team – are stretched thin. Applicant tracking systems are expensive. Things fall through the cracks.

It doesn’t matter. If you want rockstars, you need to provide an awesome experience from start to finish.

All candidates – even the ones who don’t get the job – are potential future employees, customers or referral sources. What do you want them saying about your organization after the fact?