Recruitment is a responsible and intense process that requires not only good understanding of human nature, but also great data management skills. Getting to that new hire usually takes several weeks. Keeping in mind that you are most likely looking to fill a few positions at a time, managing the process and all the associated documents becomes a challenge.
To deal with this issue recruiters choose various methods . Some rely on their organizational skills, while others start looking for specialized tools however this time I will discuss neither. Instead I want to talk about how the recruitment process could be managed with a project management tool. Something that you most likely already have in your office. I have used our project management solution Eylean Board for the example.
Recruitment process is no different with clear, mostly predefined steps.
Like many other project management tools out there Eylean is based on the Agile principles. This means that the whole project is performed in steps from beginning to end. Recruitment process is no different with clear, mostly predefined steps. Candidate search, selection process, first interview, second interview, job offer or rejection all can be easily separated and defined on the project board.
Recruitment processes vary according to the field and the position. Thus the board columns are modified accordingly. Kanban is not a replacement, but rather a good Microsoft Project alternative. They are added, moved or deleted any time to reflect and visualize the exact steps recruiters take. To mark the available positions, I use the board rows. Where the row name represents the position title, company, the duration of the search and other important information.
But what about the candidates, right?
This way the project management environment is used to quickly visualize the recruitment process and mark the available positions. But we also need a good way to manage candidates, right? Well, they are surely not forgotten. In fact, candidates are the most important part of the board — the task cards.
Each card represents a separate candidate and hold all of the information related to them. The task can be named after the candidate, documents, such as resume, cover letter and completed tasks attached, the important information noted in the detail section and the next steps, like calling for a follow up, written down. This way the recruiters hold all of the important data in one place with no confusion and can access it any time.
Once the selection process starts it is easy to move the selected candidates through the process. As well as to quickly note the important next steps in each selection. Also all of the information in is held in one board. Which means you can not only manage, but also share it with the whole team. Allowing for better understanding of the selection process, help between team members and even the possibility to overtake the process if the need arises.
Even though it might seem project management software like Eylean Board is not fit to use in the recruitment process, it can actually be a great choice. Visual process presentation, candidate information management and the reminder system guarantees that the recruitment process will not only be managed, but also plain, effective and clear for the whole team, not to mention, you probably already have a similar tool at hand.
