How to Make a Recruiting Plan

The key to any successful business venture is to have a plan of attack. This strategy applies to recruitment activities within any company, no matter what its size. Whether your recruitment plan is meant to be distributed to the public or to act as a set of guidelines for your staff, the success of your recruiting venture lies in its construction.

Things You'll Need

• Knowledge of fair-employment practices
• Job descriptions

Instructions

Develop a Recruiting Plan

1. Identify those positions within your organization that need to be filled. You will need to have the job descriptions handy as you develop your recruiting plan.

2. Determine at least six to eight characteristics the successful candidate for the position should possess. Make use of members of your current staff who may provide insight into what these characteristics may be by soliciting their opinions.

3. Decide upon the scope of publication for the current job posting. This may be determined based on the level of the position. For example, an executive-level job posting may require nationwide publication, while an entry-level position may only need to be advertised locally.

4. Select venues for recruiting potential job candidates based on the scope of your search. Potential venues might include professional seminars and conferences, employment websites, online networking sites, your local newspaper and other appropriate publications.

5. Put standards in place to develop a short list of candidates to interview based on your six to eight required characteristics. This will eliminate the need to interview each applicant and will streamline the hiring process.

6. Make a decision about who should be involved in the interviewing process for job applicants. Depending on the position, this may include the human resources staff as well as a hiring manager and other employees who will be working closely with the new hire.

7. Work out candidate-screening questions. Remember that some questions regarding marital status, disability and race or ethnicity are illegal and should be avoided.

8. Make sure that you also address questions to be answered following the recruitment and interview process. Each interviewer should be able to evaluate the job candidate's personality and potential on-the-job performance based on the information gleaned during the interview.

Tips & Warnings

• A great way to increase current employee morale and draw bright talent to your company is to institute an employee recruiting incentive plan. This generally involves rewarding current employees for successful referrals for posted positions within your company. Such a plan may be structured in a number of different ways.