Hiring managers spend most of their time devoted to interviewing, recruiting, and hiring candidates that they believe are a good fit for the company. Every hiring manager has personal selection criteria, inherent biases, and a unique interviewing style. Each candidate has diverse backgrounds, personalities, and skillset woven into the interview. Therefore, trying to create the perfect match can be a challenging and complicated proposition.

All in all, identifying the perfect hire and ideal company is a process that requires time, effort, and commitment. Because the recruiting path can be filled with challenges, we decided to give you insider tips on how search firms make matchmaking simple. Keep reading to find out the things many recruiting firms do to ensure that the match between the company and the candidate is a perfect fit.

4 Hiring Tips for Matchmaking

1. Be Intentional

Strategy and organization are key pieces in helping a hiring organization find the ideal candidate. Truly successful companies understand that talent acquisition should be a priority. This means that they are willing to go above and beyond to devote the necessary time and resources it takes to bring companies their match. In the same way that a successful first date requires planning, a company hoping to land great candidates must do some prep work as well.

Key tools supporting a strong recruiting effort include: providing an accurate and updated job description for the role assembled with input from key stakeholders; identifying the target and best-in-class companies from which to source high potential candidates; and, designating a competent and consistent interview team who understand the role and will be positive company ambassadors. Companies that are organized and well prepared make strong and lasting impressions with candidates.

2. Look at the Big Picture

In the world of hiring, individuals may sometimes place too much value on certain factors. The focus might be a person’s physical looks or their job, only to realize later that there may be other qualities more important like personality or common interests. Similarly, many companies and hiring managers fall victim to a common interviewing mistake known as the halo effect. This means when selecting a candidate, a hiring manager can put too much emphasis on one criterion.

Maybe they like or do not like the school the candidate attended. Maybe they like or do not like one of the companies where they previously worked. Or, maybe their executive presence is overly strong or below average. It is extremely important to identify and prioritize what critical success characteristics should stand out for the ideal candidate.

The best hiring teams incorporate a well-rounded interview process which includes weighted evaluations highlighting key priorities and required skills. Interviewers should rate the candidates across these criteria.

They also evaluate the feedback of the entire interview team equally. This allows for an objective evaluation of potential candidates and helps eliminate unintentional biases. Additionally, strong references can be very helpful in providing a well-rounded assessment of a candidate and help avoid the halo effect.

3. Make Hiring a Priority

This may be the most important part of the hiring process. Hiring a candidate for a key leadership role in an organization can have a significant financial impact. It has the capacity to influence the company culture, positively or negatively, and yet many hiring managers do not make this process a priority.

Here is an example of why it’s important to make hiring a priority. Once, there was a man who was assisting the CEO with hiring a direct report. The candidate had completed multiple face-to-face interviews within the company.

The CEO scheduled their interview as the final part of the process and provided a 30-minute window to conduct the interview.

When the conversation shifted to a discussion about the CEO’s recent new car purchase, they discussed the different car options he considered, the online research, the number of test rides, and the negotiations with multiple dealerships before finalizing his decision.

After the CEO proudly finished his discussion regarding his new car purchase, the man assisting the CEO with the interview asked, “Are you sure you only want to spend 30 minutes with the candidate?”

Just like picking the right car, the more time you put into the selection process, the higher the chance of creating a good match.

4. Keep an Open Line of Communication

Communication among companies and candidates is critically important. The process of sourcing, interviewing, scheduling, and hiring a senior-level, game-changing candidate can be a long road. With senior hiring manager’s challenging schedules and the time it takes to identify and interview a diverse slate of potential candidates, the timeline to hire the right person can be as long as six months or more.

Keeping viable candidates engaged throughout this extended time horizon can be challenging. In corporate America’s busy world of talent acquisition, with multiple job openings, time can fly by. A month can feel like a week. It’s easy to forget about candidates for extended periods of time while focusing on other priorities.

On the candidate side, a week can feel more like a month. As the process drags on and no feedback is received, the candidate’s interest and level of engagement can decline sharply. A candidate can start to lose the passion and interest they originally had. Or worse, the candidate can aggressively interview with other companies. It’s critically important to provide candidates with a realistic time frame and ensure transparency during the hiring process.

Keeping the candidate updated is key (even if you cannot accelerate the hiring process.) It’s important for the company HR representative and the hiring manager to ensure periodic touch-points along the way to reinforce the company’s interest and confirm the candidate’s level of engagement.

Having Trouble Matching the Right Candidate for the Role?

Like many businesses, it isn’t uncommon if you aren’t finding the right candidate automatically. Matchmaking isn’t rocket science, but it does take time and due diligence to scout out a candidate who meets your company values, role description, and other requirements. If you are still having difficulty finding the right candidates for your company after implementing the matchmaking tips, it may be time to ask for assistance. Connect with our team of hiring specialists to see how you can bring in qualified matches for your business!