Don’t expect a slowdown in the pace of your frenzied, high-volume recruiting position.

Get used to it. It’s just the nature of the beast. Trying to fill 100 open positions may seem unmanageable at times, but don’t back down.

Quality candidates exist. Hunting them down and bringing them into the fold is your mission. With that in mind, time can be an ally or an enemy. Either way, however, you’ll need to manage your hours efficiently to be successful.

Take a look at the following tips to help manage your most precious commodity.

1 – Have a Plan

This sounds simple enough, but know what you need to do long before you need to do it.

Set aside time the night before and mentally prepare for the following day’s meetings, prospect calls, and the bevy of incoming emails. Find a way to minimize distractions when the day begins.

Time chunking stands out as one of the optimal methods for staying on point. If you have an hour slotted to flesh out interview templates or make follow-up calls to candidates, devote yourself only to the task at hand.

Recognize that frivolous emails can be a huge diversion in high-volume recruiting, pulling you in a number of different directions. Shut down your email. If an urgent matter pops up, someone knows where and how to find you.

2 – Sourcing

sourcingThe more prospects you can stream through the pipeline, the more likely you are to meet your quota.

You’ll need a variety of sources to harvest qualified applicants. Job boards are a reliable source of recruits but you need to think outside the box.

Colleges and universities make a great source for candidates seeking entry level positions. Also, you might uncover some unexpected treasures by keeping tabs on happenings in the community via a news outlet or the grapevine.

The sale or acquisition of a local company causes anxiety among the rank and file. If those embattled employees own transferable skill sets, your impeccable timing should fill up the pipeline quickly.   

3 – Referrals

Word of mouth marketing is one of the more effective means of getting name recognition, and in high-volume recruiting, it costs little more than some extra effort.

Each time you make a touch with a prospect — interested or not  — it never hurts to seek a referral. A lot hinges on the candidate experience.

If the conversation flows amicably, your contact will likely be more than happy to offer up a name or two. Garnering 150 referrals from 1,000 contacts increases your activity by 15 percent without sacrificing significant time and resources. Build a LinkedIn network and stay in the sights of those folks regularly.

Ask for those referrals. The worst outcome is a no.

4 – Screening

You want as many touches as possible, but quality supersedes quantity.

Find a way to weed out the tire-kickers and unqualified prospects by pre-screening applicants. Brief online tests efficiently determine cognitive skills and personality traits. Individuals who fail the test can be eliminated and those people who are merely browsing won’t bother to take the next step. If the job requires a degree, include a checkbox at the initial stage so recruits can respond accordingly or walk away.

When it comes to high-volume recruiting, leveraging automated tools will help you focus on engaging the candidates who stand a better chance at success. The thrill isn’t always in the chase.

5 – Job Descriptions

Vaguely worded job descriptions often invite anyone and everyone to apply.

Take time to clearly state job duties and requirements. Thoroughly flesh out, point by point, company expectations for the position. Be specific about years of experience and whether the position requires a degree or certain certifications.

Applicants who have the necessary qualifications won’t be intimidated, and those are the folks you want to pursue. The mildly interested candidates will feel overwhelmed and simply take no further action.

Tuning up those ads shouldn’t kill a lot of time, but it will certainly save you some.

6 – Tracking

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) give a birds eye views of candidate profiles.

Spreadsheets are prevalent as well but require more manual work as new data becomes available. In addition, most ATSs integrate with legacy systems, accepting relevant updates to create reports at a glance. As time passes, these programs deliver important metrics, painting a picture of what channels deliver optimal outcomes.

It’s at this juncture you can pinpoint which sources yield the most viable prospects. Automation does its job with little intervention, allowing you to concurrently focus on relationship building and other personal interactions.

7 – Deadlines

To fulfill your role effectively, you must have a sense of urgency.

The job doesn’t stop after you’ve created a short list, walked candidates through the application process, completed interviews, and made an offer. Once a recruit says “I do,” the onboarding stage still looms.

With so many phases, and hopefully multiple new hires in the mix, managing your responsibilities becomes crucial.

Set realistic time frames for each milestone. Some HR personnel may view deadlines as threatening; other professionals work well under pressure and use end dates as an asset, maintaining a keen awareness of timelines and acting accordingly.

By expediently handling all chapters of the hiring process, you’re much less likely to lose top talent to a competitor.

8 – Technology

Responsibilities pile up so quickly, some days you wish there were two of you.

Thankfully, technology isn’t quite there yet, but numerous tools do exist to make your high-volume recruiting job easier. While some recruiters view technology suspiciously, other professionals see a partnership.

Automated sourcing programs perform targeted candidate searches, matching qualified job hunters with specific open positions. Software suites attract visitors to your site, motivate passive job seekers, and convert those visitors into applicants.

From start to finish, automation seeks to enhance the overall candidate experience.       

The Bottom Line with high-volume recruiting

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said, “The common man is not concerned about the passage of time, the man of talent is driven by it.”

As you juggle all your high-volume recruiting job duties, prioritize the mapping of your days and weeks. Industry knowledge is vital, but planning and organization form the basis of your continued success.


Authors
Thomas Tracy

Thom Tracy is a human resources and employee benefits consultant who regularly writes about topics such as recruiting, career advice, real estate, and investing. You can follow him on Twitter @ThomTracy or LinkedIn