January 24, 2024

Need to hire asap? Here's how to make a solid hiring plan

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Do you have a hiring need right now?

If you're a SaaS startup founder, you know that hiring is one of the most important things you'll do to grow your company. How do you create a hiring plan for a particular role?

We've got you covered. In this blog post, we'll share some tips on how to get started with your hiring plan. We'll also provide some examples of companies who are doing it right. So read on and learn how to succeed in making a solid plan!

Here's how to start with your hiring plan – step by step

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#1 Define the role you're looking to fill, including responsibilities and qualifications

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Start with defining your hiring need. Word it out so that every key stakeholder can understand and agree with what you are looking for. Really, focus on this so that it is not unclear or contradictory – do not take any steps forward before this one is thought through. Our recommendation is to involve all the key stakeholders in this discussion – including the team that the newcomer will be hired for.

By making sure you’re clear from the start about what type of person you need to employ, all stakeholders including the potential candidates will benefit from having mutual understanding from the get-go. Also, you'll avoid some difficulties further on.

‍Do this:

Create a list of primary responsibilities that come with the job
List the essential skills that needed candidates should possess
Lay out any other basics such as desired experience or qualifications
Decide what qualities are critical to have (the things that dictate whether you can make a hiring decision or not) and what is only nice-to-have
Prioritize all the critical criteria: make a list from 1 to 8 in order of importance
A tip: ditch as many criteria as you can! Focus on the things that are business critical. The less you really need, the easier this challenge will be for you when you proceed to step 2

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#2 Ask yourself: is the person we described in the step 1 an active or a passive job seeker?

When it comes to recruiting talent, it’s helpful to differentiate between active and passive job seekers.

An active job seeker is someone that reaches out directly to employers, regularly checking for updates on relevant job boards, and actively applying for positions. They’re confident and proactively reinventing themselves in order to keep their skills relevant and up-to-date.

A passive job seeker, on the other hand, is more likely to wait for employers to approach them. They are not looking for a job, and are often happy with their current employers – they have no reason to change. They may occasionally look around for roles but lack the same level of confidence of an active job seeker and might need more guidance throughout the process.

Also, it's important to note that for a passive job seeker, it can be a risk to change jobs depending on the market situation!

Active job seekers tend to be more dedicated which makes them ideal candidates - however, a company should also consider a lesser-known pool of passive job seekers whose potential is worth investing in. Passive job seekers are of course harder to get, and you'll need some more tools and recruitment practices to reach them.

#3 What kind of strategy will you need to reach this person?

Depending on whether your potential candidates are more likely active or passive job seekers, you gotta choose the right strategy to go with. '

‍Decide these things in your recruitment strategy:

The best place to advertise your open position - social media, job boards, newspapers, through word of mouth, networks...
Content formats you will need to reach the target talents. Be aware that job ad might not be enough.
Phrases and keywords that are relevant to engage the job seekers
Unique selling points that you'll need to attract the passive job seekers
Recruitment practices you'll need: waiting for inbound applicants, headhunting; sourcing, outreach, form of applying, the process, timeframe and so on
Interview strategy: what kind of questions and information are needed to find out whether your candidate possesses the critical hiring criteria

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#4 Make a recruitment project plan and schedule

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Taking some time upfront to develop a solid project plan for your recruitment project will ensure that all aspects are accounted for. With such a plan in place you will have everything needed to set up a successful recruitment process!

‍Your recruitment project plan should include at least:

The identified roles and responsibilities of the project team (team leads, you, team members etc...)
Timelines, milestones to aim for, budget (used for ads for example)
The next steps of scheduling interviews, conducting reference checks and onboarding the new comer

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#5 Make sure you will have time & every key stakeholder will be available when you need them

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Recruiting a new team member can be a long process. Some of the most challenging roles can take up to 6–12 months.

You need to ensure that everyone involved in the process is available when you need them! To ensure that key stakeholders are available for the recruitment project schedule, make sure you follow two key steps.

First of all, create an outline of what your recruitment timeline looks like so people will know when to expect their involvement.
Then, send out an initial invite to those key personnel outlining their role and what tasks are required of them during the recruitment process - this will help keep everyone organized and on track!

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Good communication and clear expectations up front will help guarantee everyone’s full participation during the process.

This will also ensure the good candidate experience. Let us tell you: it's nothing new that these processes are stretched and take time. If you are able to be well prepared, the candidates will be positively surprised when they hear from you on time & you can provide them with a solid process description and expectation management.

#6 Prepare for making a quick decision and extending an irresistible job offer to your chosen candidate

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When you are almost at the finish line, make sure to keep pushing & don't start resting yet! Hiring decision making is the final resistance you gotta be prepared for. It's surprisingly difficult sometimes, but there are definitely some strategies to make it easier!

‍Here's how to prepare for hiring decision making:

Firstly, take the time to look at your criteria defined in the step 1. Prepare to compare the candidates to these outlined criteria, and not with each other. This will help you narrow down potential candidates and determine the skills and experience that best fit the original hiring need.
Secondly, prepare to use interviews strategically by involving different team members in the discussions and asking questions that really give you more information about each individual further than their CV content.
Finally, when you have chosen a candidate who is suitable for the role, prepare to extend an offer quickly or you may risk losing them! This is not the moment when you can breathe a sigh of relief either! It would NOT be the first time that a brilliant candidate ends up choosing another company and not your vacancy.
So think in advance: how you are going to prepare such a great and irresistible job offer that your dream candidate can't refuse. This is very critical! Without this, you might need to start the whole process over.

Preparing well will give you satisfaction in knowing that your recruitment process was undertaken with care, resulting in finding the right person for your open role.

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