How soon is now? Managing your recruitment timeline in the right way

Managing your recruitment pipeline has become even more vital in recent years as talent becomes sparse and the grip of skills shortages gets tighter. Running it in an effective way will give you an edge in the market, which is even more important when hiring contractors at short notice. Due to the nature of their work, contractors are not between jobs for long and are always searching for their next role.  

With this in mind, how can you ensure that your organisation is an attractive proposition for contractors?  

Understand your needs 

Knowing your organisation’s long and short term needs will tell you when a contractor is required well before the need becomes urgent. Then, you can plan an effective recruitment strategy, as hiring candidates isn’t a one-size-fits-all exercise – what will attract one type of employee will not work for others. If you leave this to the last minute, you will rush the recruitment process and potentially struggle to attract the best candidates.   

Identify skills gaps 

This applies to the market as well as your organisation; understanding what your company skills gaps are will help prioritise critical hires. The skills gap is a significant problem across all industries, costing UK businesses an estimated £6.3 billion a year in additional fees. Apart from digital skills, management and leadership abilities are also in high demand to navigate the current political and economic climate. 

Knowing that a certain hire has skills that are in short supply will enable you to plan your pipeline accordingly. It will take longer to hire that individual and they will be in a strong position, so may request higher remuneration. Specialist recruiters will understand how competitive their recruitment market is and how long it will take to find someone. 

Work backwards from the start date 

If you need a contractor to begin at a specific time, then work backwards from there to set deadlines for each recruitment stage. Multiple recruitment activities will make your timeline much longer, especially if interviews must be conducted with senior management who often have fully booked diaries.  

Consider your recruitment strategy 

Your recruitment strategy must be tailored to each market and candidate. Marketing hires will search for vacancies in a different place to a cybersecurity specialist. Know where your audience spends most of their time and make sure your company has a presence there.  

The recruitment strategy for contractors is different to hiring permanent employees. Contractors search for new roles on a more regular basis, so they’re more likely to have a few favourite sources. Pinpoint what those are and your contractor recruitment will be a lot easier. 

Find a recruiter that can work with you on your strategy, so that when you are ready to hire they will already have an idea of what you need and the candidates that will be right for your vacancy.  

Build your pipeline now 

When it comes to recruitment, you cannot afford to rush it. Build your pipeline today and you’ll reap the rewards for many years. 

We partner with organisations to support their hiring strategies, making sure they always have candidates available at the right time. For more information on our contract recruitment services, please click here.