HOW EMPLOYERS FILL JOBS

Human capital is the most important resource for any company’s growth.

Take a careful look at how a company handles human resources, and you will know how successful that company will be in the long run. When a company has done a good job of finding employees, and they are motivated towards building the company, the sky is the limit for its growth. If the company has a haphazard hiring process or the employees are not happy, the company will eventually fall apart.

The most desirable way for an employer to fill a position is to do so from within the organization. Employers like to hire persons whose work they have seen. If you really want to work for a company, and you cannot get hired in the job you want, try working for them part-time or as an independent contractor or consultant. That is one way to build a career with the company you really want to work for.

There are two ways employers use to find new employees. They do the recruiting on their own, or use outside resources for recruiting such as executive search firms and employment agencies.

1. Direct recruiting by employers: Employers may post jobs on one or more job boards on the Internet, place employment ads in newspapers and trade journals, and post the job on company website and bulletin boards. As a result, they receive hundreds of resumes for each job posting. Their approach is to first screen out candidates to come up with a manageable number for interviews. Each resume gets a few seconds glance, and if it does not stand out as a good match with job requirements, it gets discarded. The candidates who pass this initial test may be invited for a short screening interview by a representative of the Human Resources Department, or receive a phone call to establish their interest and suitability. A few candidates who make it through the screening process are invited for face-to-face interviews. Two or three of these candidates will get invited for follow-up interviews, and one of them may receive a job offer to work for the company. The selected candidate will be offered an employment package consisting of salary, bonus, benefits, and relocation assistance when needed.
2. Recruiting through outside sources: Employers also use outside sources such as, executive search firms and employment agencies to attract suitable talent. The outside sources charge fees from employers for finding employees. I founded and managed an executive search firm for ten years, and worked with many employers. I charged a fee equal to 25% of the first year’s salary of a placed employee; most recruiters charge a fee in the range of 20% to one-third of the first year’s salary. The employers were willing to pay substantial executive search fees in order to find exceptional employees. To attract candidates for my search assignments, I made extensive use of my network of contacts in the industry to identify suitable candidates. I would share the details of my search assignments with my network and seek their recommendations regarding exceptional candidates. In addition, I would place job postings on my own website as well as on major job boards, and place ads in trade journals. I would conduct extensive interviews with candidates and talk to some of their references. I would generally select two to three candidates for consideration by the client organization. The hiring decision was up to the employer. When the employer decided to offer the job to a candidate I submitted, I would play the role of an intermediary to come up with an employment package acceptable to the candidate. This often involved coordination of negotiations between the employer and the candidate regarding the base salary, bonus arrangements, and relocation assistance.

To find the job you deserve, you have to target the employers of special interest to you, focus on your network, and use other job search methods available to you. It is most important to remember that you should not limit yourself to just one method of job search. When you focus on just one source for jobs, you are limiting your chances of a successful job search. The candidates who use just one method of job search are likely to get frustrated, and some of them will abandon their job search. It is a good idea to use three to four available sources to locate suitable job openings.