The interview date is set, the room is booked, interviewees are accepting their appointments, all is going to plan, right?  That's good because one of the key things that helps the recruitment process go smoothly is to have a plan.  In the lead up to the big day you need to have a think about what people will need.  Have the candidates been given adequate instructions about what to do and where to go when they arrive?  Do they need to find parking?  You may need to talk to your reception staff and let them know what to do with these visitors.  If you are expecting a lot of visitors you should do this ahead of time so that reception can ensure they have enough staff on to deal with them.  It may be that they will need someone to walk the candidate to a venue.  If parking permits are required you should also arrange this ahead of time so they are ready and waiting.

As for the interview room itself, it is probably up to the lead interviewer how the seats will be arranged.  It's a good idea to provide water and a glass for the candidate, and possibly for the interviewers too.  Make sure that the interviewers have copies of the applicants' forms ahead of time so they can read up on the people before they arrive. Some organisations have set forms for completing during the interview process, so if this the case, make sure they have enough copies.

During the interview try to be handy if reception needs some help.  You may need to take each candidate in to the interview room.  Some organisations will arrange a tour of the offices/building which you may need to manage as well.  When the candidate leaves, check to make sure you have the correct phone number for contacting them when the successful applicant has been decided upon.

After the interviews are over the panel members will probably meet, either right away or at a later date, to decide on the best candidate.  Once this decision is made, normal procedure would be for a panel member to ring the candidates, however this task may fall to you.  If you do have to ring the candidates, ring the successful one first and get an acceptance before you ring the others.  If the person turns the offer down you can then offer it to the next candidate if there is one (with the agreement of the interview panel).  When you ring unsuccessful candidates try to be sympathetic but business-like.  They may ask for feedback on the interview, in which case ask one of the panel to contact them directly.

Once the successful candidate has accepted the post you can send a confirming letter which might be 'subject to satisfactory references'. Hopefully you have an agreed starting date which you can include.  If you haven't done so already, you must take these references as soon as possible to ensure that there will be no difficult issues later on.  These days I try to approach the referee by email as it is so much quicker, and you still get a written response that can be filed.  Once you have tied up all the loose ends you can start to think about their induction which I have written about here.

I have done quite a lot of shortlisting in my time.  No, not because I cannot keep staff!  As a manager of secretarial staff I am often involved in the recruitment process.  If you are shortlisting for the first time you may find it useful to do up a grid of the person specification points and tick next to each one when a candidate meets the criteria.  This should weed out quite a few.  As you get more practiced you will be able to do this without a formal checklist (although some organisations require this as evidence of your shortlisting method). 

As I got more experienced I started to grade each form A, B, B+ etc depending on whether they met the criteria.  This enabled me to see at a glance who the top candidates were.  I would advise getting another person to shortlist the same forms to check any bias you might have.  If you both shortlist the same candidates you can be pretty sure that you both have the prejudices!!  Seriously though, it is probably a good thing.  If you disagree then a friendly discussion about the areas of disagreement might throw up some interesting points about the role you hadn't thought of.  It's always good to get another point of view.

I would try to get the shortlisting out the way pretty quickly and get those interview letters out.  Find a time that all the interviewers make, arrange a location and send a letter inviting the candidate for interview.  Try to give them at least two week's notice, even more would be better.  In the interview letter make the time and venue clear, indicate if any additional activities like a test or presentation will be required, and ask them to confirm that they will be attending the interview.  If they are required to bring items like presentation materials make sure it is clear what the technical requirements will be and what resources will be available.

In tomorrow's post we will looks at the interview process - before, during and after.

So the advertisement has gone out and you are getting a response, hopefully.  Have a job pack ready and waiting to avoid last minute panics.  Most larger organisations have a standard application form, some accept CV's, and others accept both. 

Make sure that there is a covering letter giving clear instructions as to what the applicant is required to do.  In the covering letter I would include a list of the attachments/enclosures so the applicant can check that they have received all the information.  Include the address they need to send it to, even if you have enclosed an addressed envelope, and give a deadline for applications.  It is also helpful to include the contact details of a person if the applicant has further questions about the post. 

The most common contents of a job pack are:

Covering Letter/Instructions
Application Form
Job Description
Person Specification
Information about the company/organisation

Some also include more detailed information about the department the post is based in as well as an organisational chart of relevant staff, especially if the person will be a manager.

Finally, follow through on the details.  When an applicant is sent a pack mark the date.  When a completed application is received mark the date again.  Keeping accurate records helps to avoid any accusations that might be levelled at you regarding whether or not an application was sent/recieved. In posts that are responsible for a lot of recruitment, keeping a journal or spreadsheet of all the applications would be helpful.

Tomorrow we look at shortlisting.

Back to recruitment this week, and today I'm going to look at advertising for the post.  You should have in place a job description as a minimum and preferably a person specification as outlined in last week's post.

How much you put in the advert depends on how much you can spend on the space.  You may only have enough to add two lines then your job is pretty much done for you in that you have little room for leeway.  If you have more space, bear in mind any logo's and symbols that might need to be included.  For example, some employers like to see the Investors in People logo in there somewhere. Check to make that all these bases are covered and then start writing the text.

Next you need to think about the tone of the text.  If you are recruiting for a creative post in a young team of designers you might take a more informal approach than if you are recruiting for a legal secretary in a traditional firm.  Usually I would advise using the job title as a headline, for example 'Secretary/PA' but some companies feel that a snazzy job title like 'Ideas guru' describes the role a little better. I would take some guidance from your manager or from HR if you are unsure which way to go. 

Follow this with a brief outline of the role, the minimum qualifications required, and if you have room, a short description of the company and its values.  An example of this last item might be 'an innovative company that believes in rewarding talented staff at all levels'.  This might be little more than a strap line intended to give a brief punchy image of the company.  An alternative in a different type of company might be 'we reward hard work and commitment, and career advancement opportunities for the right candidate'.  Each has a slightly different feel to it.

Give clear application instructions and a deadline for applications. Potential applicants will get more details job information from the information you send out.  And this is the subject of tomorrow's post - the job pack.

In my other job I do a lot of recruitment, including shortlisting and interviewing for new staff.  In this post, and next week, I will try to distill some of this knowledge to help you if you find yourself involved in recruitment.  The first thing I want to look at today is the job role or description, and the person specification.  Some employers will expect both of these documents for each post, especially if you work in the public sector.  Other employers don't even bother with a job description!  Let's assume that this is not the case where you work.

The first question you might ask is, what is the difference between a job description and a person specification.  Well the job discription generally outlines the tasks and responsibilities that come with the post.  Have a look at the two lists below.  The first is a job description (JD) the second is a person specification (PS):

• Responsible for supervison of typing staff
• Production of word processed documents including large reports
• Planning and coordination of meetings, including provision of refreshments
• Answer the telephone, take messages for managers, and ensure that telephone cover is provided at all times.

• Experience managing staff
• Can demonstrate experience of producing word processed documents including large reports
• Has experience of planning and coordinating events.
• Has a pleasant telephone manner, is efficient and timely in passing on messages, and has experience in timetabling staff.

Note how they cover the same activities but from a different perspective.  In the JD the tasks are listed, in the PS the skills of the person are listed. There should be some link between the two documents, and if you have to write them, start with the JD, write the tasks of the job, and then use that as a basis for writing the skills required to do each task.  It doesn't matter if the wording seems similar.  In fact that makes it clearer for the applicant.

This link shows another format for JD's.  In this sample they have a list of taske followed by a separate list of desired experience and education as well as competencies.  These are similar to what you would find on a PS, so treat them the same way.  The only difference here is that they are contained in one document.  In my experience this model is more common in the private sector.

A note to those applying for jobs.  If you are given a person specification it is helpful for the person shortlisting if you clearly outline how you meet each of the criteria.  Go through each criteria one by one and do a short paragraph demonstrating how you meet it.  If you are finding it hard to do a paragraph for the criteria then you probably won't be shortlisted for the job. While I wouldn't want to discourage anyone for having a go and applying for a job that doesn't entirely match their skills, don't be too discourage if you don't make it through to interview on this occasion.