Over the last week, I’ve spoken to a surprising number of people who have told me:

“We’re starting to hire again!” 🎉🥳🍾

And honestly, that is fantastic news.

After what has been a difficult market for many businesses and candidates, there definitely seems to be more optimism creeping back in.

But there’s something else I’m hearing just as often…

“The market is so bad, we’ll probably just do the recruitment ourselves.”

And I completely understand the thinking.

There are lots of candidates looking for work. Job adverts are attracting huge numbers of applications. Surely it can’t be that difficult to post a job and pick the best person?

Well…

🚨 LinkedIn Easy Apply has changed the game

Some roles are receiving hundreds, sometimes thousands, of applications.

That might sound like a good problem to have.

But somebody still has to go through them.

And recruitment is a full-time job… just so you know! 😄

Every CV needs reviewing.

You need to establish whether the candidate genuinely has the experience you’re looking for.

You need to look beyond a well-written CV.

You may need to cross-reference employment history with LinkedIn to check whether dates and experience actually match up.

You need to speak to candidates.

You need to shortlist them.

You need to manage expectations and communication.

And whilst you’re doing all of that…

Who is doing your actual day job?

⏰ Your time has a value too

One of the biggest misconceptions I hear is that doing recruitment internally is automatically the cheaper option.

But if you or members of your team are spending days reviewing CVs, interviewing unsuitable candidates and managing hundreds of applications…

What are you not doing?

Recruitment takes time.

And when hiring isn’t your day job, it can take considerably more time than you expect.

An experienced recruiter can often look at a CV incredibly quickly and identify whether someone is potentially relevant.

Not because we’re better at reading.

But because we’ve looked at thousands of CVs.

We know what good looks like.

We know which questions need asking.

And we know the difference between someone who can write about doing the job and someone who can actually do the job.

🔒 And then there’s the data…

If you’re collecting hundreds or thousands of CVs, you also need to think about where all that personal data is being stored and how it is being managed.

CVs contain personal information.

You need appropriate processes around handling candidate data and GDPR.

Suddenly, that “quick job advert” is becoming a much bigger piece of work.

🌐 The best candidates might not apply anyway

This is probably the most important point.

Your perfect candidate may never see your advert.

Or they may see it and not apply.

The best people aren’t always actively looking for a job.

That is where a specialist recruiter and their network can make a huge difference.

We spend our time building relationships.

Talking to people.

Understanding who is doing what.

Finding out who might be open to a conversation before they even start applying for jobs.

I have networking meetings every single week with sustainability professionals and people across my specialist markets.

So there is a very real possibility that…

I already know your next hire.

And rather than your team spending days or weeks working through hundreds of applications, I may be able to send you a carefully vetted shortlist of three genuinely relevant CVs within a few days.

Three people worth speaking to.

Three people who have already been assessed.

Three people who actually fit what you’re looking for.

🎯 Then you can get back to doing your job

That, for me, is where a good recruitment partner adds value.

It’s not simply about posting a job advert and forwarding CVs.

It’s about saving you time.

Reducing the noise.

Accessing people you wouldn’t reach through an advert.

And allowing you and your team to focus on what you are actually employed to do.

So yes…

🎉 It’s brilliant that businesses are hiring again.

But just because the market means you can get 1,000 applications doesn’t necessarily mean you should spend your valuable time working through all 1,000 of them.

Sometimes the quickest route to hiring the right person…

Is speaking to someone who already knows where they are. 😉

Are you starting to hire again? And are you planning to manage the recruitment internally or bring in a specialist partner?