{"id":25,"date":"2016-07-20T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T16:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/recruitloop.com.au\/blog\/?p=25"},"modified":"2016-07-20T08:35:19","modified_gmt":"2016-07-20T15:35:19","slug":"recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Recruitment Alternatives for Small Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is the job interview dead?<\/p>\n

Not just yet. But there are a number of alternative recruitment strategies small business owners and hiring managers can\u00a0consider when selecting new employees.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons I have always been\u00a0drawn to helping small businesses recruit is because\u00a0far too often, hiring can slip through the cracks simply because small\u00a0business owners\u00a0aren\u2019t nearly as equipped to build their empires as their peers in the corporate world.\u00a0This post offers a brief overview of five alternatives to the traditional job interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n

1. Behavioural based\u00a0interviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Unfortunately there are still too many employers today who run an unstructured interview where, as the name would suggest, the disjointed approach often results in an inexperienced interviewer losing focus (and control) during the interview.<\/p>\n

You may have come across terms like behavioural based interviewing, targeted selection based interviewing, and competency based interviewing.\u00a0Each of these techniques assesses a candidate\u2019s past performance and focuses on results.<\/p>\n

Do not ask hypothetical questions (for example \u201chow would<\/em> you deal with a specific situation?\u201d). The questions you ask a candidate during an interview must assess past behaviour since that is the best way to predict future performance.\u00a0Here’s\u00a0a list of 75 behavioural based questions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When assessing your candidates\u2019 responses, think of the word STAR<\/em><\/a> and ensure that your candidates describe a specific S<\/strong>ituation, the T<\/strong>ask they were faced with, the A<\/strong>ction they took, and the R<\/strong>esult of their actions.<\/p>\n

2. Group interviews<\/h2>\n

If you plan to have a colleague join you, or if you plan to interview more than one candidate at once, it\u2019s also important to let your candidates know in advance. Interviews can be intimidating on the best of days, but to walk into a room and have to sit opposite more than one interviewer or someone else competing for the same role without any warning, can in fact derail even the best candidate.<\/p>\n

Group interviews are a cost-efficient method of interviewing candidates while also providing an opportunity for your company to evaluate candidates on several dimensions: interpersonal skills, dress, attitude, and body language. You\u2019ll also be able to evaluate such critical competencies as verbal communication skills, problem solving, and leadership potential. Top candidates may then be invited to continue the process with a one-on-one interview.<\/p>\n

If you decide to run a group interview (also often referred to as an “assessment centre”) then you need to ensure there are a minimum of 4 candidates involved, and more than one recruiter \/ observer on the day.<\/p>\n

Some of my greatest memories in the recruitment game<\/a> involve running group interviews. But be prepared … they can be absolutely exhausting (especially if you run two on one day) since they can take up to 3 – 4 hours each!<\/p>\n

3. Video Interviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Video interviewing is emerging as a cost-effective approach that saves time for both employers and candidates.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, employers might have considered video interviews only for candidates in remote geographies. But innovative alternatives are emerging \u2013 including RecruitLoop\u2019s recorded video interviews<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some of the benefits of recorded video interviews? Apart from the obvious time savings, they allow employers to standardize interview questions; review the same interview multiple times; and share interviews with colleagues. Typically video interviews will be used as an efficient screening tool, to avoid multiple first-round in-person interviews. However, for some roles they might be used for the entire interview process.<\/p>\n

4. Employment Testing<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Employment tests are an objective method of evaluating whether candidates possess the requisite skill set and knowledge to successfully perform in a given role.<\/p>\n

Many research studies conducted over the past 20\u00a0years have indicated that the results of cognitively-based assessments (eg math proficiency or word usage) are highly accurate in predicting future performance in those jobs where these skills are critical for success.<\/p>\n

Behavioral testing is also important as it adds the dimension of cultural fit and work style, thereby providing a 360\u00b0 perspective of each candidate.<\/p>\n

Personality testing was all the rage, oh, about 5 years ago. While the trendiness has worn off a bit (does that mean it\u2019s hipster now?), personality tests<\/a> can still give you an insight into how someone might behave (especially under stress). This can help you figure out whether they are naturally inclined for the specifics of your open role.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of debate around personality tests, both their validity and ethical boundaries.\u00a0 In a survey of 8000 people, 44% felt that personality tests were an invasion of privacy. Couple that with the outcry of a bunch of psychologists against the subjectivity of tests and the misapplication of tests and there\u2019s a minefield of stuff that could go wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

So if you do use any form of\u00a0testing, you have<\/em> to do it correctly. Anything less and you could end up losing a valuable, quality candidate because they didn\u2019t want to run through your mouse lab.<\/p>\n

5. Knowledge Testing<\/h2>\n

Knowledge testing is used to test a candidate\u2019s knowledge with regard to specific skills needed to perform the job successfully.<\/p>\n

In contrast to pre-employment testing, knowledge tests are most appropriate to use when a new employee will need to apply those skills immediately rather than being trained after hire. Licensing exams, such as that required to become a financial advisor, would be an example of a knowledge test. Knowledge tests may also be in the form of situational assessments in which candidates perform the job during a trial period that can last from a few hours to a full day.<\/p>\n

Not all of these alternatives will be appropriate for every role. But employers should be aware of genuine alternatives to the standard interview process, to ensure they make the best hiring decisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are a number of serious alternatives small business owners and hiring managers can consider when selecting new employees. This post offers a brief overview of five major alternatives to the traditional job interview.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[73,7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Alternative Recruitment Strategies for Smaller Businesses<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are a number of serious alternatives small business owners and hiring managers can consider when selecting new employees.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Alternative Recruitment Strategies for Smaller Businesses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are a number of serious alternatives small business owners and hiring managers can consider when selecting new employees.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zippia For Employers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Zippia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-20T16:00:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-07-20T15:35:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/5-Recruitment-Alternatives-for-Small-Businesses.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"770\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul Slezak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@paul_slezak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ZippiaInc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Slezak\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/\",\"name\":\"5 Alternative Recruitment Strategies for Smaller Businesses\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-20T16:00:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-07-20T15:35:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/c478f8c08326837c1f7ab69f7e6a5569\"},\"description\":\"There are a number of serious alternatives small business owners and hiring managers can consider when selecting new employees.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"5 Recruitment Alternatives for Small Businesses\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/\",\"name\":\"Zippia For Employers\",\"description\":\"How to find the best employees.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/c478f8c08326837c1f7ab69f7e6a5569\",\"name\":\"Paul Slezak\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5dadfdf3e6ce17183206e7ca7d1e36f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5dadfdf3e6ce17183206e7ca7d1e36f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul Slezak\"},\"description\":\"With over two decades of experience in the recruitment and human capital industry, Paul Slezak has established himself as a transformative force in the realm of leadership and career coaching, group facilitation, and talent acquisition. His unique perspective, drawn from his early career as a leader in global recruitment firms and his entrepreneurial success with his own start-up, has enabled him to make a significant impact on leaders, teams, and organizations across the world. Paul's passion for helping others achieve success and high performance is evident in his commitment to transforming leaders and their teams at local, national, and international levels. He specializes in promoting the importance of human-centered intelligence, focusing on soft skills such as authenticity, transparency, and trust to complement business-centered acumen and drive better workplace outcomes. As an impartial facilitator, Paul brings his expertise to team offsites and strategy days, ensuring alignment on goals, values, and culture while keeping participants on task. His engaging and energetic presence, coupled with his unique \\\"entertraining\\\" and \\\"edutaining\\\" delivery style, enables him to connect with audiences both large and intimate, sharing personal and professional anecdotes that inspire and energize.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/paulslezak\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/paul_slezak\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/author\/paul-slezak\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Alternative Recruitment Strategies for Smaller Businesses","description":"There are a number of serious alternatives small business owners and hiring managers can consider when selecting new employees.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 Alternative Recruitment Strategies for Smaller Businesses","og_description":"There are a number of serious alternatives small business owners and hiring managers can consider when selecting new employees.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/","og_site_name":"Zippia For Employers","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Zippia\/","article_published_time":"2016-07-20T16:00:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-07-20T15:35:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":770,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/5-Recruitment-Alternatives-for-Small-Businesses.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Paul Slezak","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@paul_slezak","twitter_site":"@ZippiaInc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul Slezak","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/","url":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/","name":"5 Alternative Recruitment Strategies for Smaller Businesses","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-07-20T16:00:03+00:00","dateModified":"2016-07-20T15:35:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/c478f8c08326837c1f7ab69f7e6a5569"},"description":"There are a number of serious alternatives small business owners and hiring managers can consider when selecting new employees.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruitment-alternatives-for-smaller-businesses\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5 Recruitment Alternatives for Small Businesses"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/","name":"Zippia For Employers","description":"How to find the best employees.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/c478f8c08326837c1f7ab69f7e6a5569","name":"Paul Slezak","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5dadfdf3e6ce17183206e7ca7d1e36f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5dadfdf3e6ce17183206e7ca7d1e36f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Paul Slezak"},"description":"With over two decades of experience in the recruitment and human capital industry, Paul Slezak has established himself as a transformative force in the realm of leadership and career coaching, group facilitation, and talent acquisition. His unique perspective, drawn from his early career as a leader in global recruitment firms and his entrepreneurial success with his own start-up, has enabled him to make a significant impact on leaders, teams, and organizations across the world. Paul's passion for helping others achieve success and high performance is evident in his commitment to transforming leaders and their teams at local, national, and international levels. He specializes in promoting the importance of human-centered intelligence, focusing on soft skills such as authenticity, transparency, and trust to complement business-centered acumen and drive better workplace outcomes. As an impartial facilitator, Paul brings his expertise to team offsites and strategy days, ensuring alignment on goals, values, and culture while keeping participants on task. His engaging and energetic presence, coupled with his unique \"entertraining\" and \"edutaining\" delivery style, enables him to connect with audiences both large and intimate, sharing personal and professional anecdotes that inspire and energize.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/paulslezak\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/paul_slezak"],"url":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/author\/paul-slezak\/"}]}},"articleguide":"","showTableContent":"","showFeaturedImage":"","pageCategoryL2":"","authorsExperts":"","featured_image_url":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/5-Recruitment-Alternatives-for-Small-Businesses.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}