A standardized recruitment checklist for HRs is vital for any talent acquisition team.
The perfect employee recruitment checklist is a template that captures all major steps in the hiring process from end to end.
This way, everyone is looped in, the hiring process keeps moving, and decision-makers can take effective decisions.
Why we like it
- Adaptable - It fits your company’s recruitment process
- Succinct - It quickly communicates your end-to-end hiring processes
- Useful - It helps you develop your ATS process, and works in a pinch for companies who don’t have an ATS
This recruitment checklist for HRs breaks down each phase in the process. So, as the hiring manager, you can ensure you check off important boxes at every stage.
1. Planning checklist
- Identify the need for a new position
- Write a job description for the new role
- Edit for unconscious bias. Use Textio, Inc. for gender decoding
- Open job request
- Get job description approval from stakeholders
- Select your interview team
- Determine a salary range
- Get salary range approval
2. Sourcing checklist
- Post job description to begin sourcing candidates
- Use ATS to post to multiple job boards. See more here to manage and make a job posting
- Send an announcement to the company asking for referrals so as to encourage referrals for diverse and talented candidates.
- Encourage internal candidates to apply, if applicable at your company
- Screen resumes and cover letters
- Send top candidate resumes to the hiring manager for review. This is often managed through your ATS
- Select candidates from the talent pool to advance to the interview process. Phone screen checklist
- Schedule and conduct phone screens with top candidates
- Leave feedback on candidate profiles in your ATS or record elsewhere if you don't have one
- Note: All input should be based on job fit. Do NOT assess candidates based on “cultural fit,” personality, or “gut feelings.”
- Instead of "cultural fit," consider cultural addition, and ensure that all feedback relates to specifics around the ability to perform the job
- Send declination emails to candidates who are not a good fit based on the phone screen. Note: do not use this for candidates who have been interviewed in person
- Send candidates who should move forward to hiring managers for review.
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3. Take home assessments checklist
- Design candidate assignments or send performance assessments if this is part of your process
- Review performance assessments
- Send declination emails to candidates who are not a good fit based on performance assessment.
4. Interview prep checklist
- Plan interviews with the interview team: Who is interviewing for what?
- Hiring managers recommend a meeting to debrief all members of the interview team. You can’t trust people to conduct good interviews, even if they’re good interviewers. You need to have the in-person sit down to agree on:
- Who is interviewing for what?
- What specific learning capacities are we looking for
- Is there knowledge they must know?
- Set interview schedule: who, what, where, when?
- Prepare interview questionnaires
- Schedule interviews with candidates and interviewers
- Designate who will welcome the candidate
- Double-check that all interviewers are prepared for interview day and have their schedules blocked off for their interview timeframe
5. Interview day checklist
- Greet candidate
- Tour office
- Introduce candidates/make them feel welcome
- Offer water, and beverages, and let them use the facilities
- Conduct interview
- Wrap up the interview
- Walk candidates out
6. Post-interview checklist
- Interviewers document feedback privately to avoid group bias
- Meet with the interview team if necessary to make a decision
- Select top candidate
- Make a phone call to decline candidates you are not extending an offer to. And ensure you ask them for feedback on their experience interviewing with your company
- Keep second-tier candidates warm until you have a decision from your top candidate
- Request references and complete reference check
7. Making the offer checklist
- Send the candidate an informal welcome email to let them know an offer is coming
- Encourage the interview team to send emails to welcome candidates
- Develop an offer package
- Schedule an informal offer call
- Conduct informal offer call
- Revise offers as necessary or as makes sense for the company and candidate
- Get offer approval from leadership
- Send a formal offer to the candidate
- Background checks (not just criminal, but also background check and also fact check resumes and other areas of the application). We recommend using Checkr.
- If a candidate rejects the offer, refer back to the talent pool for more interviews or continue sourcing
- If the candidate accepts the offer, notify the hiring manager and welcome the candidate
Check All The Right Boxes!
This step-by-step talent acquisition employee recruitment checklist will help you streamline the hiring process and ensure everyone in the organization is on the same page. Plus, you can identify where your recruitment process needs improvement, so it helps both top candidates and hiring managers!
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