Are you looking to improve your hiring process but not sure where to start? Here are four quick wins to help you improve your recruitment success and get you the best candidate for the job.

This article is part five of our ten-part series on hiring and onboarding. In the series, you'll learn how to prepare for the recruitment process, select the best candidate and successfully onboard your new starter. You can see other articles in the series at the bottom of the page.

You’re likely looking to hire because your company's workload has increased, and you need more capacity to get everything done or to help you grow. Whilst a full-time employee might be your first consideration, it’s worth thinking about other options as well.

If you’re hiring to cover increased levels of work, review your upcoming plans and consider whether it’s likely that your workload will remain high in the long-term. Likewise, if there is uncertainty over future contracts or orders, a temporary employee or consultant might be a better choice at this time.

You call pull together a for-and-against table on hiring full-time or part-time to cover your needs, which will help decide what works best for your business right now.

The job profile will likely be one of the first things your future employee sees from your business, so it’s worth thinking about how you can make the most of that first impression. Reviewing your job profiles will create consistency across the business and help you attract better candidates.

First look at the job title and description and make sure they’re as concise as possible whilst reflecting the full breadth of the job. When putting together the core responsibilities, avoid including anything and everything that they might do and focus on what’s essential and what’s desirable.

Finally, when listing the essential skills, qualifications and experience for the role, keep it realistic and consider what can be taught on the job. You don’t want to create an impossible list that ends up putting off good candidates.

If you want to increase your chances of getting the best people for your business, consider how you can improve how you advertise for candidates and get the job advert in front of the right people.

There are endless ways of getting the advert out there, including recruitment agencies, social media platforms like LinkedIn, and job boards. Consider where the best candidates are likely to be, then take a look at the channels you usually use and see how you can expand your reach and consider spending more to go further.

When faced with a pile of CVs, it can be hard to look beyond the bullet points of skills, experiences and qualifications. However, it’s worth also trying to focus on attitude and personality if you want to hire someone who will flourish in their role.

For some roles, a candidate’s personality can be just as, if not more, important than the skills they can offer. Consider how you assess candidates, particularly at interview stage, to help select people who will suit the business best.

You can revisit the previous articles in our series below:

• How to work out it’s time to hire
• Preparing to hire new employees
• Three steps to creating the perfect job advert
• Selecting the best candidate