A Comprehensive Guide of Sourcing to Talent Onboarding

Talent Onboarding

Did you know that an effective onboarding process can help businesses retain 50% more new hires?

Yup, that’s what a study by the Society for Human Resource Management found. Companies that engage in a solid onboarding process can keep their new employees for a longer period of time, lowering attrition rate and helping to keep the team steady.

But wait, there’s more! The same study found that companies with a standard onboarding process can experience 54% more new hire productivity.

This is because onboarding gives new employees the foundation they need to understand their role, get a feel for the company culture, and form relationships with their co-workers. A solid onboarding program can help new hires become productive more quickly and contribute to the organization’s success.

In this article, we will look at the complete recruitment journey and how you can optimize the results.

Table of Contents

How Is Hiring Technical Talent Different From Other Recruitments?

1. Technical Skills Evaluation

Hiring technical talent requires assessing them based on their technical skills, which can be more complex and nuanced than evaluating skills for non-technical positions.

2. Specific Job Requirements

Technical positions can be demanding regarding the skills and experience required for the role. Successful recruitment can be difficult if the hiring manager doesn’t understand the precise needs.

Also read: Top Things To Consider When Hiring A Remote Software Developer For Your Startup

3. Competitive Job Market

The demand for technical talent is high, and the job market is often competitive. This can make it challenging for companies to attract and retain top talent. Companies may need to offer competitive salaries, benefits, and perks to attract the best candidates.

4. Rapidly Changing Technology

Technology is constantly evolving, and recruiters need to stay on top of their game to spot the right talent who is up-to-date with the market trends.

5. Cultural Fit

In addition to technical skills, it’s essential to find candidates who are a good fit for the company’s culture and values. Evaluating a candidate’s soft skills, along with problem-solving, collaboration, and communication, can be complicated along with technical assessments. 

Also read: How to Reduce Hiring Biases to Recruit the Best Fits

The Step-by-step Guide to Talent Onboarding

1. Start With Describing the Job Right

The first step in talent recruitment is to define the job requirements. This involves creating a job description that outlines the necessary skills, experience, and qualifications for the position.

Ensure that you are detailing the following as part of your job description.

  • Job title: It will help potential candidates to identify the position easily.

  • Job summary: This mentions the primary duties and responsibilities associated with the role, including any projects the candidate will undertake.

  • Key skills and attributes: Skills required to succeed in the role, such as problem-solving, communication, and teamwork.

  • Education and experience: Provide specific requirements for educational qualifications and any relevant work experience.

  • Salary and benefits: Many recruiters shy away from mentioning the salary and package details. But it will help you narrow down the interested candidate pool. Also, include any health or retirement benefits that the candidate might get.

End your job description with the next steps of the application process, including how to apply, the application deadline, and what applicants can expect in terms of follow-up.

Sample Job description

Job Title: Full Stack Developer

We are seeking a talented Full Stack Developer to join our dynamic team. As a Full Stack Developer, you will be responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining our web applications from front to back. You should have a solid understanding of both front-end and back-end technologies, as well as experience working with databases, APIs, and web servers.

Responsibilities:

  • Collaborate with the product team to design and implement new features
  • Build reusable code and libraries for future use
  • Optimize applications for maximum speed and scalability
  • Participate in code reviews to maintain code quality
  • Troubleshoot and debug applications as needed
  • Continuously learn and stay up-to-date with emerging technologies


Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field
  • 3+ years of experience in full-stack development
  • Strong proficiency in JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and at least one front-end framework (React, Angular, Vue)
  • Experience with server-side languages such as Node.js, Ruby, or Python
  • Strong knowledge of database technologies such as SQL, MongoDB, or PostgreSQL
  • Experience with RESTful APIs and web services
  • Familiarity with Git version control
  • Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail
  • Strong communication and teamwork skills


Salary and Benefits:

We offer competitive salaries and benefits packages to attract and retain the best talent. As a Full Stack Developer on our team, you can expect:

  • Competitive salary commensurate with experience and qualifications
  • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
  • 401(k) retirement plan with employer match
  • Paid time off, including vacation and sick leave
  • Flexible work schedule
  • Professional development opportunities and training
  • Collaborative and supportive work environment

If you’re a self-motivated, collaborative developer who enjoys working on complex projects, we’d love to hear from you. Please apply with your resume and cover letter to be considered for this exciting opportunity.

2. Source the Candidate Pool

Candidate sourcing is identifying and attracting potential job candidates for an open position. It involves proactively seeking potential candidates rather than waiting for them to apply for a job. The goal of candidate sourcing is to build a pool of qualified candidates who may be a good fit for a particular job or future positions within a company.

You can use the following channels to build your candidate sourcing pool.

  • Online job boards: Posting openings on job boards, such as LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, and Monster, help attract potential candidates.

  • Social media: Social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, can help you reach out to potential candidates, build a network of connections, and showcase the company’s culture and values.

  • Employee referrals: Encouraging current employees to refer potential candidates is a helpful source of new talent, as employees are often well-connected in their industry.

  • Recruitment agencies: Recruitment agencies work on your behalf to source candidates with specific skills and experience, as they often have an extensive network of potential candidates.

  • Networking events: Attending networking events, such as job fairs, industry conferences, and meetups, to identify potential candidates and build relationships with them.
Also read: Why Should You Consider Hiring Offshore Remote Developers?

3. Begin the Screening Process

Once resumes start coming in, screening them carefully is essential to identify candidates who meet the job requirements. You can do this manually or through automated applicant tracking systems (ATS).

Start filtering the candidates based on the skills that are a must-have. Then add on good-to-have skills on top of that to keep yourself grounded in the search. 

Remember that you can’t have a perfect candidate, and it’s better to set realistic expectations for the candidates.

Also, ensure that you are not discarding unconventional talent because of certain biases. If you use an applicant tracking system, ensure it’s trained on the necessary data set for a more accurate result.

4. Initiate the Interview Process

It’s the most critical stage of the hiring process, where you test the candidates for the claims they make. Keeping an objective approach here is vital to choose the best talent.

  • Conduct initial interviews: After the resumes have been screened, it’s time to run initial interviews to assess the candidates’ suitability for the role. These interviews may be over the phone, via video-conferencing, or in person.

  • Assess technical skills: For technical roles, it’s important to assess candidates’ technical skills. You can do it through coding challenges, technical assessments, or other specialized tests.

  • Conduct in-person interviews: Once the initial screening and technical assessments have been completed, conduct in-person interviews with the top candidates. These interviews may involve multiple rounds, and department heads can drive them for in-depth skill analysis.

  • Check references: Before making a job offer, it’s essential to check the candidate’s references to verify their experience and qualifications.

5. Make A Job Offer

Merely identifying the best candidate doesn’t get the job done until they are onboarded.

It’s the stage where you sit down with the selected candidate and discuss the salary, benefits, and other perks.

Ensure that you ask the candidate their expectations and not just keep the discussion one-sided.

If you need time to get back with a final offer, let the candidate know the expected timeline and keep them updated on the progress.

Keeping the candidate in the loop significantly reduces the chances of process abandonment.

6. Talent Onboarding & Retention

Once you have hired the right people after the rigorous vetting process, it’s time for talent onboarding.

Kick off the onboarding process with a planned induction session where you can guide the candidate about the company culture, departments, and introduce them to their team members.

Schedule training sessions where they can learn more about their role and responsibilities. Assigning a buddy to the new joiners proves to help build camaraderie among the team.

Along with that, get the necessary documents signed to complete the onboarding.

Also read: Top 5 Project Management Tools To Supercharge Your Product Journey

How to Ensure Talent Stays With You?

Merely talent onboarding employees isn’t enough. You must also ensure they stay with you to avoid repetitive hiring expenses.

Top talent is often looking for opportunities to grow and develop their skills. Provide regular training and development programs and opportunities for advancement within the company. 

Encourage collaboration and teamwork among your employees. Create opportunities for team-building activities and cross-functional projects to foster community and cooperation.

Also, conduct regular check-ins with your employees to assess their satisfaction and identify any concerns or issues. Use this feedback to improve your onboarding and retention strategies.

Apart from this, the most significant step you should take is hiring for the job fit.

Ellow is a platform that brings global talent to you who specialize in the skills you are looking for. Along with sourcing talent, it also vets the candidates based on the various screening algorithms that filter candidates as per their skills, location, pay expectation, and availability.

Frequently Asked Questions

The time it takes to source talent and onboard them can vary anywhere from a day to 60 days.

Some of the common platforms used for sourcing talent are social media, job boards, job fairs, talent marketplaces like ellow, etc.

The most simple way to make sure that the candidate doesn’t join other organization is to make sure you keep them engaged. Connect with them once a week, send them company information which inspires them, send them employee testimonials, etc.

Sariga Gopalan

Sariga Gopalan

Sariga Gopalan works as an HR Generalist at ellow, a platform specializing in tech recruitment. With experience working across the globe, she has an experience of working more than 10 years in the HR industry.
Sariga Gopalan

Sariga Gopalan

Sariga Gopalan works as an HR Generalist at ellow, a platform specializing in tech recruitment. With experience working across the globe, she has an experience of working more than 10 years in the HR industry.