Creating theperfect hiring sequenceIntroduction

When candidates are 38% more likely to accept a job offer from a
positive candidate experience, a well-thought-out hiring sequencecan be the difference between hiring the talent your business needs
or missing out on candidates entirely.

The cause? “Candidates think hiring managers are twice as likely toslow down the hiring process than a recruiter,” according to HR
analyst Ben Eubanks. “I've talked to hiring managers over the years
that say, ‘I'm willing to put up with the stress my team is under rightnow more so than the risk of hiring the wrong person.’”However, by putting in place a simple hiring process, a positive
candidate experience becomes less like guesswork and more of asure thing. What’s more, you’ll be in pole position to identify the best
candidates, eliminate any wasted time spent on unnecessary workand disorganization, and save a pretty penny on recruitment costs.

To give you a helping hand, we’ve created a comprehensive guide to
determine the important steps to include in a perfect hiring
sequence. There’s a lot to unpack, so let’s not waste any more time!

Contents
Tip 1: Identify the gaps you need to fill

Tip 2: Write a clear job description

Tip 3: Source and review applications

Tip 4: Structure your interviews

Tip 5: Assess the candidate’s skills

Tip 6: Prepare your job offer

Tip 7: Be open to giving and receiving feedback#1
Identify the gap(s) you
need to fill
To ensure that you’re hiring to fill a real need, it’s essential thatyou take a skills-first approach to hiring.

“Businesses need to start with a blank piece of paper andhonestly ask themselves: what are the skills that this positionneeds to be successful in the next 18 months? Those are the skills
that you either hire for directly or hire for the potentiality—that’s
your ability to train them,” says President and Editor-at-Large of
RecruitingDaily, William Tincup.

When you know the gaps you need to fill, writing a job
description, assessing potential applicants, and hiring the right
person becomes a lot easier. Here’s what you need to do to getstarted:Do a skills-gap analysis
A skills gap analysis is a great way to quickly identify the skills
and experience you need to fuel future business growth. It canhelp you determine what gaps exist between your current
employees and the skills your organization needs to move
forward.

Done right, a skills gap analysis helps you:
Move forward with strategic workforce planningGet an overview of the entire organization
Optimize your long-term recruitment strategy

To undertake a skill gap analysis, ask yourself:

Long term goals
How does this role fit into your growth plans over the next 1, 3,
5 years?
How fast are you trying to grow your business?
Is there enough work to justify a new role?

Skills needed for the future
How is technology going to impact your work moving
forward?
What kinds of new skills will you need to hire in the future?

Current team’s skillset
Where are the gaps in your team’s skills and abilities?
Where can team members upskill vs. where do you need tohire for new skills?

Figure out which employment type
is the one for you
Is full-time, part-time, or contract employment the right choice?
Take some time to assess the findings from your skills gap
analysis and see what will suit your business. Still struggling?
Follow our handy flowchart to help you identify the best fit for you.

Choose the job title that best fits
your needs
Once you know what skills you need, you can fit your job title andresponsibilities accordingly. Working backward like this helps toimprove the candidate hiring experience, as prospective
employees will know what’s required of them and how they’ll fit
into your business.

Are you hiring
for growth or tokeep up withdemand?

DemandDoes the rolerequire strong
internal
relationships?

Yes
GrowthNo

Are you hiring
for a specializedskill set?

Yes
No

Will there beenough work tokeep anemployee busy
for 30-40 hours?

Do you needthose skills on apermanent or
long-term basis?

Yes

Yes

No

Full-timePart-timeNo

Does the workrequire a lot ofexperience/aseniorcandidate?

Yes

Contract or Freelance

NoIntern or Student

#2
Write a clear job
description
Job descriptions should outline the necessary skills, training, andeducation needed for a given role. A confusing job description
can frustrate potential candidates—so it needs a sufficient level ofdetail and to be as clear as possible.

What you need to include
In its most basic form, the job description will need to include
Job titl
Job descriptio
Duties and core responsibilitie
Required education, experience, and skill
Salary and benefits

Remember the purpose of your job
description
Ultimately, the goal of your job description is so someone canquickly understand what’s required for the role and whether theirskills and experience are aligned with your expectations. As
William Tincup explains, “The goal of a great job description isequal parts attraction and disqualification. You want just as many
people to be repelled from a job description as you want to attract,
because you want them to be able to read it, consume it, and makea good decision fast.”

You want to persuade the right people to apply and set them up for
success in future interviews by clearly laying out your expectations.
So, the clearer you are with your requirements, the better odds
you’ll have that candidates can demonstrate what you’re looking for,and the higher likelihood that you’ll find an applicant that sticks.

Be concise with your requirements

Use simple and effective language

Keep things simple, and don’t be tempted to throw in overused
phrases like passionate, determined, or team-player—as they
don’t add anything meaningful. It’s important to think about thecandidates, and how to make them excited when they read it. Will
your job description make them confused, bored, or put off?
Writing with your candidates in mind can help keep you honest
where you may otherwise be tempted to make descriptions too
dense, throw in over-used phrases, or focus too much on what
you need—as opposed to simple, straightforward language thatgets the point across and makes the candidate excited to learn
more and apply.

It’s often much more effective to keep things short and list yourrequirements as “must-haves” instead of “nice to haves” or trying
to include every possible duty or project that they mightcomplete. Long lists only serve to turn off potential candidates,
who might disqualify themselves if they don’t meet every single
thing you’re looking for. To make your requirements concise,consider using bullet points in your job description to help draw
the reader’s eye and reduce the word count.

Add some (authentic) flair to makeit stand out

Grab the reader’s attention with a catchy first line, offer a glimpse
into the company culture, growth opportunities, unique benefits—
anything that will spark interest in a potential hire.

#3
Sourcing and reviewing
applications

In order to get your job out in front of as many candidates as
possible, you’ll probably need to go beyond just posting it on
your website. Here are the main ways to get the word out, so
you can source the right talent and start sifting throughtheir applications.

Recruiter, employeereferrals, and hiring
platform: Pros and cons

Today, there are three main options for hiring: using a
recruiter, posting on a hiring platform like Indeed, LinkedIn,
Talent, or Greenhouse, or employee referrals. Let’s explore
the pros and cons of each, so you can figure out which ones
are best for your candidate search.

Recruitment agency

Hiring platforms

Employee referrals

Recruitment agencies are external companies that find

Hiring platforms are where you can post jobs, search forIf you have happy employees already working for you,suitable candidates for employers. As a recruiter, it’s theircandidates, and advertise your open positions. They canwhat better way to find new hires than through yourjob to identify and approach viable candidates and line

be a great way to reach a large pool of talent at acurrent staff? After all, referral hires stay 70% longer

them up for your consideration.

relatively low cost and often offer tools for small

than non-referrals, and companies see higher retention

businesses to start hiring at scale.

rates compared to those who applied through otherchannels. Not to mention, referral schemes can save up
to $7,500 in productivity and sourcing costs

Pros:

Pros:

Pros:

Fast hirin

Low cos

Highly recommended candidates

Higher quality of candidate

Broad reac

Higher retention rate

Specialist knowledge

Simple and accessibl

Good for culture fit

Room for personalization

Lower cost

Cons:

Cons:

Higher cos

Can attract unsuitable candidates

Less knowledgeable about culture fi

Lots of competition

Lack of employer branding

Time-consuming

Verdict:

Ultimately, the success of a recruiter hinges on how goodthey are at their job. While some recruiters will focus on

Cons:
Narrow reachPossible lack of a diverse talent poolManaging dissatisfaction when referrals aren’t hired

Verdict:

Verdict:

Hiring platforms are an inexpensive way to get your job

Employee referrals are a great way to leverage yourad out to a wide assortment of applicants. They’re simple

existing talent and find a good cultural fit at an extremely

churning out a high volume of candidates, the best

to use and allow you to personalize your job ads withlow cost (usually a small referral bonus). However, if you

recruiters will hand-pick the best of the bunch.

your own unique personality and branding. However, thisrely solely on referrals from staff, you’ll be limiting yourcan result in a large volume of applications, which can bereach and this might result in a lack of diversity in terms

time-consuming to sort through.

To this end, industry or community job boards are a moretargeted, less expensive alternative. These boards won’t
have as much reach as the larger hiring platforms but
they can be a great way to get your job out in front of theright people, for a low cost.

of talent.

What to consider when reviewing
applications

Stay true to the job ad and criteria

When assessing potential applicants and narrowing down suitable candidates forinterview, it’s best to stick as close to the job ad as possible. You’ve spent time making
it as simple and specific as possible, so don’t deviate away from it when picking yourprospective interviewees.

Rolling interviews vs. closed interviews

Are you going to conduct rolling interviews until you find the right candidate or close
off applications once you’ve got a suitable pool of interviewees to draw from? 

There is no right or wrong interview process, explains William Tincup, but it isimportant to be upfront with candidates. “When it comes to rolling versus closed or
rolling versus a deadline, I'm always more in favour of just being honest about what
you’re trying to achieve. The employer has a responsibility to set and manage
expectations. “ “If you have a strict deadline to hire, say so, or you're going to put them into a talentpool. Again, that's not a bad thing. Those aren't bad words. But they're bad words
when we use the job openings as a mechanism to do that without the candidate’s
expectations being managed, correctly“ says William Tincup. 

A short interview window can be good if you’re against a tight schedule, but theyoften don’t allow you to capture a diverse pool of potential candidates. With rollinginterviews, you can keep your options open and continue interviewing new
candidates until you find one that ticks all the boxes.

Follow up on all responses
A great way to make the hiring experience that much morememorable for candidates is by following up with them every
step of the way. To keep candidates engaged, be sure to:Send a follow-up once the application has been received
Send rejection emails and interview invites promptly
Message candidates from a human email address

#4

Think about how many interviews
you need

Today, it’s common for businesses to conduct anywherefrom 1 to 4 interviews as part of the hiring process.
Depending on the role you’re hiring for, it can be useful to
use subsequent interviews to bring in different staff
members, or further assess their skills.

Each interview you take should have its own specificpurpose. For example, the first interview is usually used toscreen applicants and determine if they’re qualified for thejob. Further down the line, you might have a team or
manager interview to further probe the candidate on
specifics and see if they’d be a cultural fit with your current
employees.

Structure the rightinterview andassessment sequence

So you’ve narrowed down your applications to a select,
lucky few. Now it’s time to interview them and see what
they’re made of. Here’s how you can undertake a
successful interview process:It’s also worth considering a skills-based interview to get ahandle on what your interviewee can do. This could involve
setting them a task and getting them to discuss it or giving
them a chance to give a presentation on your chosen topic.

Ultimately, the number of interviews you do will mostly be
determined by the role you’re hiring for. More technical roles
may likely require an in-depth skills assessment but fewer
interviews. On the other hand, if you’re hiring for a seniordirector, finding the right match often involves a lot moreinterviews, presentations, and informal visits and chats.

Remote vs. in-person interviews

Video and phone interviews are popular ways to screen
potential employees and assess whether they’ll be a fit foryour business. 

But as William Tincup explains, flexibility is the secret toan effective hiring process. “It’s a two-way street. We'retrying to find a match where both of us thrive and both of
us are successful. On the employment side, you have tocome to a mutual understanding and do your interview
wherever both sides feel most comfortable.” 

So while many hiring decisions can be made remotely,
depending on your company culture, budget, location, or
the role you’re hiring for, in-person interviews are still
valuable if they can be conducted safely.

Decide who to include in theinterview process

If you’ve got a small team, the right person to conduct aninterview might just be a department head. Ideally, you’ll
want someone with similar skills to the person you’re hiring
and with knowledge of the role, so they can probe effectively
and ask the right questions. 

If you’re planning a multi-staged interview process, you’ll
have to decide who to include at each stage. Panelinterviews can be effective, but they can be overwhelming
for candidates if there are more than two interviewers at
once. These interviews may also require more of your staff
to give up time in their day to attend. 

However, if you’re hiring for a senior role, they can be a good
way to give all relevant parties the chance to ask questions
from the get-go. Regardless of who you pick to take yourinterviews, make sure they’re fully briefed beforehand andknow exactly what skills, knowledge, and experience to lookout for.

#5
Exercises or sample assignments

Assess yourSample assignments can give you a solid idea of what your potential
hire can do. It’s a chance for your interviewee to show off their skills

candidates’ skills

and demonstrate the value they can bring to your business. Ideally,
any exercise or assignment will come after an initial interview,As part of a hiring sequence, it’s common for businesses tosomewhere in the middle of the interview process, when both parties

assess a candidate’s skills with a task, assignment, or

are invested. Depending on the job role, a written assignment, coding

exercise as part of the interview process. It’s a great way totest, or skills questionnaire can all be useful ways to see what a

let your potential hire put their skills to the test—so here’s

candidate can do—and will quickly give you an idea of whether theirsome ideas on what you can do.

skills are fit for the role they’ve applied for. Your sample exercise
should be something that demonstrates skill but is abstracted enoughfrom actual work output that it isn’t something you as an employer

Presentations

would use in place of paid work.

A presentation can be a great final step in helping you make adecision if you’re stuck between 2-3 finalists. They give eachapplicant a chance to take the floor, present on a chosen topic, talkSpeculative workthrough a task, discuss their interests, and everything in between.

Compared to a sample assignment, spec work is a lot closer to thetype of work a prospective employee will actually complete whenthey’re employed. While you might think this is a ticket for a freelunch, be wary. Great candidates may produce work with enoughpolish that it can be tempting to use or publish it . But equally, spec
work is incredibly time-consuming for candidates, so if you’re asking
for spec work, it’s often best practice to pay them. You don’t want aprospective hire to find their ideas in the wild later on if you’ve notgiven them fair compensation for their time.

Putting it all together
You may not be able to perfectly predict how good of a fit a new hire will be, but having a solid hiring process in place can help you more effectively vet
potential candidates. While hiring for specific positions and skills may require specific steps, here are some generic hiring sequences for some generalroles:

Entry-level finance admin hiring sequence

Hiring Manager sends a screening questionnaire to assess suitable
candidates.
Hiring Manager conducts 15–30 minute phone calls with pool ofsuitable candidates to find the best few.
Finance Lead and team/stakeholders conduct a 30–60 minute inperson or video interview to ask questions about candidate’s skillset
and provide more information about the role.
Finance Lead selects the best candidate and Hiring Manager calls or
emails the candidate to extend a job offer.

Senior software developer hiring sequence

Hiring Manager chats with a pool of candidates via phone or video tolearn more about their experience and skills.
Hiring Manager sends over a 2–4 hour long coding test to gauge
developer’s skills
Head of Development conducts a 60-minute video interview withcandidates and 1–2 team members to discuss the position further andgauge whether or not the candidate will be a good fit
Hiring Manager presents offer to top candidate over email or phone.

Managing director hiring sequence
Hiring manager chats with pool of candidates via 30-minute calls orover video to get an initial feelCEO and executive team conduct 60-minute in-person interviews
with 2-3 ideal candidates to discuss the company’s goals and thecandidates’ experience
Each candidate creates and delivers a presentation to the CEO andexecutive team about their expertise, ideas, and direction for thecompany
CEO and executive team meet to select a candidate
CEO calls the candidate to officially offer the job.

Freelance designer hiring sequence

Marketing Manager reviews the designer’s portfolio to get a taste forthe candidate’s skills and styleMarketing Manager conducts a 30–60 minute video or in-person
interview to learn more about the designer’s experience, give an
overview of the project(s), and discuss terms like rates and timelines
Leading candidate completes a spec assignment that assesses theway they approach projects
Marketing Manager emails the designer to offer the project and offersa contract with agreed-upon terms.

Don’t overload yourself
While it might seem like a good idea to book backto-back interviews, it’s a proven way to induce
burnout. Take the time to properly schedule so you
and your candidates don’t feel rushed or hardpressed for time. Equally, you don’t want to overload
other interviewers, so think hard about how many
candidates you send through to subsequent stages.

#6

Prepare your job offer
Once you’ve interviewed your potential hires and arrived
at a decision, it’s time to prepare your job offer. This is anincredibly important part of your hiring sequence, as any
bottlenecks can slow down the time to hire. Additionally, a
process that’s too long or convoluted, can turn people
away from your business. 

“When it comes to candidate ghosting, two of the top
three reasons that candidates tell us they apply for a job
and then disappear come down to speed. One reason isthe application process took too long and the other isbecause the candidate took another job. In both cases,
someone else beat you to the punch,” says Ben Eubanks.

Good candidates are in demand, so if you’re enthusiastic
about a prospective employee, make them an offer andmake it snappy.

What you need to include
A comprehensive job offer will outline exactly what a candidate
will receive and what is expected of them once they start their
new role. We recommend consulting an employment lawyer on
the baseline components and specific terms.

But as a starting guide, you’ll need to include:
The new employee’s name
The job title in full
The compensation on offer
The date from when employment will commenceTerms and conditions (contract/temporary/permanent)
Benefits and other compensations

Deploy eSignatures to keep things
movingUse templates for offer letters andcontracts

So you’ve found your dream candidate—great! Now you need tomake it as easy as possible to close the deal. eSignatures are an
excellent way to speed up the contract signing process. They let
your candidates sign from anywhere at the click of a button. Thiseliminates any unnecessary back-and-forth and time spent
waiting for documents to arrive.

If you’ve got lots of open positions, then creating bespoke
document templates for different contracts, offer letters, andrejection letters is a no-brainer. Here are a few examples we’ve
put together to get you started.

Example Offer Templates

#7
Be open to giving andreceiving feedback

Feedback—good or bad—helps you improve your hiring sequence.
It’s always a good idea to collect feedback from candidates, even if
you don’t end up eventually hiring them.

Give feedback to rejectedcandidates

Candidates will appreciate any feedback about their application,
resume, interview, and everything in between. It shows that you
care, and giving them actionable things to improve on for the
future lets them walk away with a positive perception of yourcompany.

Ask for feedback with a follow-up
surveyIt’s always a good idea to collect feedback from candidates,
regardless of whether you end up hiring them or not. It can help
you tweak and improve your processes in the future, which isalways useful, especially if you’re operating in a small business.
Sending out a survey is a quick, easy way to ask key questions.

Put their words into action

Feedback is next to useless if you don’t actually act on it. So, it’s
important to take all thoughts into consideration, so you can use
them to refine your processes and make tweaks andimprovements in the future.

Make Dropbox Sign
your signature movefor hiring

Now you’ve got everything you need to create a great hiring
sequence for both you and your candidates. But the work doesn’tstop there. Every new hire you make gives you the opportunity torefine and improve your process.

Dropbox Sign makes it easy to get agreements signed online withlegally binding signatures and robust security features, so that small
businesses can spend less time on admin tasks and more time on
growing their business.

Try out Dropbox Sign for free today.