Is Binomial Recruiting the Solution to a Better Quality Hire? Part Two

By Jessica Miller-Merrell 

Binomial recruiting may seem like the roulette of the talent acquisition world, but it’s actually much more of a game of strategy than sheer luck. This talent acquisition method is used by many companies that believe a larger number of applicants will increase the chance of finding the perfect candidate, but it presents both challenges and advantages. In part one of this series, I talked about why it makes sense to believe that probability has a place in recruiting, but I also mentioned that the way most people think of using binomial recruiting isn’t practical.

The problem

While binomial recruiting sounds like a great idea in theory, most recruiters and talent acquisition leaders who are managing multiple job requisitions for their company don’t have time to handle an increased number of resumes for each position. From requiring an enormous time commitment to the frustration of weeding through unqualified applicants, binomial recruiting in its purest form just isn’t practical. You may see an increased probability of finding “the one” when you receive 200 applications instead of 20, but if you do that with every position, you’ll be overworked and unimpressed by this method.

The solution

However, by changing the way we think about and use binomial recruiting, we can make the most of this method and use it to our advantage. Forget about it being a numbers game. Binomial recruiting should be a game of strategy. Put it to work for you by using these four solutions as part of your binomial recruiting:

1. Assess the situation

If you’re going to increase your recruiting, save yourself a headache and increase your assessments as well. Increased assessments, qualifying questionnaires and automated selection processes cut down on the manual labor necessary to weed out those who don’t meet the minimum qualifications. An important thing to keep in mind, however, is that the average application already takes 45 minutes to complete. Making the hiring process more involved might decrease the number of unqualified candidates but there is no guarantee it will increase candidate quality. Only use assessments that really get the job done.

2. Say what you need

While some candidates are guilty of not fully reading a job description, we have to believe that the majority will and provide them with more detailed job postings and specific descriptions. Say what you need and want in a candidate and trust that the description will be one of the tools they use to assess skills, qualifications and even abstract aspects like culture and work styles.

3. Empower your candidates

In order to improve my own candidate quality, I used to show candidates a seven-minute day-in-the-life video as they waited in the interview room to meet with the hiring manager. Candidates saw a realistic preview and as a result, a few realized the position wasn’t right for them and asked to no longer be considered, thus increasing my candidate quality. By providing your candidates with resources to evaluate the organization and job, you’re empowering and enabling them to make the call of whether or not it’s a good fit.

4. Get them in the group

One of the most powerful tools you can use to juggle a large number of candidates in a way that makes them feel important and considered is a talent network like Talent Circles. A talent network is platform owned exclusively by your organization where you can provide candidates with an opportunity to learn more about the organization while recruiters also learn about candidates. More importantly, the system offers CRM capability, ensuring that recruiters can input notes so that all recruiters can learn more about the interested job seeker party.

TalentCircles is the most comprehensive candidate engagement platform on the market. Take a product tour or request a live demo today. 

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology anthropologist specializing in HR and recruiting. She's the Chief Blogger and Founder of Blogging4Jobs and author of The HR Technology Field Guide. You can follow her on Twitter at @jmillermerell.

Is Binomial Recruiting the Solution to a Better Quality Hire? Part One

By Jessica Miller-Merrell 

As recruiters, we’re always on the search for a way to fill positions with the best of the best. We want to be efficient, we want to be effective, but most of all, we want the sought-after candidates with proven success and enormous potential. Sometimes this quest can feel like the search for the perfect formula. We try to determine what works, what doesn’t, which websites we had the most success with and which keywords stand out. Among these contributing factors that lead us to finding the perfect candidates lays another question: does quantity equal quality?

Binomial recruiting believes that it does. Binomial recruiting is the practice of reaching as many people as possible with the goal of receiving as many applications or resumes as possible. In statistics, binomial distribution evaluates how many occurrences of success there are among a given number. It’s the probability that something will occur. In talent acquisition, binomial distribution is the idea that the more candidates we have applying for a single position, the more likely we are to have a better-qualified candidate to fill our role.

Great in theory, great in practice?

On the surface, binomial recruiting sounds fantastic because we, as talent acquisition leaders, are always striving for the very best candidate to fill our job openings. However, it also presents a number of challenges.

The first and most obvious obstacle it brings is that many companies are already receiving a large number of resumes with each job they post. This may sound like a recruiter’s dream, but it’s both a blessing and a curse. The sheer volume makes the task of filling the position daunting and time consuming. Making this aspect of the hiring even more frustrating is the fact that a growing percentage of applicants aren’t even qualified for the position. From education requirements to experience level to not possessing a very specific skill needed for the role, candidates often breeze through a description and believe they’re qualified or see that they’re not but cross their fingers, and it takes a toll on recruiters who have to sort through an enormous amount of resumes just to narrow it down to those who meet the minimum requirements. Binomial recruiting can be a challenge for this reason alone.

The other thing that could be keeping companies from choosing this method of recruiting is that it costs more to reach more people. For many companies, it’s a smaller consideration than the time commitment, but it is important to note. Casting a wide net can be considerably more expensive than using a focused approach.

Using the technique practically

However, even with these challenges, many organizations and recruiters find that quantity does equal quality, making it worth the time, effort and expense of handling a large number of resumes just to find that one special candidate. On the other hand, there are just as many, if not more, companies that can’t see how this type of recruiting could make sense. Essentially, it can’t in the way most people use and think of it. More resumes may lead to better hires, but it’s not just a numbers game. Most companies that are seeing success with binomial recruiting are thinking about and using it differently than the average person, and they’re onto something.

Learn about the tricks of the trade in part two of this series to find out how your company can make use of the method in practical and effective ways.

TalentCircles is the most comprehensive candidate engagement platform on the market. Take a product tour or request a live demo today.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology anthropologist specializing in HR and recruiting. She's the Chief Blogger and Founder of Blogging4Jobs and author of The HR Technology Field Guide. You can follow her on Twitter at @jmillermerell.