The life of an Talent Management Professional / HR Recruiter can be a hard one. Tasked with finding the best and brightest for the company, the talent management person often finds them-self between the proverbial “rock and hard place.” Finding the right fit for a position is laborious and lengthy, and it’s always a gamble; people are not always what their resumes build them up to be, and even if they are as skilled and talented, it doesn’t mean they will work and play well with others. So, what looked like the perfect Dr. Jekyll for the job, may morph into the worst Mr. Hyde (right before your eyes). Here are some guidelines for getting top talent to sign on with your company:

Know What Job You’re Filling

This may seem obvious, but too often the recruiter takes a job description from a hiring department and has no clue what the job role’s jargon actually means. Relying on a department to know what they want is not necessarily a good idea. For example, a manager in your IT department is looking for a particular skill set, but decides to throw in a few “nice-to-haves” as well. Problem is, they don’t list them as “nice-to-haves,” but rather, as “must-haves.” Often, a manager will ask for more years of experience than are actually necessary. For instance, sometimes a particular technology hasn’t even been available for as many years as the manager wants. Bottom line: understand what you’re asking for before you start searching.

Forget the Automated HR Software

It sounds like a good idea – take applications and resumes online and let the software figure out the best applicant pool. Problem is, the staff working with the software doesn’t really know how to use it, so they wind up throwing away sixty percent of the applicants before you ever see them, and there is no guarantee the forty percent left is the best of the bunch. While the flood of applications may seem overwhelming, working through them by hand can yield a much better result. You may find someone who is a perfect fit who would have been thrown away by the software.

Judge Your Applicants Wisely

Once you’ve narrowed down your selections into an appropriate-sized pool, review each applicant for fit. Determine, if possible, whether the applicant’s skill set and experience level suits the position. You may find an applicant with a great deal of experience – whose skill in a particular requirement is not at the requested level – and yet, decide to interview them anyway because they have a proven track record of learning new tasks and technologies quickly. You may also find an applicant who looks perfect in regards to technological requirements, but who is not very experienced in the overall roll. Resumes are guides for determining whether or not an applicant is worth an interview; your judgment is what selects the best candidates.

These are three quick guidelines for top talent acquisition! Use them to kick start your recruitment processes, then rev them up into high gear.