What Are the Hiring Process Steps?

Before hiring someone new, an employee needs to make sure they respect a series of processes. This way, they make sure the person is suitable for the opening they have, and avoid unpleasant situations in the future. Any company needs to respect a series of hiring process steps which are essential to find the perfect person for the job.

Neon sign on a building of a hiring announcement

Why follow these hiring process steps?

For a hiring to be successful, any recruiter and employer has to respect a series of steps. This way, they can make sure the candidate is the one they have been looking for. By not omitting any of the steps, they can avoid employee turnover and extra costs coming from a wrong choice. The process is not that complicated, but it’s essential to respect all the steps.

Essential hiring process steps to respect

1.      Identify the positions in need of employees

Before rushing to hire someone, it’s important to see if you have any available positions. If none of your current employees has decided to leave your company but you feel like you need more staff, open some new positions.

However, be careful with these new positions. They need a series of requirements and qualifications that future employees need to occupy them, just like those that already exist in your company. You can find some new requirements that you need, or strengthen the work force in a certain field.

2.      Make a plan

Now, you can start preparing for hiring and recruiting. Let’s say you know how your ideal employee should be. Discuss with the other officials in your company about this decision. If they agree with the employee profile, you can go on by establishing an approximate recruiting schedule. Then, set up some questions you’d like to ask all candidates, and choose a deadline by which you should be done with the hiring process.

3.      Put up a job description

Before hiring anyone or asking people to come to interviews, you need a job description for that particular job. This list needs to be detailed, so that future candidates should know what you want from them. It also has to be appealing, so that you can attract their attention.

4.      Start promoting the job

Now, it’s time to let people know you are hiring. Post the job opening first within your company, as your current employees might know people that would be interested. Then, make use of the platforms where you can promote jobs. Start with your official website, and then continue with job offer platforms, social media, specialized newspapers, or even career fairs.

5.      Recruit

Before people start applying for the job, you can have your recruiters look for suitable people on LinkedIn or other social media platforms. This way, you can find people that are good for your job even if they haven’t applied or are not job hunting at the moment.

6.      Review the applications

After posting the job on all possible platforms, you must have received a series of applications from potential candidates. Not all the people who have applied are good for your position, so it’s time to select those that are. Start reviewing their resumes together with your recruiting specialists, and choose the perfect candidates. This step is absolutely necessary to reduce the number of potential employees.

7.      Start interviewing

Contact those candidates that are suitable for the open position in your company, and set some interviews. You can choose whatever type of interviews you like. They can go on in person, or via phone or video. For those candidates that pass the first recruiting stages, they might have to offer interviews of all types.

8.      Assess the skills of the candidates

Before hiring someone, they should prove they have the skills necessary to occupy this position. For this, they should take a test which assesses these skills. Depending on the company and the jobs it offers, people can take more tests before being accepted. They can be intelligence, psychological, or even physical tests.

9.      Run a routine background check

At this point, you have already chosen the most skilled person for the job. However, before rushing to hire them, you should perform a last assessment of their background. Search for the person’s criminal record, drug record, but also get some time to perform a social media check and an assessment of their references.

10.  Choose the suitable candidates

Now, it’s time to select those who have passed all tests and you want in your company. However, before sending them the job offers, make sure you have some backup. The people you liked might not be happy with your offer, and they might decline it. Therefore, you need to have another alternative in this case.

If there was no one that passed the tests, it’s time to start again with the hiring process steps.

11.  Send a job offer

Put up an appealing job offer for the candidates you have selected. The offer should include a salary, a schedule, a starting date, and some other conditions the employee needs to respect. Once you present your offer, there are several situations that can happen.

The candidate can agree with the conditions immediately, and sign the contract. In case there’s something they are not completely happy with, they can start some negotiations. After these negotiations, they can either accept the conditions, or turn down the job offer.

12.  Onboarding

Let’s say the ideal candidate has accepted your offer. Now, before they officially becomes a part of the company, it’s time to make them feel welcome and help them get accustomed to the new workplace. This is the onboarding process, where they get used to the organization and their colleagues.

13.  Training

This is the last of the hiring process steps. Before they start working like the other employees, they need to undergo some training. This will get them used to what they have to do, and allows you to see if they really are the suitable person for the job.

Two people shaking hands with some silhouettes in the background


These hiring process steps are absolutely necessary when you are looking for a new person for your company. Any employer should follow them all, to make sure the candidate they found is perfect for the position and has all the necessary skills they claim to have. In the end, these steps also allow the new employee to get used to the new workplace and start doing his job as soon as possible.

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