You should always have a general idea before you start any employee recruiting effort of how you intend to conduct and manage the process. A good way to begin is to set a deadline for when, ideally, you want to see the position filled. After the deadline is in place, you can establish a sequence of steps, each with its own deadline.
You may decide, for example, that you’re going to look inside your company for a certain period of time — say, two weeks — and if unsuccessful, you’ll post the opening or seek the services of an outside staffing firm.
No one plan is right for everyone, so keep your options open at all times. Don’t become so locked into one strategy that you become unable to see that it’s not working for you.
Be systematic. If you don’t tackle the purely administrative side of recruiting early on in the process, you’re asking for trouble. Before you start the search, set up a protocol — a predetermined, systematic procedure — for how you intend to process applications, résumés, and cover letters. Try to set aside a certain amount of time each day to focus on the recruiting effort.
If you’re using an outside recruiter, make sure that someone in the company — either you or the hiring manager — has a direct line to the individual who’s handling the search. If you’re seeking candidates online, you’ll need secure systems in place for taking in, evaluating, sorting, and tracking the many résumés you’ll attract.