Why is Industry knowledge important while hiring

As a recruiter in a large organization, you have to hire for various roles with different skill sets. While it is difficult for a recruiter to be aware of all the skills that a specific job requires, they have to be jacks of all trades. However, most of the time, it is the lack of industry knowledge that stifles the hiring process. 

And no single reason can be pointed out as the cause. This is because, as a recruiter, one can only know so much about the skills required for every job posting in the company. Moreover, the requirements for even the same industry massively change. For example, the skills required for a software developer job with three years of experience will solely focus on skills. However, when recruiting a team leader that may require ten years of experience, the recruiter will also consider other traits such as leadership.

Companies can’t adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to recruitment, as it will only make the process inefficient and cause huge inconsistencies in the quality of talent being recruited. So, what should be the strategy for such a situation, and how should recruiters apprise themselves of such industry knowledge?

Follow leading industry research 

One of the best ways to increase industry knowledge is to study leading research publications. An industry can undergo rapid changes within a short span of time, especially if it is based on technology. Take, for instance, artificial Intelligence, which has made a great inroad into the mainstream in just three to four years. 

Therefore, a good recruiter must constantly try to read up on all the latest developments in the field from where they usually hire recruiters. That is not enough, though, as recruiters also need to conduct research on their own to gain some new insights. Subscribing to a top-class newsletter is also a great way to save time and get notified of some of the best content out there.  

Also Read: How should recruiters use interview intelligence platform?

Always engage with your colleagues at work 

Another great way to ensure your industry knowledge is always spot on is to engage with your colleagues at work. As mentioned earlier in the article, a recruiter has to hire candidates for various jobs that require different skills. So, talking to your colleagues who are already well versed in the skills helps one be aware of recent developments.

Recruiters can also talk with the actual employees they hired to get feedback. This feedback can range from the recruiters’ communication skills to their knowledge of the candidate’s industry. In addition, they should also ask their colleagues to share the latest developments in their field. This method is more effective because you will get good-quality information without researching it too much.

Also Read: What is Cost of Turnover? Why do companies want to minimize it?

Analyze your interviews 

Self-introspection is one of the hardest things to do, but as a recruiter, it is a very important way to increase your skills. A great way to do this is to compare your interviews, especially the successful and unsuccessful interviews. For example, if you rejected a candidate, you should go back to the interview and see if there was something you could have done to improve the experience.

The recruiter should also compare the successful and unsuccessful candidates to see if there are any common denominators.This will help them further fine-tune their interview process.

Also Read: What is recruiting automation benefit and how it improves hiring

Advantages of Industry Knowledge in Recruiting

Increases the quality of hiring 

Every company wants to attract the best talent, but few recruiters have the ability to select the best candidates. A recruiter with good industry knowledge is of great use here. A good recruiter will be able to identify the exact skills, qualifications, and experience required for the job.

Selecting a good crop of CVs will immediately elevate the interview experience as the probability of hiring a good employee will increase.

Also Read: Do we still need people in the age of Artificial Intelligence

Helps speed up the recruitment process 

If a recruiter is well versed in the industry, they will have good connections within it. This allows them to have insights into what is happening in the industry and which organizations have the best talent. Having such detailed information about the industry will ensure that when the time comes to hire, the recruiter will have access to the best talent available. 

Thus, a good recruiter with vast industry knowledge will help speed up the recruitment process and ensure its efficiency.

Also Read: How are recruitment satisfaction surveys helpful for companies

Improve candidate engagement 

While interviewing, a great way to make candidates feel at ease is to let them know you’re well aware of the industry. This will ensure quality engagement with candidates. The recruiter will also be better placed to explain what role the candidates will have in the company and what they can achieve after joining them.

Such recruiters will also be able to determine which candidate is qualified for the job and brings other qualities, such as teamwork and leadership.

Also Read: Do we still need people in the age of Artificial Intelligence

Create a talent pool 

In hiring, a situation that often arises is when an employee is looking for a job without intending to leave their current one. This is usually a way employees get a good offer from a company and use it to get a raise at their current job.

So, a recruiter with good knowledge of the industry will connect with such passive employees to create a talent pool from which they could hire in the future or in an emergency situation.

Also Read: What is recruiting automation benefit and how it improves hiring

Salary Benchmarking 

One of the main reasons recruiters engage in garnering industry knowledge is to obtain information on salary benchmarks. This allows them to be aware of the competitive salaries being offered in the specific industry. 

Another advantage you have as a recruiter in such situations is to ensure that companies are not losing their employees to other companies that may be offering them better salaries.

While recruiters can gain industry knowledge through various methods, none of them are as effective as using our tool BarRaiser. Over the last few years, AI has taken a massive leap and has also impacted the hiring industry.

Also Read: Why is it important to use pronouns in hiring?

With our tool, recruiters can create questionnaires by giving directions to our AI bot. So, for example, if a recruiter wants to schedule an interview, they can simply ask our AI to create an interview plan. This plan includes the following:

• The questions for the interview 
• The number of rounds for the interview 
• The duration of the interview 
• The number of parts that the interview must be divided into and their individual durations 
• Must have questions 
• The number of experience required for the job posting 

Recruiters can also ask the AI bot during the interview to create a new question. They can do so by giving them specific instructions or asking the bot to look through the candidate’s resume or the context of the interview. 

We also provide interviewer training to the companies to ensure their recruiters are trained at our tool. We also provide detailed reports on the candidates and the interviewer to ensure that not only is the interview process efficient but is alo unbiased and non discriminatory towards any candidate.

For companies that want to outsource their recruitment we provide interviews as a service where we take over the entire process. This means we will select resumes following which they will be interviewed. The detailed reports on each employee will be shared within two days of the interview.

We at BarRaiser have a pool of over 1500 interviewees expert interviewers who are rigorously trained on our platform. Till now, we have completed over 110k interviews with an impressive employee conversion rate of over 70 per cent.

Using BarRaiser we guarantee you quality hiring that will also bolster diversity and inclusion. BarRaiser is the best AI interview platform that features structured interviews, AI-generated interview notes, and tools to ensure quality hiring while eliminating biases from the recruitment process. With BarRaiser’s support, you’ll be well-equipped to build a strong team of sales associates who will drive sales and deliver exceptional customer service.