So, you’ve got an ecommerce hiring process on the horizon to secure a brand-new member of the ecommerce team. Have you planned everything or are you going to go with the flow?
Here at cranberry panda, hiring ecommerce talent is something we take very seriously…so we always stress how important it is to approach the hiring process with serious organisation! In our latest Panda Pointers post, we share five tips to consider before you kick off your search for an ecommerce superstar!
If this is an urgent role, it will be certainly be a different search to one where the company has a bit more time to really get stuck into the hiring process. However, timelines still need to be put in place for every stage of the process, so it stays as seamless as possible.
How long will you advertise the role online? How much time will be put aside for looking through applications and CV’s? How many interview stages will there be (more on this later) and how many days/weeks will these be spread across? When do you want to make an offer and when will you want the person to start? We know, there are a lot of questions here, but they are ones you must answer. Having the timelines in place will help you stick to them much better than you would without the plan in place.
The interview stages will help you determine skills, culture fit and personality. How much do you want to delve into this? You could have an initial phone call to get to know the potential employees, then from there work out how to test on the required skills.
Many ecommerce positions will require a task or presentation at the interview stage, so we do recommend somehow factoring this in when planning the interview stages. Getting other members of the team involved also helps with the culture fit aspect – it all depends on how many stages you want to have and what you will fit into them.
Writing a job advert that hooks the right people in isn’t always easy to pull off, but it doesn’t mean you have to embellish details to get the candidates.
People don’t want any surprises later in the hiring process. For example, let’s say you’re recruiting a digital marketing manager. The job advert says there will be lots of work on PPC, so candidates eager to focus on this will start applying. Then, they discover there will be aspects of PPC, but not as much as they were led to believe. This will lose you candidates and even be a risk when it comes to hiring someone, who could leave if the job wasn’t what it was advertised as.
Be honest, list the exact responsibilities this role will need to perform and be open about company benefits.
Once again, these details should be locked in before the process starts to avoid any shocks down the line. Before advertising salary, benefits, contracted hours and anything else the candidate absolutely must know, talk with all the relevant people. Who needs to sign off on salary and will it change at any point? Are the contracted hours and annual leave allowance all correct? It may sound like something to think about towards the end of the process, but candidates will want to know all of this information before they commit to a process.
The hiring process will take you out of your daily routine and responsibilities, which of course is to be expected. While it is so important to make the right decision and not rush, your workload shouldn’t suffer either.
Think about tasks that can be delegated to other members of the team which will definitely help. It’s also handy to create a priority list; what has to be done during the hiring process and what isn’t as urgent. It’s important to remember you’re human, so don’t try and do everything all at once.
We’re sure you are well on your way to finding a new ecommerce superstar for the team! You can visit our employer hub for the latest hiring advice, industry insights and to get in touch with us about helping you in your search!