The labor market has evolved significantly within the past decade. Aside from the introduction of advanced technology to simplify the process of sourcing and hiring candidates, this evolution has also affected the quality of candidates available. Today, companies have to exceed typical hiring expectations to hire qualified candidates. Part of this process involves implementing hiring processes like full cycle recruiting.
In truth, full cycle recruiting has its perks, but with the number of companies opting for less hectic recruitment practices, one might wonder if it still works for recruiting top talent. The good news is we’ve got all the answers here. In this guide, we will discuss the process of full cycle recruiting and how it can benefit your company.
What is full cycle recruiting?
Full cycle recruiting, also called full life cycle or end-to-end recruiting, is a comprehensive hiring model that begins with the company preparing for the recruitment process and ends with the candidate accepting the offer.
The major factor distinguishing full cycle recruiting from other hiring models, such as on-cycle or off-cycle recruitment, is its holistic approach. On one hand, on-cycle recruitment involves screening, selecting and hiring candidates at a specific time each year. On the other, off-cycle recruitment is a hiring mode that doesn’t necessarily have a timeline or structure, and it can happen at any time within the year.
While these hiring models may skip some hiring processes, such as onboarding, full cycle recruiting focuses on each step squarely. It includes preparation, sourcing, screening, selection, hiring, and onboarding.
In the full cycle recruitment model, different recruiters handle specific stages of the hiring process, ensuring it goes smoothly and ends with the best results. For example, one recruiter could focus on the preparation stage while another handles sourcing. These full cycle recruiters often comprise a single HR management entity that oversees the entire recruitment life cycle, allowing for continuity.
However, some companies, such as start-ups or smaller companies, that have fewer hiring needs and resources than large organizations often assign the whole process to a hiring manager. This eliminates the need for delegation and maximizes limited hiring resources.
Stages of full cycle recruiting
Full cycle recruiting encompasses the entire recruitment process, ensuring a seamless and efficient hiring journey for both candidates and recruiters. The full cycle recruitment process comprises six stages, and in this section, we will explain each of them.
1. Preparation
In the preparation stage, the full cycle recruiter gathers all the necessary information about the open role from the human resource team. During this stage, the job requisition is proposed and approved internally, leading to an appointment for the vacancy intake. This involves the recruiter learning all about the role’s requirements, duties, and responsibilities.
Based on the information the full-cycle recruiter gets, they will draft a job description that details these requirements and responsibilities in a clear and concise manner. Following this, the HR team can review the job description and make adjustments before moving to the next stage.
2. Sourcing
The sourcing stage in full cycle recruiting involves filtering through a pool of talent to attract candidates who fit the job description you’ve posted. This stage begins after posting the job description on a sourcing channel.
The complexity of the sourcing stage depends on how specialized the role you’re hiring is. In essence, the more specialized the role is, the fewer the number of potential sourcing channels. And the fewer the sourcing channels, the easier it is to keep track of each channel and understand which one would provide you with the most skilled candidates.
3. Screening
After sourcing out candidates for the role, the next step is to evaluate whether they’re just as fit for the role as they claim. This screening stage of full cycle recruiting involves all the processes directed at assessing candidates’ skills, personalities, and cultural fit.
Ultimately, the goal is to find talented candidates who understand your company’s values and can work with you to achieve your goals. As such, it is one of the most critical stages of full cycle recruiting, comprising the steps from application filtering to pre-employment testing.
4. Selection
The selection process involves choosing the candidates who meet the job requirements based on the results obtained from the screening stage. Here, you round up the results from the screening process and provide feedback to candidates on their performance. Then, you send out invitations to interview the candidates that met the cut.
Being the major part of this stage, interviews determine the outcome of your recruitment. Essentially, interviews provide a platform for you to meet your candidates and interact with them. To do this, you can either organize physical or virtual interviews. However, no matter the case, the outcome of your interview process usually determines who gets selected for a role.
5. Hiring
Once the full cycle recruiter has narrowed down the potential employees for a post, they can proceed to run background and reference checks to verify candidates’ job fit. These procedures allow the recruiter to gain insight into the candidates’ performance, character, experience, and proven skills in previous roles.
During this phase, the full cycle recruiter grades candidates according to pre-set metrics such as work ethics and professionalism. If they tick all the boxes, you can then proceed to extend a job offer to them.
6. Onboarding
Between the time you extend the job offer and when the candidate resumes in their role, the full cycle recruiter must maintain contact with them. This serves as a follow-up phase to keep them motivated and excited to begin their new job.
Once the candidate signs the recruitment contract and resumes work, you can proceed to onboard them into your organization. According to the Society of Human Resource Management, a comprehensive onboarding process can last up to a year. However, some companies carry out this process within 3-6 months.
This process involves training them on your company’s due process and familiarizing them with the new environment. Doing this allows new hires to settle into your company and understand your structure, thus preventing mistakes and boosting their productivity.
Who normally uses full cycle recruiting?
Put simply, any company or business can use full cycle recruiting. However, the way you structure your recruitment model depends on your hiring needs, resources, and company standards.
For companies with many hiring needs — like those executing high-volume recruitment plans — it is ideal to create a team of full cycle recruiters who will each handle a particular step in the full cycle recruiting process. Each of these full cycle recruiters will then report to a team lead who oversees the process. This structure ensures that the recruitment cycle is continual and comprehensive.
On the flip side, companies with fewer hiring needs — like startups — can assign the whole process to a single full cycle recruiter. However, as the company grows and its hiring needs evolve, it would need to build a hiring team comprising multiple full cycle recruiters.
No matter your company’s size, though, your full cycle recruiters can either be in-house employees or staffing agencies. The only catch is that while these agencies might offer a cheaper solution, as you would only hire them when necessary, in-house recruiters better understand your company’s culture and standards. Thus, in-house recruiters can align the recruitment cycle with your company’s objectives.
Ideally, full cycle recruitment is a model that companies who want to maximize their resources and boost the quality of their hires adopt.
What are the benefits of full cycle recruiting?
While both large and small-scale companies can utilize full cycle recruitment, many of these companies don’t apply it to large-scale recruitment due to how hectic it can be. However, this shouldn’t be the case because when implemented properly, full cycle recruitment has much to offer, including:
Improved quality of hire
Leveraging full cycle hiring equips you with adequate knowledge of candidates skills and how they can be useful to your company as you go through all six stages of recruitment. This comprehensive information helps you accurately predict who will be the best fit for a job and who will excel the most in the role, thus improving the quality of the candidates you hire and reducing recruitment errors.
Enhanced candidate experience
Applying full cycle recruiting gives candidates multiple avenues to familiarize themselves with your company’s standards and culture. This holistic approach to recruiting also allows for consistency, as the candidates can reach out to the HR manager or full-cycle recruitment team in charge with questions or feedback on the recruitment process.
Higher employee retention
The comprehensive full cycle recruitment process, specifically for onboarding and training candidates, ensures they know exactly what the role entails. In turn, this reduces the chances of new hires quitting shortly after being hired. This is because they already have a clear picture of what to expect from the role and aren’t prone to surprises or disappointments after hiring.
Better new hire productivity
Full cycle recruiting allows you to identify and hire candidates with impressive skills and job fit. Pairing this with a streamlined employee onboarding process in this recruitment model empowers you to find motivated candidates who are aware of the role’s responsibilities and work to put their best foot forward.
Not to mention, by properly onboarding your candidates at the final stage of your recruitment, you give them a jumpstart on productivity. This ensures that they know enough about your company’s system to perform their roles effectively.
Increased screening consistency
Full cycle recruiting is a process carried out by a specific full cycle recruiter or a team. In either case, the hiring process is consistent since every candidate is evaluated according to a specific set of screening metrics and methods. This makes each step of hiring more streamlined and fairer for uniform assessment.
Vervoe helps you improve on your recruiting cycle
Recruiting a new employee is a huge deal. Doing it using a full cycle recruiting model is an even bigger task. As comprehensive as full cycle recruiting is, you might need tools to assist your recruiters through each stage.
One of the best tools for improving the effectiveness of your recruiting cycle is Vervoe. This AI-powered recruitment tool possesses top-notch features that help you complete the processes of full-cycle recruiting while saving you time, effort, and resources.
With Vervoe, you can screen candidates using realistic job previews and job simulations that require them to apply specific skills to pass the tests. At the end of your screening, we help you rank candidates based on their performance across pre-employment screening tests so you can identify candidates with the skills you need in no time. This eases up the selection stage of full cycle recruiting while ensuring that your company gets the best talent available.
It doesn’t end there. Vervoe is equipped with resources that can help you prepare for your recruitment and find sourcing tools that can make hiring much easier and streamlined.
Recruit your next outstanding employee with Vervoe
Full cycle recruiting can make your hiring process more comprehensive and effective while boosting both candidate and recruiter experience. However, its benefits are only accessible if you implement it properly using reliable tools to simplify each stage of the recruitment cycle.
Fortunately, Vervoe has everything you need to implement your full-cycle hiring process and ensure effectiveness throughout your recruitment. From customizable assessments to reliable APIs and Applicant Tracking Systems, Vervoe is exactly what you need for successful hiring.
Need more convincing? Register for a free trial and start implementing your full cycle hiring the Vervoe way!
