What is a recruiting plan?

A recruiting plan is a document that outlines the recruiting strategies and steps a company will take when filling a position. Recruiting plans help business owners and managers focus their efforts and resources on effective hiring strategies. A detailed and organized plan helps you hire faster and more effectively.

You can modify the recruiting plan template for each new position while maintaining consistent strategies for attracting and selecting candidates. Update your plans over time to include new recruiting techniques as you learn from the hiring process.

The basics of recruiting plans

A recruiting plan should focus on the most important elements of connecting with and hiring the applicants who meet your needs. For each open position, consider including the following in your plan:

• Job description: The job description should include your desired qualifications and responsibilities, salary and benefits.
• Details about filling the role: Determine how many people you plan to hire and whether they’ll be part-time, full-time or contract employees.
• Timeline: Create a timeline for each step of the hiring process, including when you’ll conduct interviews and the deadline for making a final decision.
• Target audience: Describe the skills of your ideal candidate and the type of applicant pool you want to build. Consider the most important qualifications for each position and decide if the job requires any certifications, licenses or educational experience, or if you can adopt a skill-first hiring approach.
• Outreach methods: List marketing strategies for reaching your target audience. Explain the resources you’ll use to advertise the position, such as job boards, social media or in-person events.
• Evaluation plan: Determine how you’ll evaluate candidates through phone screens, interviews or application materials. Where possible, create a list of interview questions and an evaluation rubric to help standardize the process. If certain factors are more crucial than others, clarify how you’ll make your final decision.

Advantages of a recruitment plan

A recruiting plan gives your hiring managers and HR staff a clear list of steps to follow when a position opens. Consistent recruiting benefits your company by:

• Saving time: By standardizing the hiring process, a recruiting plan helps your company start searching for applicants as soon as a vacancy opens.
• Improving candidate quality: A thoughtful, organized plan can help improve your interview processes, applicant evaluation strategies and onboarding practices, which can help you find high-quality candidates who stay with your company longer.
• Reducing costs: Streamlining recruitment helps speed up the hiring process, cutting labor costs for the hiring team. Recruitment plans can also make it easier to find candidates who fit the position, helping to improve retention and reduce repeated hiring and training expenses.
• Easing stress: A clear, organized process can reduce stress for hiring managers and HR, which can lower your employee turnover rate.
• Helping you meet specific goals: A recruiting plan helps focus your efforts on meeting the organization’s hiring goals, such as adding new skill sets to the team.
• Improving the candidate experience: A faster hiring timeline helps keep job seekers interested. Consistent, well-defined practices can also make the process smoother for candidates.

How to create a successful recruiting plan

A strong recruiting plan helps you track open positions and manage your workforce. While most plans will contain similar sections, it’s essential to tailor the information to your organization’s unique hiring needs. Follow these steps to write an effective recruiting plan:

1. Assess your company’s recruitment process

Research the requirements of each open position at your company and review the current state of your recruitment process. Identify the marketing methods that were most effective for attracting applicants in the past. It may help to look at recruiting and hiring metrics, such as:

• Time to hire
• Candidate sources
• Offer acceptance rates
• Cost per hire
• Retention rates
• Diversity of your hires

This information helps you identify issues to address in your new recruit plan. For example, your cost per hire can show whether you’re using your recruiting budget wisely or if you need to cut costs.

2. Forecast hiring needs

Forecast the company’s hiring needs for the next year. Use a skills gap analysis to identify the skill gaps in each department and the company as a whole. Work with managers to identify the roles that could boost productivity and reinforce core capabilities.

Then, consider how your organizational structure might change and anticipate the promotions that may arise as a result. List the additional positions you need to support expected growth and accommodate anticipated employee turnover.

3. Identify your company’s recruiting goals

Based on your recruitment assessment and the company’s hiring needs, determine the goals for your recruiting strategy plan. Objectives might include:

• Increasing staff numbers
• Introducing new skills
• Diversifying your workforce
• Reducing new-hire costs
• Shortening the hiring process
• Boosting employee retention

4. Create a hiring timeline and recruitment calendar

Analyze your hiring needs and anticipate when you’ll need to hire for each job opening. For example, you may need to hire additional customer service agents before the busy holiday season. Use the timeline to build a recruiting calendar that maps out milestones in the hiring process for each position.

It’s also helpful to create a general timeline for filling a position, including steps such as:

• Submitting a job requisition
• Writing the job post
• Setting the application deadline
• Posting the job
• Screening the applications
• Holding initial interviews
• Completing additional preemployment screening
• Holding final interviews
• Sending a job offer

Set a timeframe for each step. For example, you might allow a week after submitting a requisition for editing and posting the job description. A timeline sets expectations for the hiring team and helps managers understand when they can expect a new team member.

5. Update job descriptions

Review your current job descriptions to ensure they reflect current expectations for the position. If you’re adding new positions, create new job descriptions. Use language that conveys your company’s brand and core values.

You should have a job description on file for every current and anticipated role within your company. When a position opens, you can make small changes as needed and post the description quickly.

6. Set a recruiting budget

If you don’t already have a recruiting budget, set one for future hires. A clear budget helps you allocate resources to hiring activities and develop a cost-effective recruiting plan.

7. Choose the right tools

Implement recruiting software tools to streamline your recruiting process and save time for hiring managers. Applicant tracking systems are an efficient option. They help with job posting, screening applicants, maintaining applicant files and communicating with applicants.

Other helpful recruitment tools include:

• Social media platforms for promoting openings
• AI software to help write job posts
• Chatbots to automate candidate communication
• Collaboration software for hiring team discussions
• Onboarding software
• Interviewing and testing software

Set guidelines and expectations for each tool to ensure every employee uses it consistently and appropriately. If necessary, provide training to help staff members use tools effectively.

8. Collaborate with others

Recruitment strategy planning should incorporate input from a variety of people, including marketing associates, team leaders, recruiters and HR professionals. Collaborating with the people who work closely with each role can provide valuable insight into the skills, traits and qualifications applicants need to be successful. Employees may also have helpful tips about how and where to find high-quality candidates.

9. Define your candidate sourcing strategy

Decide where your company will find candidates. Common options include:

• Social media recruiting
• Posting on Indeed
• Job boards
• Recruitment agencies
• Employee referrals
• Attending job fairs
• Networking with industry contacts
• Professional industry organizations
• Attending conferences in your field
• Paid advertising
• Colleges and universities

Using a variety of candidate sourcing methods can help you attract a wide range of candidates. The methods you choose may be different for each position. For example, it may be easier to find stronger candidates for a highly skilled, technical position by networking with members of a professional organization or working with a specialized headhunter service.

10. Create or refine your selection process

A structured selection process helps you build a fair, unbiased recruitment and hiring process. Establishing specific procedures ensures each candidate has a similar experience and is evaluated using the same criteria.

Consider establishing specific procedures for:

• Application screening: Set expectations and provide specific methods hiring managers or recruiters should use when screening applications. For example, if you’re using an applicant tracking system, you can automate the screening process by checking resumes for specific certifications, degrees or skill-based keywords. Screening tests might also be part of the process.
• Interviews: Determine how many rounds of interviews you need and outline the type of interviews necessary for each position. For example, you might start with a phone screening interview followed by two rounds of in-person or virtual interviews. For each position, write lists of standard questions to ask during each type of interview.
• Assessments: Consider whether you need to evaluate candidates with assessments, such as skills tests or background checks.

11. Establish your onboarding process

Recruitment doesn’t stop when you choose your top candidate—it should also include a thorough onboarding process that helps the new hire transition successfully into the company. Employee onboarding should start as soon as a candidate accepts a job offer. Write an onboarding plan that outlines steps for integrating new employees into your organization. Depending on the position, onboarding might include:

• Welcome packet
• Virtual greetings
• Employment paperwork
• IT account setup
• Employee orientation
• Setting up a workstation
• Assigning a mentor
• Team introductions
• Explanation of company culture
• Job-specific training
• Scheduled check-ins

A strong onboarding process provides new hires with the tools and knowledge necessary to succeed so they can feel comfortable and confident in their position.

12. Update and edit your recruitment plans

Your recruiting plans should be living documents that change as your company evolves. As the business grows, you may need to adjust recruitment strategies to meet increased hiring needs. Regularly evaluate the effectiveness and relevancy of your company’s recruiting strategy plan and document any updates you make.