By Karen Bucks, iCIMS Blogger

A couple of weeks ago, I got this notice in the mail that brightened my day, well week, well actually a good month. It was a jury summons! Wait what? Yes, you’ve heard me correctly…jury summons. I was so thoroughly excited to receive my jury summons notice that I told nearly everyone I knew. I would receive phone calls from vendors looking to schedule upcoming campaigns, and before we would get off the phone I would have to mention, “Oh, and just so you know, I’ve been selected for jury duty. So I would like to make sure the plan is up and running before I leave.” I would hang up the phone and find myself looking for the next new person I could tell. This kept up for the entire month before jury duty. Without even realizing it, I was making it a part of every conversation I had. Yes, I know there are probably very few people who are genuinely excited at the prospect of sitting in a courthouse for an unknown amount of time, waiting to find out if they would be selected for a trial. Okay fine. I may be the only person on earth who is excited at the prospect of reporting for jury duty.

(They make it sound like a bad thing...)

The day before I was scheduled to report, I said farewell to my coworkers reminding them once again, that I was off to jury duty. When I got home that night, I called the NJ courts telephone number and to my terrible disappointment, my juror number was not called. I had to wait another day to see if I had been selected to report. I was sure I would be. So the next day, after a long day at work, I wished my coworkers farewell again, and told them I would see them as soon as I completed my duty to the state! Again when I got home, I was not needed for the following day, but was required to call back. Then, the third day I was officially dismissed. I looked up to the sky and shook my fists, “why has the state forsaken me!” Okay, not really, but I was quite saddened that I would not be able to experience jury duty. You must be thinking, “Okay, she’s crazy, why would she want to go to jury duty and what is the point of this post?!?!” Well the truth is, while I was looking forward to hearing the case, I was more interested in listening in on the selection process.

Selecting the perfect juror is a difficult decision. You have to find someone that will be unbiased and fair, among many other things. But, how do you find that perfect juror? Well, the only way is to have day-long interviews of every candidate that has been called. This forces lawyers, judges, and court officials to hang around all day to interview every prospective juror available (well except me of course….okay fine, I’ll let it go) causing the jury selection process to be time-consuming and draining to all parties involved. What if the recruitment process was the same? Interviewing each resume you receive, and spending countless hours trying to decipher interview answers. Unfortunately, recruiters often face a challenge very similar: sorting through hundreds or in some cases, thousands of resumes and applicants in search of the perfect person for the job. How horribly inefficient is this!?! But recruiters have an advantage that courthouses do not. The people who are qualifying for the position actually want to get chosen, whereas most potential jurors try to think of excuses to get out of the selection process. Having applicants that will openly speak about their qualifications can help you filter faster and select the best candidate possible. But you may still get a lot of candidates. There are a few things that recruiters can do that the courthouses cannot do (at least at this point in time).

Review the job description.
As companies grow, positions change and job responsibilities move around. I know you know this but make sure you have the most accurate and up-to-date account of the position.  Schedule time semi-annually to review and update job descriptions - or, more often if necessary.

Filter by skills.
Once you have posted the job and after you’ve received a hundred resumes for one position, filter by exact skills. While this is not a sure-fire way to find the perfect candidate, it is a good place to start. Nine times out of ten there will only be a percentage of applicants who meet the criteria. This cuts down on the number of non-qualified candidates going through the interviewing process. This is a luxury that lawyers and judges do not have.

Have tiered interviews.
After the applicants get a chance to meet with the hiring manager, have them meet with high-performing employees around the company to measure how the person would fit culturally within the organization. This will help ensure that the candidate not only has the right technical skills, but also the right values that will align directly with the company’s.

Leverage technology.
Let's face it; recruitment technology is a part of the recruitment process now. Of course you can stick with a manual process, but if you do, you are not using your time efficiently. You are wasting too much time on administrative duties and interviewing too many candidates. Certain technologies, like applicant tracking systems, can track and manage candidate information online, allowing you to easily search for the candidate that has the skill sets you need. You can filter the unqualified applicants in a matter of seconds. 

You may be nervous about implementing technology, but there are plenty of resources that can help simplify this for you. If you are a mid-size company looking for recruitment software, here is a webinar to check out, “Choosing a Recruitment Technology for Mid-Sized Organizations.” And, if you aren’t a mid-size company, still feel free to listen in as a lot of the principles are universal to all sizes.

Recruiters have many more options when it comes to facilitating a hiring program. If there is anything we can learn from the jury selection process, it would be: don’t do it the courthouse way – it’s an inefficient use of your time. Okay, I’ve talked enough. What are you doing to find the perfect candidate?

P.S. Wish me luck on the next jury summons!