What makes a great hiring process—and when you need a recruiter

Just like baking, hiring is all about the right ingredients in the right order. Get the process wrong, and instead of a great hire, you’re left with a half-baked mess (and no one wants that).

The difference between a great hire and a bad hire comes down to the process—yet too often, hiring is treated as an afterthought.

A structured, consistent approach doesn’t just help you find the right candidates faster—it saves time, reduces mis-hires, and increases long-term success. But here’s the catch: not all hiring managers or recruiters take the same approach.

At RocketPeople, we’ve spent years fine-tuning our hiring method, from working with 300+ fast-growing companies to solve their hiring challenges—efficiently, effectively, and with the right strategy. So, want to know how we do it? Read on.

TL;DR: 

• Hiring is a process—get it right, and you’ll make better hires, faster.

• A structured approach reduces mis-hires, saves time, and keeps top candidates engaged.

• At RocketPeople, we’ve refined a hiring process that delivers quality without delay.

What is the recruitment process?

The hiring process refers to every step in the hiring journey—from identifying a hiring need to welcoming the perfect candidate. It starts with defining the role and doesn’t end until your new hire is fully onboarded.

It may sound straightforward, but in practice, it’s more complex. Running an effective hiring process requires structure and expertise—without them, you risk delays, mismatched hires, and a frustrating experience for both candidates and hiring managers.

Imagine this scenario:

A tech company is scaling fast and needs to hire a Head of Sales. They post the job online and get flooded with applicants—many of which don’t fit the role. Their internal team is already stretched thin, and interviews are pushed back multiple times due to scheduling conflicts.

Meanwhile, the strongest candidates lose interest or accept other offers. By the time the company is ready to make a decision, their top choice is no longer available.

Sound familiar? Many fast-growing companies that face this exact challenge will then turn to a recruiter as a last resort, hoping to outsource the problem. But there’s a better way.

Instead of burning through the candidate pool, consider two smarter approaches:

1. Partnering with a reputable recruiter from the start, or

2. Establishing a structured hiring process in-house.

Both ensure a smoother, more efficient recruitment process—keeping candidates engaged and enabling hiring decisions based on strategy, not urgency.

The 5-step hiring process that actually works 

Great hiring doesn’t happen by chance—it happens by design. With the right strategy, structure, and execution, you'll attract and secure the best talent every time.

Companies that approach hiring with a well-defined process consistently land the best candidates faster and with fewer mis-hires. The key is to break hiring down into clear, actionable steps that keep recruitment moving smoothly while maintaining quality at every stage.

Here’s how to optimise each stage and build a hiring process that actually works.

1. Hiring strategy: setting the right foundation

Before you even post the job, you need a clear, well-defined hiring strategy that aligns with your company’s goals. This step ensures you’re not just hiring reactively but making intentional, strategic decisions that support long-term success. The most important elements to get right at this stage include:

• Clearly define the role, expectations, and hiring criteria.

• Align hiring priorities with company goals and decision-makers to ensure smooth execution.

• Set a structured hiring process and timeline to prevent delays and inefficiencies.

📌 Taleron’s Approach: We don’t just take job descriptions and run with them. We act as hiring consultants—advising on employer branding, salary benchmarks, and the best way to position the role. Our collaborative approach ensures transparency, efficiency, and alignment from day one.

2. Activate: finding and engaging the right candidates

Once you have a clear hiring strategy, you need to find and attract the right people. A common mistake is relying too heavily on job postings and waiting for candidates to come to you. However, the best candidates aren’t always the ones that apply.

A strong hiring process goes beyond job postings—actively sourcing, engaging, and pre-qualifying top talent to ensure every interview counts. Key things to focus on in this step include:

• Actively source candidates using multiple channels beyond job boards, such as referrals, networking, and direct outreach.

• Craft compelling messaging to engage high-potential candidates and differentiate your company.

• Screen and prequalify candidates early to ensure only the best-fit applicants move forward.

📌 Taleron’s Approach: Our targeted outreach strategies ensure companies only meet with engaged, top-tier candidates who align with both the role and company culture—saving them time and effort.

3. Meet: making the interview process more effective

Interviews are where hiring decisions take shape, yet many companies struggle with unstructured, inefficient interview processes. A poorly managed interview stage leads to delays, misalignment, and missed opportunities with great candidates. To get the most out of this step, focus on:

• Design structured interviews that effectively assess both skills and cultural fit.

• Keep the process efficient by limiting unnecessary interview rounds and ensuring internal alignment.

• Communicate clear expectations to candidates, keeping them engaged and informed throughout the process.

• Provide feedback to candidates within 24 hours of each interview.

📌 Taleron’s Approach: We streamline interviews by helping prepare both our clients and candidates, to ensure that hiring teams know what to look for. For candidates, we offer guidance on the role, team, and company expectations—leading to more meaningful, productive interviews.

4. Negotiate: securing the right talent with the right offer

You’ve found the perfect candidate—now don’t lose them in the final stretch. A well-managed offer process ensures a smooth close without last-minute surprises. Many companies lose great hires during salary negotiations or delays in the offer stage. To ensure you successfully close the hire, it’s important to:

• Align on salary expectations early in the process to avoid surprises later.

• Prevent last-minute offer dropouts by obtaining agreement before extending the formal offer.

• Make competitive offers that align with market benchmarks.

• Maintain open, transparent communication with candidates to keep them engaged.

• Approach negotiations strategically, ensuring both the company and candidate feel confident in the final decision.

• Always avoid extending an offer on a Friday, as we've learned that a lot can change over the weekend!

📌 Taleron’s Approach: We act as a bridge between companies and candidates, ensuring smooth negotiations and aligning salary expectations early on. Our role is to ensure both sides are confident in the final decision—to avoid negotiation breakdowns and job offer rejections.

💡 Related reading: Top 5 Recruitment Trends to Follow in 2025 and Beyond

5. Evaluate: ensuring long-term hiring success

Signing the contract is just the beginning. A great hire needs your help to be set up for long-term success. Onboarding and ongoing evaluation are crucial to ensuring that both the company and the new hire get the most out of the relationship. What you need to do:

• Develop a structured onboarding plan that sets new hires up for success from day one.

• Collect feedback from new employees and hiring managers to identify areas for improvement.

• Track key hiring and retention metrics to refine and optimise future recruitment strategies.

📌 Taleron’s Approach: We always check-in with both clients and candidates to ensure long-term success, tracking key hiring metrics and refining our approach to continuously improve outcomes.

When should you use a recruiter?

Not every hire needs a recruiter—but for critical roles, the right recruiter can mean the difference between a game-changing hire and a costly mistake. Here are some situations where working with a recruiter provides a clear advantage:

• If you don’t have an internal HR or Talent Acquisition team to handle recruitment.

• If your HR team lacks recruiting expertise to fill a specific role or hiring roadmap.

• If your internal team is already overstretched and needs additional capacity.

• If you’re hiring for a specialist or leadership role that requires targeted headhunting.

• If you need to speed up the hiring process without sacrificing quality.

• If your company’s employer branding is not strong enough to use inbound recruiting.

• If you need access to a larger, better network of candidates.

Companies that partner with good recruiters aren’t just outsourcing hiring—they’re gaining access to expertise, networks, and a streamlined hiring process that ensures better results.

Let’s talk hiring

Hiring should never feel like a guessing game. Having the right process, structure, and expertise makes all the difference.

At RocketPeople, we help fast-growing companies hire better, faster, and with real confidence. If you’re looking to scale your team, fill a critical role, or simply improve your hiring process, we’re here to help.