You shut off your monitor and walk out of your office. On the way to your car, you mentally create your to do list for the next day. You promise yourself that tomorrow you are going to review every application in each one of your reqs, set up 10 phone screens, schedule candidates for Occ Health and be sure to follow up on the interviews that happened days ago. This knowledge is buried deep in your subconscious.  You have the same conversation with yourself every evening.
If you allow yourself to be mindful of the fact that every day you fail to achieve your goals, you might just walk off the job in defeat. You love being a recruiter and feel so passionate about being the one who creates the connection, but feeling defeated on some level everyday can get old. Don’t give up hope. You are certainly not alone. I can’t promise that this blog will turn your life around, but if you employ a few of these organizational tactics, I truly believe that you can start achieving your daily goals and drastically change how you feel about your career.

Organizational Tactic # 1: Emotionally detach.

This is valuable advice that took me years to hone, but once I did, I became more efficient and effective.  I know that is hard to do when you feel passionate about doing a great job, a thorough job for your candidates and your hiring managers, but you must. Don’t take things personally. I know you called the hiring manager five times this week trying to gain a better understanding of what her ideal candidate looks like, and it stings when she emails your manager complaining about the lack of candidates. She hasn’t checked her emails. Once you detach, you save time. When emotions run high, you waste time venting. You are preoccupied. You lose focus. Detach. Detach. Detach. Perhaps one of the best organizational tactics in a recruiter’s tool box.

Organizational Tactic  #2 Make daily lists. 

Make a To Do list on your Outlook calendar. We all have good intentions, but the email opens and many days, before I made lists my religion, I would hit the ground running and BAM it was evening and I had done many things except for those things that would keep me functioning sanely in an organized manner. I am here to remind you or urge you to try new organizational tactics.  Lists work.
Block your calendar. From 8:00AM to 9:00AM, review your reqs. Clean them out! It’s like cleaning house. When I say block your calendar, I mean block out the world. Turn off your cell, close Outlook, close your door, and get down to business. If you are reading this when you are 300 applications in the hole, don’t panic. Just keep plugging away. If you have the freedom to do this, I always found it helpful to review applications at night or for an hour or two on the weekends until I caught up. Once it is done, keeping them clean should not feel overwhelming. Block out time to speak with your hiring managers, follow up on candidates, and refresh your job postings. Blocking = Planning. Planning creates a sense of responsibility to complete a task. 

Organizational Tactic  #3 Adopt a tool like Acuity or Time Trade.

If you don’t already use a scheduling tool such as Acuity or Time Trade, you have to give one of these organizational tactics a try.  A scheduling tool is a game changer. Create an email template in your ATS that includes the link to your calendar and invites the candidates to self-schedule. If you do not have that functionality, create an Outlook email template that you can cut and paste. 
Once you review an applicant that you would like to screen, you simply email them letting them know they are moving to the next step in the process. You blocked time in advance to conduct actual phone screens AND the blocked time is filled for the week with scheduled screens. Completed screens lead to interviews which leads to offers which leads to you looking like a rock star filling your positions so quickly with the best candidates.  Candidate Self-Schedule Invite template.  I have had personal success with this template and wanted to share it with you.
Let’s recap. You blocked 5 hours for application review and 10 hours of 30 minute phone screens (20 screens). You have 25 more hours in a 40 hour work week to fill. 

Organizational Tactic  #4 Manage your hiring managers.

Set aside 15 minutes every week for a call with each of your hiring managers. In addition to this, schedule a 15 minute follow up call one hour after every onsite interview if you are not able to engage onsite with your managers.  If you are onsite, get up and walk to their department. You need to get out of your office and the more exposure you have out in the hospital, the better recruiter you become. I have discovered that it is best not to give them more than 5 solid best candidates. In my experience they tend to perceive that there is a never ending supply and may not move on the good candidates.

Organizational Tactic  #5  Manage your postings.

Are they branded properly? Is the job description actually populated? I have seen many posting titles that resemble this: RN 2 West  What is that? No external candidate is going to apply for a job they are unsure of except maybe a frustrated employee who will do anything to jump ship and they don’t make prime candidates. Refresh (unpost and repost) your jobs every 30 days, especially those with no activity. 

Organizational Tactic #6 Answer your phone. 

This is crazy advice.  When you are not busy and your phone is ringing, answer it. Otherwise, you are going to end up with badcandidateneverendingcall phobia. This is a very hard phobia to shake.  Face your fears head on. The bad ones call and call. We know this. No one wants to say no, but you have to. Be nice. Give advice if you can. Never, ever give false hope. Always be honest, but gently honest. If you are on a phone screen and you know the candidate is never going to work, tell them. Give them one disqualifying reason and set them free. 

Organizational Tactic #7 Create a screening template.

Create one for each position you have open. You only have to do it once. It may seem like a lot of work, but once you do it, you will not go back.  This is one of my favorite organizational tactics. In the beginning, you will feel awkward, you will have 100 typos, and you will ask the candidate to wait a few minutes so you can catch up. After just two weeks of using templates, you will be so much faster, and your screens will be consistent and thorough. Don’t forget to upload them to the candidate profile. 
This last tip is not about organization, but I could not let it go unmentioned. Do not phone screen without a proper head set. Your body will thank you as will your candidates. No one likes being put on speaker phone. 
I know some of the organizational tactics I suggest are simple enough and you may have already had success with some of them. It is all about consistency.  Honor your schedule. Just say no or “when I am finished with my phone screen.” 
Please comment with ideas and tactics that you employ to help keep you straight through your busy day. 
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