Full Cycle Recruiting: All You Need To Know (2024)

The full cycle recruiting approach can benefit the candidate, recruiter, and organization. With so many moving parts and processes involved in full cycle recruiting, how can HR professionals make sure they consistently hire the most qualified people for the right positions and make those employees want to stay?

In this article, we’ll explore what the full cycle recruiting process looks like, its pros and cons, and how to get started with full cycle recruiting in your organization today.

Contents
What is full cycle recruiting?
Pros and cons of full cycle recruiting
Full cycle recruiting process: 6 steps
– Preparing
– Sourcing
– Screening
– Selecting
– Hiring
– Onboarding
How to start with full cycle recruiting
Full cycle recruiter job description
FAQ

What is full cycle recruiting?

Full cycle recruiting—also known as full life cycle recruiting or end-to-end recruiting—is a holistic approach to managing the entire recruitment process. A full cycle recruiter completes or is involved in each stage of the cycle, from the vacancy intake and sourcing of candidates to onboarding new hires.

Depending on the size of the organization, the person in charge of full life cycle recruiting may differ. In a start-up or smaller organization, the HR Generalist will often act as the full cycle recruiter. In larger organizations, the HR team will consist of different specialists who oversee their areas of expertise, but one person will manage the entire process.

Freelance and agency recruiters often work in a full cycle way as well. They take on the role from initial client briefing through sourcing, outreach, and candidate evaluation, all the way to facilitating offers and ensuring successful onboarding. This comprehensive approach allows them to provide a seamless recruitment experience for both clients and candidates. It also allows the recruiter to maintain control over the whole hiring process to meet specific client needs.

Full cycle recruiting vs regular recruiting

In regular recruiting, different people manage different areas of the recruitment cycle. For example, a talent sourcer sources candidates, a recruiter conducts screening interviews and creates compensation and benefits packages, and an HR manager onboards new employees.

In contrast, in full cycle recruiting, one person oversees the whole hiring cycle.

Pros and cons of full cycle recruiting

Let’s take a look at some of the potential advantages and disadvantages of full cycle recruiting.

Pros

• Better candidate experience: Having a single point of contact throughout the entire recruitment cycle is beneficial for the candidate experience. Instead of speaking to various people at the same time, not knowing whom to contact or when, candidates know exactly who will be guiding them through each stage of the process, which is reassuring.

  For recruiters, it’s a great opportunity to create a more meaningful relationship with the candidates, further improving the candidate experience. This is important, considering that 54% of candidates have admitted to abandoning a company’s recruitment process due to poor communication.

• Shorter time to hire: One person managing the entire process can significantly reduce bottlenecks, increase efficiency, and reduce the number of days between a candidate applying for a job and accepting a job offer. This can, however, only work if the person managing the recruitment process is very well-organized and rigorous (among other things).

• More effective talent acquisition: A BCG study reported that two-thirds of candidates believe a timely and smooth recruiting process makes employers stand out from their competitors. With a better candidate experience and a shorter time to hire, organizations that effectively manage a full cycle recruitment process can better compete for top talent.

• Reduced hiring costs: Full-cycle recruiting can significantly lower administrative and operational expenses, decrease reliance on costly external agencies, and minimize productivity losses from unfilled positions. Additionally, a faster hiring process helps reduce offer decline rates and ensures a more efficient use of recruitment resources.

• Accountability: When only one person is in charge of the entire process, that person becomes solely responsible for managing all the people and smaller processes involved. It is then easier to hold someone accountable for any issues that may arise.

• Stronger talent pipeline: Delivering a better candidate experience and more efficient recruitment journey helps you attract more qualified candidates to your organization and strengthen your talent pipeline.

• Improved new hire retention: Candidates who have a more positive experience during the hiring journey are often more engaged, productive, and motivated at work. Because of that, they are also more likely to stay past the one-year mark.

Cons

Despite the advantages listed above, end-to-end recruiting has a few downsides worth mentioning.

• Not suitable for every type of organization: When one person is involved in every stage of the recruitment process, there is a limit to the number of candidates they can handle at the same time.

  Once you go above that number, the benefits of an improved candidate experience and shorter time to hire won’t be as significant. This means full cycle recruiting is particularly well suited for highly specialized roles or smaller organizations.

• Demands a multitude of skills: Larger organizations often have people specialized in a specific part of the hiring process because each stage requires a specific set of skills and knowledge. A large company usually has a recruitment team that, depending on the organizaiton’s size, consists of a talent sourcer, recruitment assistant, several recruiters, and a manager.Asking one person to master all the skills full cycle recruiting requires can be challenging.

Full cycle recruiting process: 6 steps

Let’s take a look at the six stages of the full cycle recruiting process and the full cycle recruiter’s role at each stage.

1. Preparing

This stage involves gathering information from the hiring manager. As soon as the job requisition has been approved internally, the recruiter and hiring manager will discuss the specific requirements for the new position. This includes required skills and experience, role in the team, personality, and capabilities of a suitable candidate.

The recruiter will use this information gathered to write a clear, inclusive job description for internal use. Based on the job description, they will then write an accurate, compelling job posting (or ask a copywriter to do so), which is then posted across job boards to attract suitable candidates and build a strong candidate pipeline.

Tool tip: You can use a generative AI tool like ChatGPT to quickly generate a job description based on predefined guidelines.

2. Sourcing

Once your job posting is ready, it’s time to start sourcing. This stage involves pinpointing where you’re likely to find your ideal candidate. Some common sourcing mediums you can use include career sites, social media pages, staffing agencies, career fairs, and employee referrals.

Recruiters can also take a proactive approach by actively searching for and engaging potential candidates who may not have applied for the job, using networks, social media, and other platforms. This strategic engagement helps builds relationships with top talent.

During the sourcing phase, the recruiter will keep in touch with the hiring manager regularly to give them timely updates.

Sourcing becomes easier if the full cycle recruiter focuses only on highly specialized roles. Looking for candidates in a specific field reduces the number of potential sourcing channels you’ll need to use. This, in turn, will allow you to better keep track of each channel.

Focusing on specialized roles also makes it easier to build and maintain a talent pool.A talent pool can be a great sourcing channel, too—it can provide a safety net when there’s a sudden departure and give you access to other qualified, passive candidates who can otherwise be hard to connect with.

Tool tip: There are many different sourcing tools that you can use to streamline this part of the recruiting process, including Recruit’em, OctoHR, and HireEZ.

3. Screening

The initial screening of candidates can take several forms:

• Résumé screening: This is the most common technique. It helps the recruiter assess how well candidates meet the criteria in the job description.

• Phone screening/chatbot: This helps align expectations between the candidate and the employer, for which the recruiter can use a checklist. The screening questions may include topics like relevant skills and experience, compensation and benefits expectations, level of commitment (e.g., full-time, part-time or freelance), starting date, and other potential deal-breakers.

  As this is a fairly standard procedure, a chatbot can also be used in some cases, especially for high-volume roles.

• Pre-selection: This is a powerful screening method that helps avoid potential mismatches. Pre-selection tools provide assessments that can include cognitive ability testing, situational judgement tests, personality questionnaires, and other tests that help to predict the quality of the new hire.

  Pre-employment assessments can also include a realistic job preview, which helps manage expectations between candidate and employer, and leads to better hires. Pre-selection tests are often used for functions with a high volume of applicants.

The goal of the screening stage is to reduce the number of candidates to a manageable group of three to 10 people. These candidates can then start the selection and interview process.

Tool tip: Pre-employment assessment tools like VidCruiter, TestGorilla, and Vervoe can help you look beyond a résumé and find the best candidates for your open roles.

4. Selecting

The selection process is about identifying the best match for the role through assignments and interviews.

A big part of this stage is time and task management. Candidate interviews must be planned and confirmed, assignments sent out and reviewed, and constructive feedback provided afterwards.

An equally important part of this stage is the recruiter’s relationship with the hiring manager. They should regularly be in close contact to discuss the candidate shortlist, gather feedback on each person, and iterate the requirements.

An interview guide can help create a structured process and ensure all candidates get the same experience – from the initial invitation and briefing all the way to the order of the questions asked and the interview wrap-up. It also helps reduce the risk of bias in the interview process.

Tool tip: Did you know 62% of candidates want interview scheduling to be automated? Interview scheduling tools like Calendly, Paradox, and Rooster can help you sync your calendar and simplify the scheduling process so you can deliver a great candidate experience and fill roles faster.

5. Hiring

When the recruiter and hiring manager have reduced their shortlist to between one and three candidates, it’s time to make a decision. While the full cycle recruiter is (heavily) involved in each step of the process, the final decision lies with the hiring manager. Of course, the recruiter can provide input for the decision.

This decision is best made using a data-driven approach. In other words, use predefined criteria (knowledge, skills, behavior, motivations, etc.) to rate each candidate during the selection process.

Once you’ve decided on the best candidate, you can start working on putting together a formal job offer. This should include the job title, compensation and benefits package, work hours, and responsibilities of the role.

When you decide to move forward with a candidate, you may want to perform a reference check, In some cases, conducting a background check is also necessary.

Reference checks are a way to confirm your perception of the candidate and gather additional information from multiple sources. This is especially useful if you had a doubt about a certain competency or skill during the interview process.

The use of background checks also depends on the type of function and the country you’re in. These checks are common for government functions or roles that involve working with children.

Tool tip: Checkmate, RefNow, and Zinc are reference-checking and background-screening tools that make it easy for HR teams and recruiters to perform these checks and save time in the process.

6. Onboarding

Once the candidate has signed their job contract, the preboarding period starts. This refers to the time between the candidate signing the contract and actually starting their new job.

It’s crucial to keep in touch with new hires during this period to keep them engaged and excited to join the company. Not doing so can result in them accepting a different job offer or starting work with little engagement and motivation, which can increase new hire turnover rates.

Preboarding employees can involve sending them the employee handbook, inviting them to join (informal) team activities, sharing information about their first day, pairing them with a work buddy, or having a virtual meet and greet with their team.

Onboarding begins when the employee starts their first day. This typically involves a tour of the workplace, introducing them to their team, and setting them up with any equipment they need.

While this is often HR-driven – with a lot of involvement from the hiring manager – it’s also important for the recruiter to regularly check in with the new employee. Having already built a working relationship, the employee may feel more comfortable sharing their concerns with the recruiter, at least during the first couple of weeks.

Tool tip: Onboarding software tools like Enboarder, Coassemble, Innform, and Waybook can simplify the process for new hires, HR, and hiring managers. They aim to deliver a smooth, supportive, engaging onboarding experience that sets new hires up for success.

How to start full cycle recruiting

If you’re considering implementing end-to-end recruiting at your organization or want to improve your recruitment process as a full cycle recruiter, here are some tips to get you started:

• Understand the full cycle: Take time to familiarize yourself with all six stages of full cycle recruiting and what they entail.
• Start with a clear idea of the role: You need to know the type of person who will succeed in the role you’re hiring for. Understand the unique mix of knowledge, skills, and experience they will need to thrive. You can get this information through conversations with the hiring manager, team members, or even the employees who currently occupy the role, if any.
• Hone your sourcing skills: Learn about Boolean search in recruitment to source relevant candidates for hard-to-fill roles. Use data to determine most effective channels for sourcing your ideal candidates and focus your efforts there.Track metrics like source of hire and sourcing channel effectiveness.
• Maintain a talent pool: Keep a pool of qualified candidates who have applied for previous roles but have not been offered the job, stay in touch with them, and share new vacancies with them.
• Create structured interview processes: Prepare structured interview with predefined questions every candidate must answer in the same order. Additionally, use an interview evaluation form to help you easily compare candidates.
• Make the most of technology:Managing every step of the recruitment process can be overwhelming. Fortunately, there are many tools and types of software available that can automate and simplify your full cycle recruiting process and deliver a positive candidate experience.
• Closely collaborate with hiring managers: Keep in close contact with hiring managers throughout the recruiting process so you can support each other and make the best hiring decision.
• Focus on candidate experience: At every stage in the full cycle recruiting process, pay attention to the candidate experience. Think about how you can make it better—for example, shorter wait times between stages, and faster response times to applications and queries.
• Get feedback from candidates and hiring managers: Collect feedback at the end of the process so you can continue to improve your recruiting experience for everyone involved.

Full cycle recruiter job description

A full cycle recruiter is responsible for developing and managing effective procedures and strategies for every stage of the hiring process. This includes liaising with hiring managers to create accurate job descriptions, sourcing and screening candidates, carrying out virtual and in-person interviews, ensuring compliance with employment laws, preparing formal job offers, and onboarding new employees.

It’s important that a full cycle recruiter:

• Is adept at using recruitment software and tools
• Understands employment regulations
• Has excellent communication skills (verbal and written)
• Has a solid grasp of the whole hiring process
• Is familiar with collecting and analyzing data to make informed decisions
• Is comfortable managing multiple tasks at once.

Wrapping up

When implemented under the right conditions and executed well, full cycle recruiting can help you deliver a better candidate experience, reduce hiring costs, and build a strong talent pool. Improving your recruitment efforts in all six stages of the hiring process enables you to hire the best people for your organization and ensure it continues to thrive.

FAQ