Best Practices for Staffing Project Leaders: Initial Search

This series will provide in-depth coverage of each of the steps in the staffing process.

This post covers step two: Initiate Search.

Once you codify the, you have to decide how to fill it. This is where you make decisions on whether the skills already exist within the organization. If not, you will need to evaluate if you can rely on your internal recruiting capabilities, such as HR, or if you should engage with a third party.

If you decide to go down the path of outside sourced resources, you will need to select an appropriate partner. See our blog series on how to find the staffing partner with the right qualities to deliver excellent project leaders.

Next, communicate the requirement to the selected staffing partner(s).

Finally, gather resumes. If engaged with a staffing firm, this is when they’ll submit their candidates to you for your review and feedback. As covered in the staffing partner blog series, precision should take precedence over quantity. You shouldn’t be doing the work of narrowing down candidates for the firm.

Once you receive the first round of candidates, you may receive feedback on what talent is available and if the requirement needs to be adjusted. Input from SMEs both within your own organization and the staffing firm will come in handy if adjustments are and recommended.

Click here to continue to the next step: Review/compare/select for follow-up.

Or to go back to the first step, click here.

You can access our full Staffing white paper here.