As we are all aware the pandemic has made recruitment for new staff members difficult. With the rules changing daily and different areas having different levels of restrictions it can get confusing.
KiddyKare know how important it is to follow a correct, safe recruitment process. This to ensure all the relevant checks are completed, KiddyKare thought it would be helpful to outline the procedures we follow to ensure a safe recruitment process.
KiddyKare’s recruitment step by step:
Interviews
Interviewing candidates right now is challenging however there are different processes you can follow to make this COVID-19 safe.
Telephone interviews are a normal first stage for many companies but are becoming more common due to the pandemic. This helps you gain more information about the candidate to see if they are the right fit for the role before proceeding further.
A video chat works well as a next stage interview. You can use this to get to know the candidate in more depth and answer any questions they might have. A lot of educational settings are used to being able to see the candidates in action, however during the pandemic this may not be possible for all. Creating a task for the candidate to complete prior to the video call or ensuring you have more robust interview questions in place will help provide the information you would gain from seeing them in action.
Right to work
The right to work document checking process has been updated to allow remote document checking until we can check the original documents. Once original documents can be seen this must be done as soon as possible. We are still required to check the right to work documents, if you are unsure on the documents candidates need to provide please do use the link below where you can check these.
Please do refer to the below link to see the list of documents require for a right to work check:
Right to work checklist – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Please do refer to the link below for more information on the right to work changes:
Coronavirus (COVID-19): right to work checks – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
DBS check
The DBS process is mostly completed online by both parties; however, we would normally check the candidate’s documents face to face. Some changes have been made to allow companies in urgent cases to virtually check the candidates documents via video call.
Please do refer to the link below for more information on the DBS check changes:
COVID-19: Changes to DBS ID checking guidelines – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
References
Gaining the candidates references virtually is a normal recruitment process however due to the current situation people could be working part time or on furlough. This could make gaining candidates references a longer process, however most business will have a secondary contact in place if an employee is not currently working.
Author: Jen Wilson
