There’s no denying that recruitment is harder than ever. More companies are looking, and more people are leaving their jobs. Some aren’t re-entering the workforce either, so it’s a perfect storm right now. In other words, it’s a candidate’s market. It’s no wonder that the average recruiter’s workload is through the roof! Here are a few recruiter tips and tricks you can use to get more quality applicants.
1. Review Your Own “Resume”
Every recruiter hack in the world won’t work if your company has a bad employer reputation. These days, potential applicants are just as likely to be reviewing your reputation online as you are to be checking their references.
Bad online ratings can really heart your chances of hiring the best talent, so spend some time looking at your online reputation as an employer. A good place to start is GlassDoor. If there are problems, address them. If you have had some unfair reviews, ask current employees to add a few better (but honest!) reviews to the mix.
2. Tap Into Your Employee Network
When it comes to recruiter tips, there are none so powerful as leveraging the power of the referral. No matter what size company you work for, the employees who already work there are a huge untapped resource. So, use one of the oldest recruiter hacks in the world and ask them if they know anyone who might be a good fit for an available role.
Make sure you have a robust internal promotion strategy too. There’s a good chance your next star leader is already there, right under your nose, working in the same department.
3. Don’t Play Pay Games
Many employees will not apply to jobs that don’t at least offer a salary range in their ads. The interview process is time consuming for everyone involved, so they don’t want to waste their time or yours if you’re not paying enough. So, our next recruitment tip is about money: pay people at least as much as your competitors and tell them what you’re offering upfront. Adding a salary range will discourage candidates who are too senior, saving you time and effort. Discussing salary expectations up front saves a lot of time over putting a job applicant through interviews and hiring exercises only to find out you can’t meet their compensation goals.
4. Be Open to Non-Traditional Arrangements
Work used to be a simple 9 to 5. Everyone did pretty much the same thing, for about the same number of hours, and mostly from the same place – your office. Times have changed, however, so our next recruiter hack is to be open to different kinds of work relationships.
Whether it’s a part time arrangement, telecommuting, freelancing or something else, you’ll have a much bigger pool of possibilities if you are open to different situations. You might even find that some roles are perfect for flexible or part time employees.
Consider this: If you are open to the position being remote, your potential candidate pool suddenly becomes much larger. You may also say a lot of money. Companies in expensive cities can hire the best talent from anywhere in the country (or world) and save on office space and lower salaries for employees who work from areas with a low cost of living. If you have a well-crafted role with clear responsibilities and goals, many traditional office jobs can be remote and the potential for finding highly qualified talent goes way up.
5. Build a Talent Network
It’s surprisingly easy to connect with people you might someday want to hire long before you need to post an ad. So, our next tip top recruitment idea is to start building a talent pool.
Get involved with local colleges and universities that have courses related to your industry or engage with potential future hires on local or industry groups and forums. Social media is a great way to find the right kinds of people. So, start planting the seed that they might want to make your company their next employer long before you ever need to fill the role.
Another great way to build your Talent Network is staying in touch with job applicants that you don’t hire for a particular role but who may be a fit for other future positions.
6. Go High Tech
One of the best things that has happened for recruiter workloads is technology. AI, predictive analytics, and big data have all given us tools that we never even imagined – let alone had access to – in the past.
If your hiring strategy hasn’t been updated in a while, our next recruiter hack is to see what tech options are out there, and how they can help you to find the right people faster. Everything from using a hiring management tool to online assessments, automated scheduling, and communications tools can make your hiring process much more efficient.
7. Get Personal
If you are hiring large numbers of low level, short term employees, it might be acceptable to use impersonal, automated methods to find them. You might even be able to filter through them by using online forms. However, if you are hiring for anything else, you need to get personal.
Reach out directly to top talent. Keep them informed about the hiring process and your progress. Find out if they have any questions and be available to answer them. The personal touch not only helps to ensure that employees like your company, but it also gives you more time to evaluate their personalities and make sure you get a great fit.
8. Make It Easy to Apply
We’ve all got very short attention spans these days. We expect everything to be fast and easy, whether it’s ordering an Uber or setting up a Zoom meeting. So, if your application process still requires applicants to fill in lots of repetitive information manually (or worse, isn’t even online) you’re going to lose many top prospects before they even start the process.
Your job application process should be as simple and straightforward as possible. A simple form, some check boxes, and a method of uploading a resume is all that’s really required, and you should aim to have little more than that.
9. There’s An App for That
More people than ever before use their phones to surf the web. It’s why Google introduced Mobilegeddon a few years ago. So, if you want to stay on the radar of top talent, our next recruiter hack is to make sure you advertise where it can be seen on mobile phones. Whether it’s a responsive website or an app, the most important thing is that it’s accessible and usable from a phone or tablet as well as a desktop or laptop.
10. Keep Your Own Network Strong
Sometimes, the best person for a role you’re hiring from might already be in your extended network. Maintain and grow relationships in your industry and use professional networking sites like LinkedIn to find and approach top talent. You don’t even have to wait for them to come to you. If you see someone that is a perfect candidate, reach out! They might just be looking too.
In a tough, competitive hiring market, it might be the people you find outside of traditional hiring sites and job ads that are the real gems. So, make sure you keep your finger on the pulse there too.
The More Things Change…
You’d be forgiven for thinking that everything has changed. Especially over the past couple of years.
However, while it’s true that we’re doing a lot of things differently, there are lots of things that haven’t changed. So, our top recruiter advice for those looking to hire better and ease their recruiter workload is to focus on the basics.
Be clear about what you want, so that people know whether they should apply or not. Make sure your offer is attractive. The best people don’t come cheap. Ever. Maintain a workplace that is respectful and rewards excellence and effort. Be an organization where there is growth potential.
The fundamentals of finding, hiring, and retaining great people will never really change. We might change how we do some of them, but people will always want the same things from companies they work for, and top people will always be in demand.
Hopefully, these hiring tips will take a little of the extra work off your plate and help you to get back to the basics.
