If you’re reading this, your goal for recruitment is most likely to make the best hire you can, as quickly as possible. This will save you time and money to keep your company running at its best. Your current employees will also appreciate any vacancies being filled quickly so they are not overworked. A fast and efficient hiring process benefits everyone.
Cutting down the time it takes to find the right candidate will also cut down on costs. How can you make the process quicker without making compromises in your priorities, and without using overly expensive resources?
Read on for resources and techniques to help you improve your recruitment process, helping you find that hard-to-reach talent quicker, and save on your budget.
1. Write a job description with some personality in it.
Try to find ways to infuse the general personality and culture of your company into your job description. Candidates who read your job posting will be more interested and more likely to apply if they fit with your company’s general personality. It will catch the attention of the right people – the candidates that you want to apply!
If the candidates applying are already ones who will fit the company culture and have similar goals and priorities, that helps you find the right person and make an offer faster.
2. Make your employer brand a priority.
It’s worth the investment to improve your employer brand and get your name out there. If you want to have a steady pipeline of talented passive candidates, those candidates need to know that you exist and are seeking out candidates for roles they could fill.
Your employer brand is a chance to show potential hires what it would be like to work for your company. You will have many interviews; so will the candidates you’re interviewing. Stand out from the crowd by making your brand a unique representation of your organization.
3. Source from a variety of candidate pools and demographics.
Having a diverse pool of candidates is better for your organization. It increases the number of candidates you interact with, and ensures fresh ideas and perspectives are incorporated into your workplace culture. Seeking out new sources for candidates will help you to not get stuck at a dead end if you normally rely on one source to find talent. Instead, you can be optimistic that one of your sources will produce qualities candidates even if another doesn’t.
4. Collaborate with your team!
Avoid wasting time spent on miscommunication. Make sure your hiring team is communicating with each other, as well as with any other teams that are connected to the role you need to fill. Using communication tools like Teams, Slack, or G-Suite can be amazing ways to keep your team on track and sure that no loose ends are left untied.
5. Find those passive candidates and keep them in the loop.
Passive candidates, those qualified candidates who may not be actively seeking a new position, but might be open to the right opportunity if presented to them are often the most desirable, skilled candidates. They may be happy with the job they already have, or simply don’t know what other options there are in their field because they are not actively searching for a new position.
Passive jobseekers may have an online resume on various job boards or might be members of an industry-specific community like their professional association. Association job boards are often the best place to find highly qualified talent for niche industries like healthcare, veterinarian, higher education, and others.
6. Utilize social media
The candidates you’re trying to reach most likely regularly spend time on social media. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter are great places to promote your employer brand and build a recognizable name for your organization. You can put visual content on these platforms to draw the eye of someone scrolling and maintain a consistent brand presence.
7. Get your job directly in front of niche candidates by opting into the Job Flash ™
The Job Flash™ is an email communication offered exclusively by YM Careers job boards, which is sent directly to the inboxes of hard-to-reach candidates in your industry. These candidates are members of niche organizations.
Email sends are the best way to reach passive candidates, mainly because it doesn’t require them to seek out your role. Instead, emails are delivered directly to their inbox and you give them a potential career opportunity they didn’t know they were looking for as an extension of an organization they know and trust.
8. Ask your current employees to help recruit!
What better way to get a pool of talented candidates than through recommendations from your current team? If your current employees are happy with their work, they will want others they know who are a good fit to join the team. These candidates are likely to already be a good cultural fit and transition more easily into the team.
Even if your current employees don’t know anyone who is immediately looking for a new role, encouraging your employees to talk about any open positions with their family and friends will help to get more advertising through word of mouth.
9. Make your job posting visually appealing.
It’s important to have a great job description, but it’s also important to capture the eye of potential candidates when you can with visually appealing graphics and design. You can do this in the job description itself using coding, or you can do it separately with banner ads and video testimonials. Be sure to double-check for typos or grammatical errors.
10. Use niche job boards to reach hard-to-find talent
The YM Careers Network has access to some of the most talented, hard-to-reach candidates out there, via our network of niche job boards. Once you’ve found the candidates you want to interview, the next steps will help you to narrow it down to the best of the best, in the most efficient way possible. Streamline your selection process using the helpful tools and tips below.
11. Video Interviews!
Video interviews are a great way to do the first round of interviews with candidates without the hurdle or hassle of travel. It’s easy to connect with candidates who would possibly be unable to interview otherwise and requires less prep for you and your team. Using video interviews helps to get through your interviews faster, giving you more time to connect with more candidates in less time.
12. Review your Applicant Tracking System
Having a reliable Applicant Tracking System (ATS) will change your life for the better. If you don’t already have one that you know and love, place your job on job board platforms with an ATS built-in.
13. Provide learning opportunities and tools to your current employees.
This is an investment in the future of your company and a show of good faith to your existing team. If you have a reputation as a supportive employer who encourages their employees to learn new skills and provides opportunities for upward momentum, candidates will be happy to apply to your positions and seek you out. Make sure these opportunities are advertised as a priority as you build your employer branding.
14. Ask candidates for feedback on your hiring process.
Learn what works and what doesn’t work in your hiring process by going straight to the source: your candidates! After the hiring process is over, connect back with those you’ve hired and with those candidates who you would like to apply again in the future.
Ask them about their experience. Was there anything they were put off by or would change? What about your process worked well? You can use tools like Survey Monkey or a Google Form to get this information. Use this feedback to streamline your process moving forward.
15. Check your references and background checks where appropriate.
Even a quick email to check references can go a long way. If it is necessary, background checks are also helpful. There are lots of online tools to complete these tasks.
16. Use skills tests and challenges to get to know your candidates’ strengths and weaknesses.
Using skills tests is especially important for jobs that have specific certifications or skills that are necessary to get the job done. There are many tools online you can use to set up tests for hard skills, which will give you a fuller picture of a candidate as you interview them. You can also test for soft skills on a base level using psychometric tests.
The above list will give you a solid footing as you work to streamline your recruitment process. The tasks can feel daunting but using resources like the YM Careers Network to reach talented candidates will help to make your hiring process smoother and more effective. Reach out to a recruitment specialist today!
