One of the most difficult aspects of recruiting is constantly increasing your talent pool. This is particularly true in niche talent markets, high frequency recruiting, and DEI hiring. A diverse candidate pool assists talent acquisition teams in identifying the best applicants, expediting recruiting processes, and making substantial progress toward diversity targets. It can be hard to ascertain what to do next after you’ve exhausted your talent pool and it’s time to recruit new faces.

Here are six ways to broaden your talent pool and make your recruitment process easier.

Host Virtual Career Fairs

The first step in expanding your talent pool is to host your own virtual recruiting events. Spend some time organizing the appropriate number of recruiters for your events, preparing interview questions and solutions to frequently asked questions in advance, and developing a plan for follow-up conversations with applicants. Use best practices in recruitment marketing to promote your events well in advance (more on this later) and be prepared to follow up with comments after your events.

Attend Virtual Recruiting Events Hosted by Other Organizations

Another option for entering new talent markets is to leverage companies that have established their own talent network. Sponsoring or exhibiting at a virtual recruitment event organized by another firm provides your talent acquisition team a head start and can save you money and effort in the early phases of the recruiting funnel. Look for events put on by colleges, workforce development organizations, government agencies, or professional organizations.

Campus Recruiting

You’re missing out if your business isn’t utilizing student talent. Virtual campus recruiting events are ideal for early career and entry level hiring. This strategy connects companies with more motivated, available early careerists than other methods, and it can be customized to attract job seekers with certain skill sets or experience levels.

Go Where the People Are

Much of traditional recruiting is about getting people to come to you, while smart talent acquisition teams achieve exceptional outcomes by doing more outreach. Collaborate with pre-existing professional groups and industry associations comprised of your target prospects. Depending on your objectives, this could include diversity groups, specialty industry associations, or institutions offering degree programs in your organization’s area of specialization.

Host Other Types of Virtual Events

Hosting innovative virtual recruiting events can also help you attract new talent to your community. Your virtual recruiting events don’t have to be limited to the traditional career fair format. Consider hosting different types of events, such as information sessions that highlight your company’s vision and culture or provide job seekers with resources to help them in their job search. You might even conduct a virtual hack-a-thon to gather professionals and address real-world problems in your organization or community. When done correctly, these events can help you connect with both active and passive applicants, allowing you to grow your talent pool.

Invest in Recruitment Marketing

Key to recruitment marketing is successful promotion which is more than just posting jobs and hosting virtual recruiting events. It’s also the ongoing practice of keeping candidates interested throughout the recruiting process, right up to the decision stage. An effective recruitment marketing plan will encompass various channels of contact during the early awareness stage, including social media, email and text subscriptions, content on your career site, and paid advertising. Recruitment marketing can also generate attention, particularly when companies use video and other content to communicate the story of their company’s culture, mission, and values. Recruitment marketing recruits talent, piques curiosity, and creates trust along the recruiting funnel.

A Wider Talent Pool Means Better Choices

The primary goal of your talent acquisition activities will almost certainly never change: recruit the strongest candidates for each open position (and, if possible, do it quickly). Proactively expanding and diversifying your talent pool guarantees that your recruiting staff will have access to great prospects when it comes time to fill a position, whether it is one or dozens.

As you can see from this list of tactics, entering new talent marketplaces does not have to take a long time or a lot of money or resources. In fact, incorporating these approaches into your wider talent acquisition strategy is simple, and the rewards are limitless.