The best employees can positively influence a businesses’ performance, productivity, and overall work environment. These are individuals who not only fit in with their skills and knowledge, but they’re also cultural fits with the right personality and mindset. These kinds of employees are not that easy to come by, which is why companies everywhere are investing time and money in their recruitment strategy to find successfully attract and hire people just like this.
Despite hundreds of people turning in their resumes every day and loads of new recruiting tools that help streamline the hiring process, the hunt for qualified employees has never been more challenging. It now takes more than just an interview and a quick skim of a resume to figure out if a candidate is a good fit for the company. It’s not just about filling vacant positions. It’s about hiring the best possible individuals for every role.
The following are some of the most effective recruiting strategies that will help managers streamline the hiring process to find the best candidates for the job.
Employee Referral Programs
Businesses who have already channeled tons of time, money, and effort into their recruitment strategies will most likely already have some of the best talents in their roster. One of the best ways to find suitable candidates is by taking advantage of an existing employee base by inviting them to use an employee referral platform.
Accomplished individuals often attract and keep the company of other skilled and talented people, so chances are they have more than a few highly capable contacts in their networks. Since these employees know the inner workings of the business more intimately than any job search engine does, it’s easy for them to scope out the people who are most qualified for the job. Financial incentives are a great way to encourage them to participate in the program.
Sponsored Job Posts
Job listing websites are inundated with hundreds of new listings almost every day. Sponsored job posts ensure that a job posting stands out from the crowd by allowing these posts to rank at the top of search results, and are targeted to the right people. Highlighted job posts can attract more the best job seekers who have the right set of skills.
Accurate and Compelling Job Descriptions
Job descriptions aren’t just a laundry list of tasks that an employee can expect to be doing within the company. It should give descriptive yet clear-cut expectations of the position so that the prospective applicant can imagine themselves in the role and their future within the organization. The most effective job descriptions should include a straightforward job title and a detailed description of the key functions of the role.
Keep the writing sharp and brief, and do away with buzzwords and jargon. Furthermore, don’t underestimate the value of divulging the position’s expected salary or salary range since the best applicants already have a good idea of who they are and what they want. These numbers will help entice them to apply if they feel that it’s reasonable.
Consider Past Applicants
There are plenty of reasons why applicants don’t make the cut. Some of them might be excellent and highly skilled individuals who just weren’t for a particular role or passed up on the opportunity for a better one. Hiring managers would do well to reconsider these past candidates for open roles, especially since they could have acquired new talents and knowledge since the last time they interviewed for a position within the company.
University Partnerships
It’s incredibly beneficial to have a good relationship with the career services departments of established universities. Participating in career fairs and talks gives the business a head start to finding and hiring the most interesting prospects before anyone else does. It’s also helpful to make use of university job-seeking online groups, websites, and newspaper ads to find suitable candidates.
Networking Events and Meet-ups
Highly motivated and driven professionals are known to frequent industry networking events and meet-ups to build their network and advance their careers. This is one of the best places to recruit like-minded talent who have experience under their belt and the drive and passion to succeed in their chosen field.
Posted Resumes
Instead of waiting for applicants to reply to a job posting, it’s better to take proactive steps to reach out to the most qualified candidates as soon as they post their resumes online. Most job search portals and applicant tracking systems (ATS) have the option to turn on alerts for uploaded resumes that fit certain criteria. They also have features that allow employers to toggle search results to include only the most relevant applicants for the job.
It’s been said that the most successful businesses are only as good as their employees, which explains why recruiting highly-capable talent is so important. Finding the best employees to fill in vacant positions can be difficult, but these useful strategies certainly help streamline the process.
