Proactive Recruiting Strategies You Should Be Using
Have you ever had an open position at your company that you just can’t find quality candidates for? Sometimes hiring managers feel like they have exhausted all their usual recruiting methods—including posting the job online, and even reaching out to passive candidates—and still haven’t found any potential hires. This article will provide proactive recruitment strategies that will help your company engage candidates before you need them.
Employee Advocacy
Employees are the voice of your company and can act as ambassadors to the public and to potential hires. As mentioned in our Employer Branding post, creating an online brand of happy employees can be an essential recruiting tool. Encourage employees to share what they love about the company in an authentic way on social media to attract talent. Your staff can also write original content to post on the company website, career page, or blog. By putting information about your company online, you are helping candidates learn about your company culture.
Building a Talent Pipeline
The term “talent pipeline” refers to an ongoing, proactive approach where recruiters are constantly building their networks of contacts. Rather than only finding candidates that relate to a current job search, a recruiter can continually build networks and contacts so that when new positions arise, they will have a reliable source of candidates. Every candidate counts! Recruiters can network with potential hires through social media and attending events, as I will discuss more in the next point.
Participation in Events
Attending industry and recruiting events is an excellent way for recruiters to meet professionals in their field and potential candidates. While recruiters may speak with plenty of people by phone and email every day, meeting someone face to face has a stronger impact. Our staff attend various conferences and events to network and represent our firm to existing and potential business connections.
Referrals
Referrals are a great recruitment strategy because they save time and money and come from a more trustworthy source than an online job post. With their reputation on the line, an employee will likely only refer someone for a job if they think they are a strong candidate. Plus, the person who recommends the candidate is an automatic reference. Encourage your employees to refer candidates whenever possible, even if you do not have an open position for that person right now, you may in the future.
Social Media
Social media is a great and often underused recruiting tool. In addition to posting jobs, it is a good idea to post original, engaging content that represents your company culture. Some companies even have a “careers” social media account dedicated to providing information to potential recruits. These career accounts can become a centralized location for candidates to find information about open jobs and learn about what it’s like to work at your company. Connecting with potential candidates on social media is a great way to build new relationships and foster existing ones.
Optimizing Your Website for Candidates
In addition to your company’s social media pages, make sure your website is attractive to potential candidates. Your website is often the first impression a candidate has of your company, and it’s the first thing they will look at when they learn about a job opportunity. Making sure your site has an easy to maneuver careers page where candidates can see current job openings, quickly submit their resume, and get a feel for the company’s culture will serve as an ongoing recruitment tool.
The bottom line is, there is more than one way to recruit candidates. Going beyond the traditional methods will allow your company to open doors to candidates you may not have found otherwise. Proactive recruiting techniques ensure that you have a constant stream of candidates coming your way, so you can save time searching for candidates to fill a position. I hope learning about these proactive strategies proves helpful in your company’s recruiting efforts.
Bristol Associates, Inc. is an executive search firm with over 50 years of excellence in recruiting nationwide. Bristol specializes in recruiting for the Casino Gaming; Hotels and Resorts; Travel, Tourism, and Attractions; Facilities and Concessions; Food and Beverage Manufacturing; Restaurant; Hospital and Healthcare; and Nonprofit industries.
If you’re interested in working with Bristol Associates, click here if you’re an employer or here if you’re a candidate.
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter here.