Priorities in Recruiting Matter
So you want to attract quality candidates, eh? It is interesting to me that many companies focus their marketing and branding towards only customers and do not focus on recruiting talented team members. As you may have noticed, most career pages are a teeny-tiny link on the bottom of the website that you dig out your magnifying glass to find (or Command/Control+ for you tech savvy types). However, all the greatest business teachings will tell you that you need to “hire the best”, “get the right people on the bus,” and “hire slow, fire fast.” How can you have a great company if you don’t have a great team? So the question remains, how important is recruiting to your business? And subsequently, how is your level of importance relayed to the outside world?
See that tiny link at the bottom of this website? That is the only call to action given to prospective employees who might want to apply for a job. If that’s how much they care to find a quality candidate, what does it say about the experience once a person is actually working in this business?
What if we spoke to recruits like we do our customers? What if we showed them videos, real testimonials, and any other insights we have about what it is like to work at our company? Providing all of this information might be just what we need to compel that next great candidate to apply for an open role.
Give Recruiting Some Space
How much real estate do you devote on your site to your products and services? In most industries, talent is everything and for some businesses their marketing real estate on their website is divided evenly between candidates and customers. In fact, some companies give the greatest effort on posts and pages on their websites dedicated towards recruiting. In the technology space, we are confident that better talent will result in more client acquisitions and this principle can be applied to any industry.
You can start to focus on your recruiting efforts by creating infographics or showing pictures of your team in action and having fun. What does your office look like and what types of events do you have for your team? Pictures truly are worth a 1000 words. But don’t do a video, that would be too much (heavy sarcasm moment). Talk about the company and educate potential recruits on what makes your company special. The more info you give, the more a quality candidate can evaluate whether this company is a good fit for them and, as an added bonus, a bad candidate might run away.
Talk to the Humans
Everyone loves genuine…everyone. Remember, you are talking to humans. Talk about the culture of your company like it’s a story not an encyclopedia article. Write in the tone of the person you want to attract. If you’re a rocket science company then write in rocket science jargon. Want fun, outgoing people? Then write things a fun, outgoing person would relate to. Don’t write generic lists of duties and responsibilities. Write a two sentence story about what each particular duty would look like. For example, instead of “files and organizes patient files” it could be “If you love organizing things like the cookie monster loves cookies, our patient’s files need your attention.”
Why would someone want to work for you? We tend to think that it’s just millennials that are interested in me, me, me. But trust me, everyone is interested in “me.” 75 years ago, for many people, any job was a good job. Now, the options are endless. Most people don’t just need a job, they want an opportunity where they can have success while having fun at the same time and you should want this for your employees too. What are the benefits, both tangible and in-tangible, of working for your company? Talk about it.
Be Where Your Candidates Are
As businesses, we tend to display our billboards, internet ads, and other promotional materials geared towards new customers. Are you doing the same thing with recruiting? Job boards can be a mixed bag. If your only recruiting strategy is to place a posting the second you need a role filled,you are most likely only going to reach the unemployed and the unemployable. But if your ads for jobs are constantly available how many more good recruiting leads do you think you might get? Good or even great talent will always take a look at the market to see if something might pique their interest. The question is, are you going to be there when they are looking?
Additionally, that great recruit might not apply right away or may not find a role that’s a good fit for them at the moment. However, if there is something compelling about your company that they find intriguing, they will follow you and be ready to apply when the right opportunity becomes available.
Give Applicants a Path
Like any good website, candidates need a clear and discernible path to apply. Are you measuring your conversion rate for applicants? What are the calls to action for a potential candidate? You might assume it is to convince them to apply, but perhaps there is more. What tips do you want to give them and what do you want them to figure out on their own? The bottom line is that you want your candidate experience to be Designed (and I don’t mean just pretty). An optimal experience for the optimal candidate is going to be much appreciated and if done in a thoughtful manner, it can even weed out the candidates you don’t want.
Results Will Speak
Your website can easily be your recruiter that works 24/7 and for a lot less than the cost of a traditional recruiter (don’t get me started there). Think of the time value of effort it takes to onboard and train a good candidate. Doesn’t that make an investment in your website to help you do the job quite worth it?
In the end, you can start to measure the success of your newly hired 24/7 recruiter on a number of levels. How many passive resumes or applicants are you getting? Is your social media following increasing? You should also start to see an overall increase in the quality of candidates you get as well as hear direct feedback from those you interview. “Hey I really liked seeing your team in action on the website, your culture looks like it is a good fit for me,” is something you should start to hear quite often. Your customers will appreciate it also. They too, want to know how much care you put into finding your team.
