What will you do differently?
Last month we talked about the state of the job market and the lack of available qualified talent. You must change your classic methods of finding and attracting talent if you are going to be able to compete in the New Year. Here are some steps you can take to immediately improve the quality of your sourcing efforts.
1. Referral Bonus. Pay your employees to be unofficial recruiters! Make it worth their while. True story: We screened a candidate a few weeks ago who said, “I know a couple of people at that company, I didn’t know they needed someone like me but I sure would like to work there.” If I were the hiring manager that would hurt.
2. Social Media. The big three are Linked In, Twitter and Facebook in that order. However, there is a bunch of chatter on the industry boards that Facebook is going to attack Linked In in a big way. Think about it – How many people log into Linked In on a daily basis vs. the number of people who monitor Facebook CONTINUOUSLY! Stay tuned for further developments
3. Meetups. An amazing collection of people who gather together around a common interest – professional profiles, contact information thru the group – and in many cases discussion boards specifically for job postings.
4. ATS. In my humble opinion, if your ATS doesn’t allow you to engage with your candidate audience (email alerts when a new position opens up), or have a one-button social media posting option – you have the wrong system.
5. Face Time. Want to find talent? Then get out from behind your desk and out into the community. As a hiring manager, or an HR professional, you need to be out and active where your target market is. Those who are serious about their careers are, your competitors are – you need to be.
6. Trade Shows and Conferences. If your company is already spending time/effort/money on industry-related events, why not extend your reach beyond just attracting new customers? Let folks know that you are also looking for great talent – you know that the brightest folks in your industry will be there – use this time to begin to recruit them!
7. Your company website. Make sure that your open positions are posted and highly visible (first level navigation) on your website. List your site with the large job aggregators (Indeed, Simply Hired) to make sure that you get visibility on the www. Keep your open position postings current. There is nothing more frustrating to a candidate than aged or inaccurate postings on your company website.
I’m a fan of metrics. Measure any new programs or methods you employ in 2012 and at the end of the year evaluate what worked – and what didn’t work. By the end of 2012 we’ll most certainly have additional channels to investigate – that’s what keeps it interesting. Happy Hiring!
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