To run a business at full efficiency, finding good candidates is a must. But in today’s time when there is too much competition from different players and less skilled people available, this task has become increasingly challenging.
Plus, hiring in itself is a tough, time-consuming task, requiring lots of valuable resources. But even after spending both, the main challenge still persists which is to find candidates who are not only skilled but also a potential culture fit. And if you want to bring them at too quickly without properly gauging their skills, the chances of hiring an unsuitable candidate are always there.
But with the right strategies, you can find good candidates quickly, with optimal utilization of resources. Read on to learn a few easy ways we’ve curated for you that will help you find not just good but great candidates fast.
9 Functional Strategies to Find The Best Candidates:
Here are the best strategies that will help you tap high-talent candidates effectively, letting you make the optimal use of time, efforts, and resources at once:
1. Write Engaging Job Descriptions with Precision
Make precise job descriptions that only include information that’s sufficient for the candidates. Like which responsibilities are included in the role, what skills and experience the candidate should bring with them, and finally what you expect from the ideal candidate.
But that doesn’t mean you should skip on things that establish a good connection with them psychologically. Make sure you add things that let you sell the position – that will be icing on the cake for your recruiting efforts.
For this, you need to include the positive side of working in your company. One practical example would be showing that you care about employees by offering wellness benefits and showcasing a culture where everyone can work without worries. Apart from this, you can highlight the upskilling or career development plans you offer
You can check out our library of job descriptions that are built keeping all the points in mind that we mentioned here.
2. Consider Passive Talent
The majority of the exceptional talent doesn’t actively look out for new opportunities. These are called passive candidates who are a great fit for your requirements and may consider your offer if it matches their career goals.
But winning them will take a bit more effort than usual. You might require a dedicated team to find them, most preferably on professional networks like LinkedIn.
To lure them in, constant employer branding efforts that build a positive image among the candidates may also prove fruitful. To fuel great brand building, you can:
- Showcase your wins (no matter how big or small)
- Give a sneak peek into what it’s like to work in your company
- Share employee stories and more.
3. Spread Your Open Roles to Multiple Job Boards
As many candidates are subscribed to new job notifications provided by popular job boards, it’s a good idea to share your jobs to more than one job board. If they check out these notifications the chances are, they might explore your job and find it interesting, leading them to apply.
This will help you get your dream candidate quickly. A platform like Applicant Tracking System will help you broadcast your jobs to many popular job boards where candidates come.
Let’s dive a little deeper into job postings or job advertising:
What is a job posting and what is its purpose?
A job posting is an announcement made by an employer to advertise an open position within the company. It serves the purpose of attracting qualified candidates by providing details about the job role, responsibilities, required qualifications, and how to apply.
Effective job postings help organizations reach a broad audience, ensuring they find the best fit for the position while promoting the company’s culture and values.
Where are the best job sites to advertise a job ad?
There are a huge amount of job boards available online. Some of the top job boards used to hire for diverse roles include the following:
- Indeed: Indeed is a comprehensive job search engine that aggregates listings from various sources, serving a wide range of industries to attract diverse candidates from entry-level to experienced professionals.
- Monster: A global job board – Monster provides job listings, resume searches, and career advice, catering to candidates across various sectors seeking career opportunities.
- LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a professional networking platform that connects job seekers with employers, ideal for finding candidates with professional and specialized skills, including passive job seekers. Plus it has a standalone job board as well. We will discuss LinkedIn in-depth soon in this post.
- ZipRecruiter: ZipRecruiter is an online employment marketplace that uses AI to match employers with potential candidates, suitable for finding a broad spectrum of job seekers quickly.
- Dice: Dice is a job board specifically focused on technology and engineering jobs, attracting highly skilled tech professionals and IT specialists.
- Ladders: Ladders is a job site targeting high-income roles, designed to help employers find experienced professionals and executives typically earning $100K+ annually.
4. What More Options Other Than General Job Boards?
Posting your job on general job boards will bring you a good chunk of applications. Plus, notifying your network on LinkedIn, will also bring you some amount of applications.
But sometimes these applicants won’t match your criteria. So to attract more high-quality applications, you will have to extend beyond these common job boards and professional networks. You can consider the following options to diversify your efforts:
- Niche or Industry-Centric Job Boards
- Remote-Specific Job Boards
- Considering Freelance Network
In addition, there are other options like getting in touch with recruiters who are not in your network for expanding talent inventory. Plus, reaching out to reverse recruiters is a great idea as they are looking for opportunities on jobseekers’ behalf and assist them in applying.
5. Use The Largest Professional Networking Platform - LinkedIn
With over 1 billion users in 200+ countries and 140 job applications sent every second, you wouldn’t want to miss leveraging the #1 professional networking site. Try posting jobs via common yet effective methods including:
- Publishing jobs on its native job board
- Sharing jobs in the form of a social media post
- Encouraging your teammates to share jobs with their network
- Reaching out to candidates and notifying them about the open role
Hiring software usually has the feature to connect your LinkedIn’s company profile, allowing you to post jobs there directly without any extra effort.
6. Set up an engaging careers site
A career page will serve different purposes instead of just posting your jobs. It will help you communicate the purpose & values you stand for, what makes your company a great place to work, and yes, posting your jobs. All these elements help project a positive brand image that effectively attracts the best candidates.
You can either design and prepare your own page for your website or select an ATS that helps you make one directly from the platform. Creating a high-quality career page using the built-in features of applicant tracking systems is a lot easier without requiring in-depth technical knowledge.
No matter how you create your careers page, just make sure your careers page reflects your company’s overall brand image and voice for consistency.
7. Opt for Referrals
Leveraging the networks of your employees works wonders. It will unearth the talent you were looking for. Your employees may know someone who will be a great fit for your role. So asking them to recommend people is always a great talent sourcing strategy.
Your employees have the power to influence their connections to apply by advertising all the positive things about your workplace and culture. And if your employees know a potential individual personally, they can assist you in getting them into the pipeline instantly.
8. Promote From Within or Hire Internally
Have you noticed someone in your team going the extra mile (contributing more and gathering skills to grow) instead of just sticking to the basic responsibilities? When you look closely, finding such people is easy.
Giving such employees to grow internally is the best thing for the company and the employees themselves. This practice will help you establish a culture where efforts are rewarded, retain the proprietary knowledge, and help your employees move up the ladder.
Furthermore, it saves the time spent on finding candidates from outside and making them ready for the job.
9. Set Up a Smart Hiring Process with an Empathetic Approach:
Candidates today are smart, with open access to the cultures of the world’s best workplaces through social media. They can easily learn about your company culture too.
Therefore, it is crucial to present your company in the best possible light. To achieve this, deliver a smooth experience, establish messaging that shows genuine interest in the candidate, and promote your own culture effectively.
Additionally, demonstrate empathy throughout the process to build a genuine connection and show that you care about the candidate’s professional growth.
What’s the reason for not being able to find Good Candidates in Enough Amounts?
Let’s quickly have a look at the possible reasons and understand why this problem is happening:
- Job postings are not able to communicate the desired message.
- Openings are not being published on the right channels.
- Not able to exercise the modern and trending ways to reach talent including popular social platforms like Instagram or personally reaching out to passive candidates.
- Not having the right tools or services to source candidates.
- The market is majorly candidate-driven at that given moment.
- There is a mismatch between your demand and what candidates is able to offer.
These are only the possible reasons. If you analyze properly, you will find out what exactly is causing the trouble and immediately take action to correct the course. This will surely help you get the candidates you want for your team.
Frequently asked questions
There are several ways to find strong candidates. You can leverage job boards, staffing agencies, and professional networking sites like LinkedIn. Writing a clear and informative job description that outlines the required skills and experience is also key to attracting qualified applicants.
When reviewing applications, assess for skills, experience, and cultural fit. Look for keywords in resumes that match the job description’s requirements. Conduct interviews designed to assess a candidate’s qualifications and their potential to thrive within your company culture.
Finding quality employees involves a multi-pronged approach. The first step is to write a compelling job description, utilize various candidate sourcing methods, and conduct in-depth interviews. Look for candidates who possess the necessary skills and experience but also those who demonstrate a willingness to learn, adapt, and have a positive attitude.
You can find candidates using various methods. For example –
– Job boards are a popular option, allowing you to post openings for a wide audience.
– Social media platforms like LinkedIn are another useful tool for attracting potential candidates.
– Employee referrals can also be a valuable source of qualified candidates.
To learn more useful strategies, please have a look at our complete blog post.
The qualities of a good candidate will vary depending on the specific job requirements. However, some general qualities that employers look for include strong communication skills, a willingness to learn, and a positive attitude. A good candidate should also demonstrate a history of success in relevant roles and a passion for the industry.
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