Recruiting new employees is one of the most important responsibilities of any business. A skilled and reliable staff can make all the difference in your business’s success. If you’ve ever been responsible for recruiting, you know it can also be one of your most time-consuming responsibilities. To help make your recruitment process easier, here are six ways you can find exceptional job candidates.
1. Referrals
Referrals are one of the most reliable ways to find great candidates because the referrals are coming from people who work for your company or are familiar with your business and understand the qualities for an ideal candidate. While some companies worry that referrals will lead to unproductive employees, employees rarely refer someone they know who isn’t a hard worker. With their reputation on the line and a preference for working with hard workers, employers can trust referrals to bring in qualified candidates.
Referrals can significantly reduce the time spent screening candidates and, if done early enough, can save you from using resources to field several candidates who aren’t qualified or a proper fit for the role. Consider implementing a referral program that incentivizes employees to refer candidates and receive a bonus if their referral is hired. This can also help increase employee retention and reduce turnover.
2. Networking Events and Job Fairs
Attending industry-specific events is a great way to meet potential candidates who already have experience working in your industry. Even if they are not currently looking for a new job, they will remember you when they are looking in the future. Look for recruiter-specific events where you can connect with other recruiters who may have connections to the kind of talent you’re seeking.
Job fairs are a great way to meet several candidates in one day and vet candidates who are a good fit without having a formal interview with them. College career fairs are also valuable. Students you meet during these fairs are likely interested in internships or full-time jobs after graduation. Connecting with them early on can help build your company’s reputation, which will help you recruit these future workers. If your company offers internships, college career fairs are a great way to meet prospective interns.
3. LinkedIn & Other Social Media Platforms
LinkedIn is the most effective social media platform for recruitment as you can search for candidates with specific skills and job titles who are open to work and contact them directly. LinkedIn and Facebook both have dedicated sections for job listings and offer direct lines of communication with applicants.
Sharing any job openings your business has on both your company and personal profiles is a great way to advertise openings to your networks. Someone on your connections list might be interested in the job, share it with their connections, or know someone looking for a similar opportunity. You can even look for people with expansive networks to connect with and build a relationship to further benefit your networking efforts.
If you want to attract an even broader talent pool outside your network, consider putting some advertising money into your job listings and strategically targeting the ads to people best suited for the role.
4. Job Boards
Online job boards have large amounts of traffic and are a great option if you want to be seen by many candidates. Try using job boards that are tailored to your specific industry to help weed out unqualified applicants. You can also include a list of requirements or preferences that will automatically screen certain candidates depending on which job board you use.
You can get even more relevant candidates by using job boards that are targeted to a specific state or region. While posting on job boards, make sure that your job descriptions are accurate and enticing so you’re only attracting qualified applicants.
5. Work with a Recruiter or Staffing Agency
Working with a recruiter or a staffing agency is an excellent option if you don’t have the time or resources to handle recruitment yourself. This can also be helpful if your company is expanding and needs more staff at a short notice.
Staffing agencies will refer qualified candidates to you based on the requirements you provide them. This will give you access to a larger pool of candidates that you would not normally reach. If you use a staffing agency, you could also consider hiring temporary workers to see if they’re a good fit for your company before hiring them on full-time.
6. Build a Candidate Database
If you don’t already, keep track of candidates you meet in the recruitment process and build a database of previous applicants. Choosing between candidates is perhaps the most difficult part of the recruitment process as you’ll likely meet multiple qualified applicants. Keep track of the qualified candidates who narrowly lost a position to another candidate. Let these candidates know that you’ll keep their information on file and will contact them for future job openings. Having immediate access to qualified applicants the next time you have a job opening can significantly reduce the time spent recruiting new candidates.
Attracting and recruiting highly-qualified candidates is one of the most rewarding investments you can make for your business. Following these steps can help your business find the best talent and ensure future success. To learn more about how Society Insurance can help your business, contact your local a