Have you heard the saying that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result? So, we have to ask: are you running an insane recruitment strategy?

It’s no secret that hiring is hard these days. Between the Great Resignation and today’s unprecedented talent shortage, there are plenty of obstacles to fill the open roles at your company.

If you want to drive the applications, you need to meet your organization’s openings; you need to get creative with your recruiting strategies.

Social media is your friend

Social media is a tool that has certainly gotten a bad reputation in recent years. Instead of using it to compare how you’re doing to those with whom graduated high school, it can be extremely useful as a recruiting strategy.

As with (mostly) anything on the Internet, the bigger the presence your brand has, the better – mainly because you’ll reach more potential applicants than if your profiles were limping along. To capitalize on this recruiting strategy, you’ll need to post timely happenings at your company, along with celebrating your employees; this will help establish your company culture online and give candidates a glimpse at what the environment is like before they even step through
the door.

Incorporating social media into your recruiting strategy can help in two ways. Firstly, you can monitor passive candidates who engage with your social media posts but don’t actually apply for a role and make the first move toward them. By determining how engaged these candidates are – and taking a quick look at their own profile to see if they’re open to offers – you can start the recruitment process by sending a simple message. Secondly, you can post your open roles on your profile for anyone who has been keeping an eye on their opportunity to get their foot in the door at your company. You can take this a step further by encouraging your employees to create their own posts to share with customized QR codes.

Employee referrals

If you’re not using your existing staff in your recruitment strategy yet, you’re missing out. Employees referred to their positions are, on average, hired faster, stay longer, and are more engaged than regular hires. In fact, recent data shows that 20% of new hires found their latest roles through a friend – aka they were referred.

Now, adding an employee referral program to your recruiting strategy is easier than ever before. Some employee referral software allows you to create individual QR codes for each employee, making the tracking process a breeze even if your staff uses social media to recruit for you. You can even use the QR codes to gather referrals from your workers by using them in weekly presentations or posting signage around your workspace encouraging them to submit referrals.

Read the 2022 Future of Hiring to see how the talent shortage has created a new set of hiring best practices that will be table stakes in the years to come.

Revisit your job descriptions

Updating and modernizing your job descriptions can help bolster your existing recruiting strategies. You need to go back and look at what you’ve written to see if there are any changes you can make to drive more applicants to these roles. One simple way to start this process is to actually read the job description aloud. You can read this to yourself, but you might gather more insightful feedback from someone who is actually working in that position; in fact, you can ask them questions to craft a better description, like “Does that sound like a position you would apply for if you were on the market for a new job?”

You still need to keep Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in mind when wordsmithing your new job description to reach the widest audience possible, but you need to make sure that it’s still written for people to understand. So yes, while there are tricks you can do – like rearranging segments of job posting – focusing on connecting the content with the applicants (and not the bots) will make the payoff for this recruitment strategy worth it.

Dig deep into what makes you unique

What makes your business special? Do you have a smaller company size, where the boss knows everyone’s name and every birthday is a celebration? Do you offer great employee benefits like unlimited PTO or mental health days? Whatever makes your company different from everyone else in your area, define your unique selling points and market them everywhere. From your career site to every posted job, these unique aspects need to be mentioned.

Recruitment strategies rely heavily on your company standing out to potential candidates; by digging deep into what makes your organization unique, you have a competitive advantage against some of the largest companies hiring in your area. Chances are, if the candidate was interested enough in what makes you unique or the title of your open job, one (or the other) will give the candidate the push they need to apply – and hopefully drive your next hire.

In-person networking isn’t dead (yet)

Guess what? Job fairs are still around – for good reason. Successful recruitment strategies don’t forgo these events, especially if they’re being held at a college or technical school that produces the type of talent you need to fill some of your persistently open roles.

Events that let you network in person allow you to meet potential candidates face to face, an aspect of the recruitment process that has largely been missing since the beginning of the pandemic. Plus, you’ll often have the opportunity to beat your competitors to these fresh faces before they even start looking for a postgraduate role. If you’re attending job fairs that are outside of the education system, you have the chance to shorten the interview process if you have the time at the event.

Bonus tip: Establish a mentorship program for the positions you desperately need filled. You’ll get help with your current workload while the mentee gets experience in the field and firsthand knowledge.

These recruiting strategies should become the bread and butter of your enlisting efforts. The most important thing is that you meet potential applicants where they are, whether that’s online or in person.

Hireology’s all-in-one platform has everything you need to attract, hire, and manage a modern workforce. Want to see just how easy recruiting can be? Go to https://hireology.com and let us show you how!