With too few jobs for all of the qualified candidates in need of employment, employers have their work cut out for them when it comes to sorting through the stack of applications. In order to recruit talented and creative staff that fit into the company’s schematic, today’s employers must look to technology to pick up the pace and the slack that are created by the volume of applicants. A leading way that employers can recruit from the best pool of candidates is to take to the social media and networks to find people that fit just what the company needs.
Building Personal Relationships
Building personal relationships with potential candidates is key to successful recruiting. Since the most recent generation of college graduates is so comfortable with the use of social media, this is an excellent platform to reach out and connect with students and recent graduates. These personal relationships may even be taken to the next level through mentoring and social engagement through updates, feedback and the formation of interest groups on websites such as LinkedIn and Twitter.
Making Diverse Connections
Many employers are surprised to find that their greatest employees come from unexpected sources of talent. Employers may desire to seek candidates with unusual backgrounds and diverse majors of study to put together the best pool of staff. Maintaining these connections throughout the application and hiring process helps to keep the talented candidates interested in employment with the company. Outsourcing will widen the pool of applicants to include a diverse group of individuals through online job boards. Get informed on retained vs contingency search features to see which one fits your company’s needs to bring in the best possible candidates. Then, take to social media and reach out to these individuals with personal messages of invitation and interest in their skill sets.
Brand Building
Recruiting great people will not do any good if those people have never heard of the company. Recruiters must take the time to do plenty of brand building so the company has a strong level of name recognition in various social media networks and online. In addition to having a landing page and active group on the major social networks, companies can also work to build their brand through social media by linking to colleges and universities where their employees come from, sharing news and articles of interest and connecting alumni with interns.
Creating Buzz
An employer seeking to fill a position can no longer just place an ad in the classifieds and hope for the best. Creating a buzz about the job opening helps bring in tech savvy and creative candidates. Employers can use strategies such as getting academics involved in the hiring process and even coordinating the talent recruiting process with fraternities, sororities and college clubs that have a related group of professional interests.
Closing the Gap Between Recruiting time and Hiring Time
The most highly qualified candidates in today’s job market are tired of an application and interview process that takes many weeks or even months until a decision is made. Such a prolonged amount of time may drive away top talent that is being heavily recruited by competing employers. According to this article on The Times, employers can utilize social media to start the vetting process during college and through internship and apprenticeship programs.