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It can be really difficult to recruit qualified candidates.
While almost all of us agree with this statement, many view it as a bad thing. In reality, this is actually good news for staffing firms because if it were easy to find great candidates, there would be no need for recruiters and their services. That being said, the challenge of finding top talent is tiring. Luckily, there are ways that it doesn’t have to be.
Staffing and recruiting professionals who are successfully attracting the best talent and filling most of the orders and contracts they write have implemented the following strategies:
Creative Sourcing
Identify at least one new resource for sourcing candidates quarterly. Often you can identify new resources by asking your candidates where they go when they are seeking a new opportunity.
Imagine the benefit of having four additional resources for talent each year. Hiring authorities do not want to find the same candidates they are attracting from job board ads or website postings. They prefer that you attract candidates they can’t find on their own.
You can accomplish this through your networking efforts on social media sites like LinkedIn or through your recruiting efforts. You must build a network of top talent in advance of your client’s needs.
Learn What Candidates Want
Ask your candidates to identify the trade publications they read, associations they join, and sites they visit. Also, identify blogs and social media sites they frequent.
Once you have identified where they “hang out,” you need to go there. Subscribe to receive the trade publication at home and read the articles that are filled with candidate leads. Comment on blog articles or start your own content-rich blog. Join professional associations that help you learn about your niche and the candidates you represent. Consider joining the membership committee to interact with new and existing members.
Interview More Than Once
The internet has made it easy for candidates to schedule interviews on their own. In today’s competitive job market, you need to send candidates to at least two or three interviews or they will book interviews on their own. The only exception to this is retained searches or some vendor management system agreements.
Ask each candidate to identify the companies they most respect and market their talent to those companies as well as similar clients. Most candidates prefer to have choices, rather than only considering one opportunity.
Start a Referral Program
If you have been in this profession for longer than 18 months, over 50% of your candidates should be the result of referrals. If that is not the case, you need to create and implement a consistent referral program. You are probably not obtaining referrals because you are not asking for them.
Conduct Revenue Modeling
It’s important to determine where most of your business is coming from, and revenue modeling can help. Technology has caused employers to have very high demands when it comes to recruiters’ ability to identify top talent faster than our competition. It is important to fill your pipeline of candidates with the titles you normally place in advance of writing orders, contracts, and assignments.
By conducting revenue modeling, you are studying where you actually made fills or placements in the past two years, not just what business you wrote. This helps you identify the job titles you need to pipeline in advance, so you can react with top talent faster than your competition.
Focus at least 85% of your marketing and recruiting efforts on the job titles that represent your firm’s best business.
Focus on The 5%
As a profession, we place 5% of the candidate we attract. Unfortunately, the other 95% are often not placed, but deserve to have a positive experience when interacting with you and your firm. The average recruiter spends in excess of 90 minutes a day taking incoming calls and providing free career advice to individuals who represent the least placeable candidates.
You need to focus on the 5% of candidates you will place and provide resources to help the other 95%. If you have no resources, you can set up a Career Portal for them (that has your company name) in less than 30 minutes. This resource teaches them techniques utilized by recruiters, provides live weekly webinars to help them and also generates passive income for your company. Check out more here.
The next time you hear yourself complain that talent is hard to find – be grateful instead of frustrated. Your services are needed now more than any other time in history. With top talent difficult to find, baby boomers retiring every 6 seconds, and companies facing the challenge of retaining their high achievers, it’s a great time to be in the recruiting profession.
