Finding a new employee is easy, isn’t it?
After all, the majority of job vacancies out there will attract a decent amount of interest from good candidates with promising CVs. But depending on the vacancy you’re looking to fill, sometimes “good” just isn’t, well, good enough.
If you’re looking to recruit for a role that has the potential to impact on your business success, it’s worth going the extra mile to find an individual that stands out. Easier said than done, when it’s the very best employees who can afford to be more particular about what they want, and who they choose to work for.
To help, we’ve put together our own top 10 list of tips to help you boost your chances of finding that sought-after exceptional candidate:
1) Know who you’re looking for
The best way to streamline your search and make it more effective, is to take the time to think about who it is you’re looking to recruit. Once you have a list of skills, experience and qualities you need (the more detailed the better for sifting out underqualified candidates) you’ll find it that much easier to find individuals that tick all the right boxes.
2)…But don’t pigeonhole
Now you’ve considered their attributes, try not to be influenced by a stereotype of who it is you think you should be looking for – it’s often the surprise candidates that turn out to be most valuable for a role. Where you’re having to choose between several candidates of equal experience, it may be that a difference in personality or approach proves the deciding factor between who gets the job and who doesn’t.
3) Take time with your job listing
Think about how potential candidates will view your job listing – is it doing enough to catch the interest of top talent? Consider every element from the job role title you advertise it under, to the list of attributes you provide. Is your job listing clear, concise and easy to follow?
4) Here’s looking at you
As well as thinking about your hunt for an employee, you should also consider your candidates’ own search too. Before they apply to any job, they’ll want to know who it is they could be working with. As part of your job listing, give some (albeit brief) information on who you are, and what your business is about.
5) What’s in it for them?
While any job application is an opportunity for candidates to sell themselves, a job listing is your opportunity to sell your vacancy. Why should a candidate want to work for you? What can you offer them in terms of benefits, career progression, training and working environment?
6) Get the application process right
For most employers this goes one of two ways; either they over-simplify the process, making it too easy to apply, or they overcomplicate things and ask for too much information. The result? An onslaught of applications from underqualified candidates, or genuine applicants being put off from entering the process at all. Consider the skills you need to see, and ask enough from your applicants to gauge who is worth taking further in the process. You don’t need to know every detail about every candidate right now – that is what the later stages are for.
7) Help candidates find you
Job listings are well and good but they’ll only be seen by candidates that are already actively looking to change roles. To expand your search, make sure you’re doing enough to advertise your vacancy beyond jobs boards, social media and print advertisements. This is where finding access to industry contacts in specialist areas can prove invaluable.
8) Is your website up to scratch?
It’s the one thing nearly all candidates will do as soon as they see a tempting job vacancy advertised – head straight to the company website to check them out first. If your website doesn’t do your business justice, you’ll likely lose a high percentage of candidates at the very first hurdle.
9) Improve your candidate experience
You don’t want applicants to lose interest during the application process, and a good candidate experience can lay the foundations for potential recruitment later down the line. Keep your candidates informed at every stage, ensure your communication is consistent and efficient, and don’t drag the process out; the most desirable candidates won’t wait around forever.
10) Trust in the professionals
The most effective candidate searches take time, effort, valuable contacts and years of experience to make the most of each and every tried and tested strategy. If you’re looking to recruit for a very specific role, or are simply tired of sifting through piles of underqualified, inappropriate applications it can pay to let the professionals take care of it for you.
If you’d like to have a conversation about what can be done to improve your candidate search, we’d be happy to offer our advice – just get in touch with the team here at Stuart Maxwell Recruitment, and we can talk about what approach might work best for your business.
