Lee Biggins is the CEO of Resume-Library, the fastest growing job board in the U.S. He is also the founder and managing director of CV-Library, the UK’s leading independent job board. With industry experience spanning nearly 20 years, Lee is a pioneer of online recruitment and is passionate about current and upcoming market developments.
Continuing from where we left off, here’s the second edition of our Expert Corner. This time, the focus is on attracting more candidates to your job openings, written insightfully by Lee Biggins.
Let’s face it, it’s tougher to hire right now than ever before. Employment rates are at an all-time high across the U.S. and this is putting organizations in a tricky position when it comes to sourcing top candidates.
Because of this, hiring teams are under a lot of pressure to come up with new and exciting ways to boost application rates—all while working with fewer resources and tighter budgets.
The good news is there are some small steps you can take to help attract more candidates to your vacant positions. While some of them might sound obvious, you’d be surprised to know how many companies still haven’t got them right. Read on for more details.
Write a winning job advertisement
You cannot underestimate the value of a well-written job advert. After all, it’s one of the first looks a candidate will get of your company. That’s why it needs to make an immediate, positive impact.
So, take the time to tweak and tailor your job descriptions to ensure they’re as appealing as possible. You’ll want to clearly outline who you are and what role you’re hiring for.
Then, use bullet points to list out the key responsibilities of the position. Make these sound as exciting as possible. Who will they be working with? What will their average day look like? What difference will this role make to the business?
You’ll then want to outline the key requirements that you’re looking for in the ideal candidate. It’s best to keep a separate list of ‘Desirable’ and ‘Essential’ traits, as you don’t want to put anyone off applying just because they don’t meet 100% of your criteria.
Finally, finish the job advert with a quick summary of your key benefits. Tell the candidate why they should want to work for you, and close it off with a call to action.
Advertise in the right places
Next, it’s important to consider where you’re advertising your jobs. You’re never going to attract more candidates to your job openings if they aren’t able to find them.
Job boards are usually a great place to start as they have millions of active candidates looking for a job. They also tend to offer different packages based on your hiring needs.
Other great ways to promote your job openings include posting them on your own careers page. Perhaps you have a ‘Work for Us’ section on your company website, which acts as its own hiring hub. You can even use testimonials from employees to help bring the roles to life.
Whether you choose to advertise externally or not, you should also use social media to push your openings even further. LinkedIn is naturally a great and professional networking tool, but depending on the role you’re hiring for, you may want to share it on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, too.
Simplify your hiring process
If you find that you’re perfecting your job adverts, posting them in all the right places, but still aren’t getting the results you need, then the issue may lie with your hiring process.
For example, a lot of companies require candidates to jump through a number of hoops in order to apply for their jobs. They ask too many questions and, in some cases, this can cause candidates to abandon their applications altogether.
Alongside this, if you’re asking too much of people before they’ve even met with you, you aren’t giving off the best impression of your company.
So, consider how you can simplify your hiring process. What sort of questions are you asking in application forms? And could you get this information by simply accepting a resume and cover letter instead?
Focus on candidate experience
A key part of attracting more candidates to your job openings is putting yourself in their shoes. After all, our research shows that 70% of job hunters will reject a job offer if they have a bad hiring experience; so it’s crucial that you get it right.
More and more companies are recognizing the need to focus on candidate experience, especially when they hold so much power in the current market. Think about how long you’re taking to get back to applicants and whether you’re providing constructive feedback.
Remember, these candidates could be your customers one day and vice versa. How you treat them now can have big repercussions later down the line. Focus on offering the best experience possible, and they’ll be more likely to apply to and accept your job offers.
Attract more candidates to your job openings
Overall, there are a number of ways to drive more candidates to your open positions, and these are just some examples. It all starts with your job advert, so it’s important to not rush this step and focus on writing an engaging piece of copy that’s going to appeal to your target audience.
Knowing where to post this is also key, and social media is a great tool for pushing your job posting’s reach even further. But whatever you do, always think about the bigger picture; is your hiring process streamlined and appealing? Are you focusing on offering a positive candidate experience?
Hopefully, these tips should give you some food for thought – good luck!