The top 10 recruiting strategies for hiring quality employees

Hiring the right people takes planning and strategy. It’s a competitive world out there, even for employers, and simply posting a job vacancy isn’t enough to recruit the best talent.

In fact, only 16 percent of new hires are prepared with the skills they need for the job. So businesses wanting to find a strong candidate have to utilize different platforms, directly target the candidates they’re looking for and offer incentives to entice the most qualified workers. By doing this, not only are you finding the best employees for the job, but you’re more likely to retain them by making an excellent first impression.

Here are 10 top tips on how to hire employees and secure those elusive perfect candidates.

Create powerful job posts

According to Gartner research, 65 percent of candidates have quit the hiring process of a job because they didn’t find the offering attractive enough. That is why writing an effective job post is one of the most simple and important recruitment strategies you can have in your arsenal.

Titles need to be specific and state exactly what the job offers straight away, followed by an enticing summary that gets candidates excited. It’s also recommended to clearly note the responsibilities and highlight what makes the culture within the business stand out.

Perfect the interview process

An interview isn’t just about a potential hire trying to impress a business. The business needs to impress them too. Often, a company will decide to offer a job to a candidate only to have them turn it down because they weren’t inspired at the interview.

It’s best to ensure that the interview location is comfortable, whether it’s remote or in person. It should also be catered to whoever’s applying, for example, a group interview will have different needs than a solo interviewee, such as giving an equal amount of time for each applicant to speak.

Utilize social media

Almost everyone is on social media nowadays, so it’s a great way to grab the attention of potential candidates. Most platforms have the option to share vacancies and interact with those who are interested. Not everyone will be exactly what the business is looking for, but sometimes they may know a friend or family member who fits the job description.

To top it all off, social media allows companies to share photos and videos, presenting what working for them is really like and creating an attractive profile that quality candidates will engage with.

Create company pages on job sites

When it comes to how to hire employees, you want to reach as broad an audience as possible. That’s where recruitment pages and job sites come in useful. The more places your job advert appears online, the more people you reach, and the more people will click through to your website. By creating a company page on one of these sites, you have the chance to map out precisely what makes your company great. It’s a simple way to reach a vast audience without necessarily having to go through a recruiter.

Search out your target audience

According to the Harvard Business Review, most people who accepted a new job last year weren’t searching for one: somebody came and found them. Much of this was done through programmatic job advertising, with software placing an ad in front of potential candidates who fit the job description. It saves businesses a lot of time and effort sifting through applications of people who aren’t suitable and can lead to an active hire in no time.

Offer an employee referral program

Word-of-mouth is one of the best recruitment strategies, and this can be done through an employee referral program. By offering a financial incentive, you can get the word out there via loyal employees, and they can help bring in talent of a similar quality to themselves. Apart from that, businesses often find that referrals are more engaged and more likely to stay. A referral program is so easy to set up. It helps create an open and communicative atmosphere, empowering employees to take an active role in building the company’s future. 

Consider past candidates

Only 28 percent of talent acquisition leaders today report that internal candidates are important for filling vacancies. Therefore, the majority of businesses prefer outsourcing and finding new people to improve the company. But with each new recruitment process and new hire, you leave behind a vast amount of unsuccessful candidates.

They may not have been the best for that initial role, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t ideal for a future position. After all, they’ve already shown interest in your company. Similarly, they may have found ways to improve their experience and credentials since your last conversation.

Use industry networking

Many businesses rely on job fairs to hire employees, but it’s also helpful to look at other types of events to broaden your remit and find potential talent in a relaxed setting. Networking events are a great way to meet like-minded professionals who want to advance in their industry. When talking to them, a company recruiter may find they have a job opening in mind that will benefit both of them. It always pays to be out and about in your industry, meeting new faces. You never know when you could find that perfect person for a role.

Build a talent pool database

If a business is just starting out, building a talent pool is often the last thing on their mind. However, it is an excellent tool to have and can make the recruitment process much easier. It holds all the profiles of potential candidates interested in the company, they just haven’t applied yet. You can include movers and shakers in the industry, dream candidates and even past candidates who may be a good fit for the new position that has opened up.

Don’t overlook onboarding

Onboarding isn’t exactly part of the recruitment process, but a good onboarding process provides employees with a comfortable and welcoming experience. This leads to positive reviews, and it can also work side by side with an employee referral program. It also helps build a collaborative environment that can help ensure that new hires stay with the company for longer, meaning less time looking for a new recruit in the future.

A seamless recruitment process

There are so many recruitment strategies out there to help you create an effective hiring process. By picking and choosing a few of the strategies from the above list, you can start to filter good quality candidates and secure better results. After all, a company is only as good as its people, so you want to make sure you get the very best people working for you.