When recruiting, it’s important to constantly review your hiring methods to ensure that you’re taking the right approach. After all, there are many different factors to consider: from the types of roles you’re recruiting for, to the current state of the market.
With this in mind, we’ve pulled together a comprehensive list on the top four ways to source the best candidates – read on to find out more.
1. Perfect your job advert
If you’re looking to showcase your vacancy to candidates, it’s important that start with a winning job advert. Remember, this is an individual’s first insight into the job role, so it needs to be done right. Start by outlining the following: the job title, salary and location. Don’t try to be creative with it – think about what candidates will be searching for and match it up to industry trends.
Below the title, it’s common to include a salary, or salary bracket and the location of the role. This isn’t mandatory, so if you’re not sure on advertising how much the job pays, you can simply state ‘Competitive salary’.
After this, you’ll need to write a short introduction which outlines your business and the role you’re advertising for. Then, include two sections of bullet points outlining the responsibilities of the role and the requirements needed (for example, qualifications and experience).
2. Use the right platforms
Once you’ve perfected your job advert, it’s time to consider where to advertise it. If you’ve got your own careers page on your website, you should definitely upload it onto here and share this on social media to promote it even further.
Alternatively, you post your jobs on popular career sites, providing maximum exposure to your vacancy. These platforms are also great if you want to search for candidate CVs yourself. By using the advanced search options, you can target job hunters by keywords, job titles, location, salary expectations and so on.
Using a combination of the two is extremely beneficial. And remember, it will vary depending on what role you’re hiring for, based on job title, seniority and so on.
3. Think about your process
If you’re finding that you aren’t getting many applications, or candidates are dropping out throughout your recruitment process, it might be time to reconsider your approach. For example, do you ask candidates to fill in lengthy application forms? This might be off-putting for candidates as most want to be able to apply for jobs at the click of a button.
Alongside this, avoid having a long process in general. Initial telephone screening calls can help to speed up the conversations and ensure that you aren’t wasting the hiring manager’s time on meeting with candidates that aren’t suitable. Video interviews are also becoming increasingly popular.
In addition, think about how long you’re taking to get back to candidates. It’s likely that they’ll be attending more than one interview at a time, so you need to be wary of taking an age to provide feedback etc. Similarly, if there are any delays to your hiring process, make sure you let them know.
4. Make an offer they can’t refuse
When it comes to the time to make your offer, make sure it’s one that they can’t refuse. In today’s competitive market, it’s important that you pull out all the stops to make a great impression to candidates and ensure that they’ll want to take the job. If the client can’t match high salary demands, consider suggesting added extras, such as flexible working, holiday days, benefits and more.
Be wary that candidates know their power and may look to negotiate on the offer that the client makes. Therefore, it’s always best to suggest to the client a minimum and maximum bracket in how much they’re willing to pay and offer them.
In summary
The recruitment cycle can feel like a draining experience if you don’t approach it in the right way. The market is extremely competitive right now so it’s important that you construct effective job adverts in order to attract the right people to your roles. Alongside this, invest in the right platforms to advertise your vacancies and find top talent. Take this approach and you’ll be able to source the best candidates in no time.
CV-Library is the UK’s leading independent job board, advertising a range of roles across the country, from Edinburgh, to London. It also owns an array of other career sites, including Engineering Jobs.