It’s a jungle out there – the employment market is as competitive as ever. Great candidates hold all the cards at the moment, so you want to make sure you are doing all you possibly can to broaden the reach of your organisation. You should be exploring unconventional options and casting a wide net. This includes trying to source candidates that aren’t actually looking for work. Here are a few tips.
Make sure your company’s online presence is top notch and utilise social media
If you want to attract a broad pool of talent, then you want to be sure that your marketing department or whoever handles your online presence is painting a positive, enticing and well-rounded picture of your business. Be active on social media and prioritise having an awesome, up-to-date website.
Not only will this help attract people that casually follow your business to apply for open roles, but it also means that when anyone you approach that is unfamiliar with your company Googles you, they’re going to be impressed with what they see.
Use video content, highlight the company’s values, ensure that everything is graphically top notch. Basically just make sure that everything the public can see is as polished and strong as it can possibly be.
Don’t be afraid to think outside the box
The most obvious place to look for new candidates is to look for those in similar roles within the same industry. But what about people with similar roles in different industries? Or people in the same industry, but with a different role background? Sometimes a little lateral thinking can go a long way.
We’ve seen plenty of people thrive in roles that have entered them from a completely different industry. We’ve also seen countless people thrive in positions where they’ve needed to upskill and broaden their range of abilities, but they’ve had significant industry knowledge to give them a head start. Cast a wide net.
Keep your best candidates on file
The job market fluctuates wildly. Sometimes you can have three or four highly skilled candidates that are all virtually equally qualified for a role and it’s incredibly hard to make a decision. Other times you might be struggling to find one strong candidate.
The latter scenario might be greatly helped if you’ve kept all contacts close at hand in the former scenario. It’s a good idea to stay in touch with any candidates that impressed you, even if they missed out on the role. You never know when you might want to pick up the phone and reach out to them about a new position!
The same goes for previous employees. Great talent is hard to find, so if someone leaves your organisation that you believe is a star performer – check in with them from time to time. You may be able to entice them back if a role comes up that’s even more suited to them than the one they left!