Archive for category: Recruitment

HR Question:

I understand that we’re living in a “candidate’s market,” which means I need to be both efficient and effective when recruiting for new talent. I want to know what best practices are to create a strong candidate and brand experience. What steps should I take to build a successful recruitment process?

HR Answer:

You’re right – today, businesses are operating in what’s called a “candidate’s market.” This means that job seekers have more opportunities and professional options to choose from. More importantly, though, it means that the top-tier candidates have the most leverage for the best opportunities. Secondly, it means that you can no longer use the same old hiring practices that you’ve used in the past when there were more candidates than there were jobs.

While the recruitment process may look different depending on factors such as business size, industry, or seniority of the position, some fundamental steps can be taken to help ensure a successful recruiting process.

Define the Position

The most successful recruiting efforts are built on clearly defined roles, which means creating (or updating) the job description for the role. You should meet with the relevant stakeholders (i.e., managers and peers) to understand which skills, tasks, and experiences are critical to the success of the position, and possibly missing from the team and organization, to update the job description.

Then, for clarity and effective candidate screening, a best practice can be to identify the top three to five skills or qualifications that are essential to the position (rather than providing an exhaustive list of potential needs) and build your job ad around those items.

The difference between job descriptions and job ads

It’s important to note that your job description and your job ad are not the same thing! Your job description should provide a detailed view of the job requirements, expectations, reporting structure, etc. Your job ad should give a brief overview of the position and highlight the most critical qualifications needed to be successful.

Your ad should also provide compelling reasons why candidates would love to work for your company. Remember, your job ad needs to be intriguing enough to potentially woo someone away from their current job. This is your chance to highlight why they should consider making that leap.

Another key task in these early stages is making sure that you have a clear description of the culture and what a “strong fit” may look like for the existing team. Be sure you understand your “need-to-have” qualities (such as the ability to pivot quickly or experience with certain software) versus “nice-to-have” qualities (i.e., it would be great if the candidate came with these skills, but I can teach them if they don’t).

When it comes time to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), consider the following:

• Job ads should be easily read on a mobile device with minimal scrolling, as almost 70% of job seekers in 2021 applied via their mobile devices.
• Utilize catch statements at the beginning of the ad (i.e., are you looking for a fast-paced, creative environment?) that speak to the candidate you may be looking for.
• Use a short paragraph to summarize the major responsibilities of the position. No more than three to five sentences.

Post the Position

Once your job ad is written, it’s time to cast a wide net to attract a diverse candidate pool.  Consider major job boards like Indeed, LinkedIn, and ZipRecruiter, as well as a number of free job boards, niche/industry-specific job boards, diversity job boards, and social media groups. Don’t forget to leverage your own network, including LinkedIn alumni groups and associations in the area you are recruiting in. Be sure to post it on your company’s career page too.

As you post the role, be sure to simplify the candidate’s ability to post/apply to positions. Remove any unnecessary steps that make the application process lengthy or complex, which may turn off the candidates from even applying in the first place.

If you use pre-screen questionnaires, make sure they are optimally designed and easy to complete. Wait until after initial conversations with a candidate before making them complete lengthy applications or assessments. This allows for an opportunity to “sell” the position and the employment brand of the company and to get the candidate interested in moving forward through those tasks.

Be Proactive!

In a tight candidate market, you may not want to solely rely on waiting for the candidate to come to you. Research organizations, social media outlets, or other networking options that are relevant to the position or company. Routinely connect with your network, share news, and let them know that you are hiring.

And if you are competing for the same candidates as other organizations, be ready to sell the candidate on why your company will be their best choice. This is not just a discussion of pay and benefits, but more about the culture, mission of the company, and potential career growth. So, if your organization does a great job of providing career paths and development opportunities, be proud of that, put that message first and foremost ahead of pay and benefits.

Focus on Candidate Experience!

As candidates come rolling in, you’ve reached a crucial time in a successful recruitment process – you need to make sure you’re reviewing and responding to candidates in a timely fashion. A best practice is responding to the candidate with an acknowledgment, if not the next steps, within one to two business days. This can be a simple email that thanks them for their interest and includes an explanation of what the next steps in the process will be. The candidate will appreciate the follow-up, which will also help protect the employment brand of your company.

Other best practices include:

• Utilizing readily available technology to find alternate ways to reach out to candidates. For example, texting can be an effective way of quickly getting in touch with candidates, as it boosts engagement and may cut down on the amount of time spent playing phone tag. This is especially true if your organization has a lot of high-volume recruiting.
• If you know that there will be multiple steps in the process, communicate that as early as possible. This also opens the door to encouraging the candidate to keep you informed as well should there be any developments in their current job search.
• Simplify the interview process as much as possible. Avoid having candidates come on-site multiple times for interviews by scheduling as much as necessary in one or two visits, max. Top-tier candidates are usually currently employed, which makes it very difficult for them to take time off to interview.

Be sure that your entire hiring team prioritizes the recruitment process and that they are actively involved in the hiring process so that you do not lose top talent to roadblocks caused solely by the hiring team. More often than not, your best candidates may come in the first round of resumes that you receive. Encourage anyone involved in the hiring process to keep this in mind as they recruit and to be timely in making decisions.

Thank you to Lisa Johnson, CIR and Samantha Kelly for contributing to this edition of our HR Question of the Week!

A successful recruitment process is much more than just posting an ad. It requires a targeted message, the right resources, and a significant amount of candidate engagement. Are you overwhelmed with your recruiting? Our on-demand recruitment services can give you the support you need no matter where you are in the process. Visit our Outsourced Recruitment page to learn more, or contact us today! 

HR Question:

What should we include on our company Careers page to ensure we’re keeping up with the times?

HR Answer:

You’re wise to have the quality of your company’s Careers page on your radar. This is a critical recruitment marketing tool to capture the attention of potential candidates. Your page’s content, look, and feel must grab their attention fast to keep job seekers engaged and interested in applying. Otherwise, you lose them before they even apply. You’ll want to make sure that you seize the opportunity to showcase who you are, what you have to offer, and why job seekers would want to work at your organization.

Your Careers page should be designed to intrigue candidates to want to learn more; actively engage them with your content; and compel them to apply. There are many components that you can consider to optimize your Careers page. Here are some suggestions to get you started.

Nine Tips to Optimize Your Careers Page:

1. Showcase your employer brand

Your employer brand encompasses your mission, values, benefits/perks, and overall company culture. It can be viewed as your company’s reputation as an employer, which is a critical piece that job seekers want to understand.

Although this is different than your company brand, your employer branding should be aligned with your company brand. We’ll touch upon some components of employer branding below, but to dive in further, check out this LinkedIn article, “What Is Employer Branding and How Can It Grow Your Business?”

2. Share your mission and values

According to what we’ve learned about generational preferences, a “values match” between the candidate and the company ranks among the top reasons any generation would prioritize when deciding whether or not to join an organization. By incorporating your company’s mission and values on your Careers page, candidates can connect to your company’s purpose.

A great way to showcase this can be through testimonials from your employees sharing how your values come to life in your workplace. This presents a good opportunity to ensure that you are indeed living the values that you profess for your company.

3. Include benefits / perks

It should be no surprise that job seekers want to know about the benefits and perks that you offer. This is a prime opportunity to market what you offer to your employees and tout why it’s great to work at your company. Wondering what today’s job seeker values the most? Check out Forbes’s “Best Employee Benefits of 2023.”

4. Shine a light on company culture

Your company culture is what makes your organization uniquely YOU. Candidates want to have a realistic picture of what it’s like to work at your company so they can assess if it feels like a good fit for them. A powerful way to communicate your culture can be through videos. For example, you could share “A day in the life” videos showing real employees at work and hearing about their experiences.

Not sure where to start? Check out 8 Steps to Producing a Great Employment Video for tips and tricks!

5. Ensure a fast and easy application process

If you capture the job seeker’s interest to the point where they’re ready to apply, make sure you don’t lose them in the application process! Many applications are too long, and with the number of current job openings far exceeding the available talent to fill them, job seekers can pick and choose where they want to apply.

Make sure your application only asks for the information that you absolutely need at that stage in your selection process. It should be quick and easy to complete – target completion in 5 minutes or less.

6. Make it mobile friendly

Many candidates (particularly millennials) conduct their job search on the go using their phones, so be sure that your Careers page is mobile-friendly. To the point made above, you’ll also want to ensure that your job application is mobile-optimized as well. If you’re not sure, try it out for yourself!

7. Offer job alerts

Don’t count on job seekers to go back to your Careers page on their own if they don’t see a job opening that interests them when they first visit your page. Your Careers page should offer the opportunity for job seekers to sign up to receive job alerts for the type(s) of position(s) they want to pursue. This push notification can help to re-engage that candidate when an appropriate job becomes available.

8. Allow applications without a job opening

Don’t let a potential candidate slip through your fingers simply because you don’t have the right job opening for them today. Seize the opportunity to engage that candidate in a future job opportunity by allowing them to apply for a future fit position. If you do this, be sure that you source your ATS when new positions become available to ensure that you re-engage these candidates who have expressed an interest in your company.

9. Explain your hiring process

Job seekers want to understand your hiring process. They want to know the expected steps it takes to get hired. They also want to know what they can expect from you in this process. Providing an explanation of your hiring process either through text or video can help to manage candidates’ expectations and answer some of their questions on the front end.

After you’ve completed the suggestions above, consider taking it a step further! Reviewing your entire recruitment process annually – from application to offer to acceptance – is a great way to ensure that you’re creating a welcoming, efficient, and attractive process for potential talent to follow should they want to join your team.

Thank you to Samantha Kelly and Stephanie Kolodziejski, Talent Acquisition Consultant, for updating this HR Question of the Week.

Do you need help creating or updating your Careers page? Give us a call! Our expert Talent Acquisition Consultants can help evaluate, streamline, and suggest ways to build efficiencies into your recruitment process. Or better yet, take it off your hands completely! Visit our Outsourced Recruitment page for more information on how we can help you effectively and efficiently find your next employee.

HR Question:

We’re in desperate need of the right talent, but I can’t seem to attract or engage the number of candidates I need! How can I improve my recruitment processes to attract more candidates?

HR Answer:

You’re not alone! Recruiting the right talent is a challenge in almost every industry and market right now. Because the competition for candidates is incredibly tight, employers everywhere are looking internally to find ways to improve their recruitment processes to catch more prospective employees. By eliminating barriers for candidates and making the job search and application process engaging, efficient, and user-friendly, employers can see an increase in their candidate flow, further increasing the likelihood of finding the right candidates for their organization.

So, let’s dive in to identify what employers can do to attract more candidates – without losing them during the application process.

Optimize Your Job Ad

First, make sure your job ad is designed to show off your company by highlighting the areas that candidates want to know more about – the culture, the day-to-day, what success looks like, and why they would want to join your organization. What makes you stand out against your competition? Take note of these reasons and work them into the ad, as just placing your job description on your company’s career page is not likely to attract many candidates. Paint the picture of your company and the open role with clear and concise language, limited bullet points, and the key requirements of the position.

Consider researching similar positions in your area for popular job titles to make sure you are not reducing your audience by titling your position something unfamiliar to your target applicant pool. For example, don’t name your Customer Service Representative a “Client Wizard” or “People Pleasing Person.” While the titles may bring a smile to your face, they won’t show up in basic keyword searches.

Although it may cause some hesitation, it is also recommended to include the salary range in your job post, even if it is a broad range. Research has proven that candidates are more likely to apply if they know the compensation range, and it eliminates time down the line by not considering candidates significantly out of range.

Cast a Wide Net to Attract More Candidates

Now that your job ad is written, it is time to get the right eyes on it! In order to make sure you’re spending your time and money to optimize your return on investment, take some time to do a brief search of where similar positions are being advertised. Check out any applicant stats that the job board may highlight about those roles. How many people have applied? How long has it been posted? Are there other similar positions posted on the site? This will help you understand if this is where your desired audience might be found.

If you have the budget to advertise your job, use it. If not, there are also online recruitment platforms where you can post your positions for free, most of which take little time to use and can help with visibility. You can also look for local, county, or state job networks where you can share your position for free. You may want to consider joining some professional associations or alumni groups on LinkedIn and Facebook that align with your organization so that you can share your open positions. You can also use your involvement in these organizations and groups to build a network from which you can source current and future candidates.

Keep It Simple

Once you have a candidate interested, it is important to make your application process as simple as possible. Keeping the process short and simple will help convert the number of views of your job into completed applications. Mobile-friendly application processes are now “a must,” rather than considered “nice to have.” In fact, almost 60% of job seekers apply via a mobile device, so having a long application results in fewer completed applications.

Several job posting platforms allow candidates to apply with one click, which has become an increasingly popular option for applicants and recruiters alike. If you do require an application, first make sure it is mobile-friendly and that your system can auto-populate employment history from the applicant’s resume. Any additional screening questions should be yes or no questions and only those things that are essential to the position at the application stage in your process (i.e., age requirements or required certifications). Save any other questions for later in the recruitment and hiring process.

If you want to improve your recruitment processes, it won’t necessarily require a full overhaul of your entire department. Particularly when departments might feel stretched thin or understaffed, simplifying the steps required and creating targeted materials can make the process easier on both the recruiter and the candidates. Consider taking some time today to review your processes and find ways to simplify your steps!

Special thanks to Lisa Johnson, CIR, and Samantha Osborne Kelly for contributing to this HR Question of the Week.

Recruitment is more than just posting a job ad. It takes a targeted message, the right sources, and lots of follow-up. But recruiting doesn’t have to take up all of your time and money! Our team at Strategic HR knows what it takes to attract, hire, and retain the best employees. Check out our Outsourced Recruitment page to learn more or contact us for recruiting help! 

HR Question:

We’re having a hard time meeting our business goals as we’re understaffed and finding it difficult to fill our open positions. The idea of using interns came up in a brainstorming session. Should my company consider creating an internship program to address our talent shortage?

HR Answer:

You are not alone as many companies are currently struggling to find the talent that they need. It is smart to be thinking about various ways to address your talent gaps, and internships can be a great way to help lighten your current workloads while providing helpful work experience to college students. They also give you the chance to groom potential future employees.

How a lack of internships has impacted college students, aka your future employees

In 2020, the number of internships that were completely removed or scaled back was significant. It’s understandable that internships, which by design are temporary and transitional in nature, were affected by the pandemic. However, it’s important to recognize the impact of the reduction of available internships on college students, aka your future employees.

First, college students depend on internships to solidify their field of choice and receive relevant work experience.  With fewer internships, many students are graduating unsure and unprepared.  According to Forbes, “About three out of four students said losing their internship has caused significant disruption to their future.”

Secondly, 2020 and 2021 college graduates who couldn’t complete internships are finding it difficult to secure full-time positions in their fields. Their resumes are lacking the robust one or two internships experiences that employers, like you, are typically looking for.

When companies are recruiting to fill full-time positions, they often look for candidates who can bring some relevant experience. Previous experience, particularly through internships and co-ops for new college grads, can provide relevant work experience to help them hit the ground running in a full-time post-graduation role. It’s difficult to get experience if internships are not offered. Hence, the argument for the value of internships for both the students and employers.

How internships can address labor shortages, fill your talent pipeline, and create brand awareness

As you’ve likely experienced, the hiring landscape is challenging for many positions. With labor shortages created by fewer available workers than open jobs (.7 person for every open job according to BLS), coupled with the Great Resignation, employers are struggling to fill many of their open positions. As the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reported, internships have “proved advantageous for companies that need some extra help but can’t afford to take on new staff or hire a temp.” We encourage you to look at how you can leverage internships to get meaningful work done that helps you to meet your business goals.

In addition to addressing immediate needs, training college students for your future employment is a forward-thinking recruiting strategy.  Hiring an intern is one of the best ways to “try before buying” your next employee. It also gives interns an insider’s perspective on what it’s like to work in your organization which can lead to increased new hire retention rates as they have a realistic view of what it’s like to work at your company.

Offering a meaningful internship program also shines a positive light and message to the community.  It helps to increase brand awareness among upcoming college grads, which is particularly important for small to mid-sized companies who may not be household names, yet excellent places to work.

How to create an internship program

If you don’t already have an internship program in place or a former one that you can dust off, it can feel overwhelming to get started. There are many resources available to help create or revise an internship program such as these employer internship resources. You may also want to review the 15 best practices for internship programs according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). In general, it is important to provide a meaningful experience where the intern is introduced and welcomed into your company culture,  gains valuable work experience, and helps your organization to meet your goals.

One of the benefits of having experienced a year or more of learning online, today’s college students are highly adept at working remotely. Typical summer internships can now be offered year-round, remote, or hybrid.  As Forbes points out, “A virtual internship today might be pretty good preparation for the remote work of tomorrow.”  In addition, students can continue remote learning and have an internship concurrently, if needed. It can be a win-win for the student and your company.

Offering paid internships will not only make the positions easier to fill, but depending on the school(s) they attend and/or local, state, or federal laws, you may be required to provide compensation. Be sure to understand the law(s) around paid versus unpaid internships in determining compensation.

Bottom line, now is a great time to consider offering an internship program.  There are many benefits for college students and for you, their future employer.

Special thanks to Cindy Eldred, Talent Acquisition Consultant, for contributing to this HR Question of the Week.

Are you wondering whether an internship program could help to meet your talent needs? Would you like to start an internship program but just don’t have the time to do it? Our talent acquisition experts are happy to help! Contact us today.