Is your organisation experiencing a tight candidate market?

It can be frustrating not to mention time consuming when the recruitment process does not deliver quality applicants quick time! Especially with those jobs where experienced candidates are not thick on the ground such as payroll, accounts and maths & science teachers.
Following are some tips and techniques that career recruiters use to dig a little deeper and widen that net!

Some of the reasons why organisations may experience a less than favourable result when recruiting;

1. No Job Description or perhaps the JD being used is outdated or requires a serious review in light of organisational changes
2. Time constraints leading to the people conducting the recruitment lacking the necessary resources to ensure the process is well strategised and implemented for best effect
3. Often when a vacancy occurs unexpectedly and during the worst possible time for the organisation or the specific department, the people or person responsible to carry out the recruitment are not able to gather the required data – deep data analysis is often sidelined in a crisis!
4. A lack of multi-channel promoting of the vacancy
5. Reliance on the same old way of doing things
6. No connection is drawn and therefore not communicated between the vacancy and the benefits that the organisation can offer to the right candidates

Here are some techniques that could turn the above around;

1. Ensure that the first task completed when an employee resigns is to conduct an Exit Interview – this is a form of data capture that can be rich!
2. Review the responses given by the outgoing employee, conduct further research via interviews with management and other employees within the department or area
3. Use the above data to inform the Job Description as appropriate
4. Use the revised Job Description as a compass for the remainder of the recruitment process continually checking back to it ensuring everything is on track and heading in the right direction in attracting the best candidates
5. Make connections and communicate those connections between what the organisation offers employees regarding professional and personal development opportunities and how this can attract passive candidates
6. Design the advertising using a combination of facts that are accurate and succinct and remember to include the Benefits that a successful candidate will experience – keep it all brief though!
7. Research alternative forms of advertising to promote the vacancy such as a sponsorship with Indeed, Talent Search with Seek, scheduling the opportunity so that it regularly appears on social media sites, data mining using the growing plethora of passive candidate databases now available
8. Hold onto contact details of people you meet that have impressed you, continue to keep in contact even if they are not interested at that time – they may well be up the track!
9. Ask employees if they know of anyone who has ‘XYZ’ skills and if they would be prepared to refer them
10. Connect, follow and Like people on social media sites who look like a good fit for your organisation, building rapport by staying connected is vitally important

It is true to say that it is no longer just a matter of lodging an advert in the local or state papers or even relying on the big job boards if an organisation wants to capture the best candidates for their roles – so much has changed!

If you don’t have the time to do a thorough job when recruiting then t makes a lot of sense to outsource recruitment to an external recruiter – just make sure that the recruiter you choose does have a successful track record in your industry, has been doing recruitment for many years and can provide multiple testimonials in support of their track record.