Does your company start hiring someone only as soon as you have a need? That is, do you whip up a job posting only when a hiring manager requests a replacement or needs to fill a new position?
If so, do you find yourself scrambling to source and recruit great talent? Probably, right? And that’s certainly an unpleasant place to be, always feeling pressure to hire quickly.
But what if your company made a habit of creating a talent pipeline? What if you always looked for people with certain skills for certain positions? And what if you created relationships with these folks so that when you do have a need, they’re eager to apply?
How would that change the caliber of your hire? Pretty darn well, actually.
Hiring “just in time” is just one recruiting mistakes you might be making. Here are three more.
- Not following up after a virtual recruiting event.
The COVID-19 pandemic has meant a lot of recruiting’s tasks are performed online, including recruiting events and career fairs. And even though a lot more people are out of work this year than the beginning of March last year, it’s pretty much up to you, the recruiter, to follow up with candidates.
Remembering the talent pipeline warning above, it’s smart to reach out to candidates as soon as the event is over, especially those who appear the most promising. Keeping prospective candidates engaged means you have a much better chance of hiring the best talent when you need them.
What kind of “reaching out” should you/could you perform? Why not use an automated tool to ask candidates what they thought of the event and/or your company? Text or email them to tell them about next steps (if you have immediate hiring needs). Keep in touch with everyone you met with a newsletter. (This is terrific for pipeline building, as mentioned above.) And so on.
- Not hiring quickly when there IS an opening.
Too many companies make the hiring process far too long. Weeks, even months long. Hiring a mid-level person should take no more than four-six weeks, tops, from the time the job is posted to when an offer is made.
So no more posting a job when it’s “under consideration.” Post it only when the hiring manager is actually ready to hire. Posting when they’re just “thinking about it,” or you and they want to fill the pipeline in this way isn’t smart: you’ll alienate candidates who wait to even hear from someone about an interview, let alone making them angry if they find out there’s no actual need right now.
Instead, work to shorten the gap between when you start accepting applications and when you make someone an offer.
- Not using visual content in your messaging.
As you send emails, don’t be shy about using video. Video is a great eye catcher and one of the most engaging types of content.
As you keep in touch people who have expressed interest in working at your company (whether you meet them via a networking/hiring event or they’re not hired for a job to which they applied, etc.), you should be emailing them regularly with information about your company and careers within it.
What types of videos? Videotape current employees about what they like most about working at the company. Create a “day in the life” video of people who work in certain roles. Put together an interactive quiz filled with “did you know?” facts about the company.
Partner with Helpmates for an always available talent pipeline
Helpmates continuously recruits for our clients’ changing needs. That means we always have a healthy pipeline filled with people looking for work. Contact the branch nearest you for more information for your temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire staffing needs.
