Important recruitment strategy changes

The way we recruit has changed, especially in the areas of high demand which is usually in the STEM area. Skills are short and lists of jobs to fill very long…

What we need to understand in times of skill shortages is that it is a candidate driven market out there, where candidates have far more power than before. That means finding and attracting a candidate – especially those with in demand skills – has become an extremely hard, time consuming and expensive exercise for companies and Recruitment agencies alike.

What especially companies need to understand is to treat their candidates as customers. You need to attract them to your company similarly to a sales pitch where you want to win a customer over and you should also treat them as such.

What is important to know in today’s times is:

Recruitment Marketing has become an incredibly important tool when it comes to attracting talent. The goal is to proactively and continually attract candidates with the goal to make them choose YOU as their next employer.
Employer Branding is a huge thing these days including its employee value proposition. It is utterly important to create a strong and attractive employer brand. I can not state enough how often candidates pull out and do NOT want to proceed with a job they have been approached for simply because they read bad comments about an employer on Glassdoor or similar platforms. These days about 75% of job seekers research about a company’s reputation and employer brand before even applying. This means companies with a bad reputation not only struggle to attract candidates, but they also struggle to retain employees. Who wants to work for someone with a bad reputation in the market?
Companies must ensure to create a positive candidate experience for their current, past and potential future candidates’ overall perception of your company’s recruiting process. You must ensure a positive experience during the entire recruiting process, from sourcing and screening to interviewing, hiring and finally on-boarding. Because candidates who had a positive candidate experience in your recruiting process will more likely accept your job offer, reapply in future and also refer others to your company. On the flip side, a negative candidate experience can cost you even more than just a lost soul to the company when this candidate posts about their bad experience on social media the damage is much bigger.

It is very important that we understand that candidates and companies must meet on equal terms, not one above the other. This and positive employer branding is the only way to ensure companies will be able to attract the very best talent in the market.