The task of finding top candidates to hire for their open positions is a constant pain point for companies looking to grow fast. An effective way for companies to tackle this challenge is to embrace and implement a digital recruitment strategy to deal with the rapidly changing world of talent acquisition.
With the proliferation of digital means of communication, the best people your company seeks to hire are now able to identify and scout their potential employers way before recruiters even glance at their online profiles. This new breed of passive, yet interested, job-seekers have the means to quickly measure a company’s suitability as a potential employer by looking at their presence and activity on various digital media channels.
A company’s digital recruitment strategy, powered by next-gen recruiting software, can even influence whether candidates will consider responding to its job postings. In addition, recruiters and hiring managers should go the extra mile and be active and responsive on social platforms when running a digital recruitment campaign. Those who appear to be “snobbish” or non-responsive are not likely to win the trust of the top talent they seek to attract. As a result, they will not be able to penetrate this modern army of job seekers.
A major concern for companies today is to find out how they can effectively use digital multi channels to project a strong brand to different types of audiences and to multigeneration job seekers. Given this premise, it’s about time for companies to build and implement digital recruitment strategies that help them reach their target audience wherever they are and before competitors do.
Mobility has become so integrated in our daily lives that one might not even remember a time when there were no mobile devices. It definitely makes sense to understand and include mobile recruitment as an important part of a company’s digital recruitment strategy for reeling in the right candidates.
Exacttarget’s 2014 Mobile Behavior report indicates some interesting facts:
In his article on job search and mobile devices, Jorgen Sundberg mentions that 86% of job seekers claim to use their smartphones to look for a job, while 65% use it to seek available positions. Clearly, your digital recruitment strategy should ensure that potential candidates are able to easily access your company’s career site, job listings as well as any other content through any mobile device.
When going this route, keep in mind to have a website that is optimized for smartphones and tablets so that jobseekers have an easier time looking at your company information. At the same time, however, quality of content and consistency in user experience must be maintained across the different access channels.
Looking at some of the best companies and the online experience they have created for job candidates is a great way to get your inspiration. It would help you understand how to achieve seamless communication and information dissemination with potential candidates.
By treating potential employees as customers, you are sure to create a lasting impression on candidates and this could be the one difference maker that will make your top candidates consider your company as a place that they want to work for. Creating a positive experience of openness and transparency can go a long way in attracting quality applicants to your company.
When using different social and media channels in getting your content out, make sure that your brand message is consistent across all of these platforms as it is essential to allow candidates to experience the brand without getting them confused with inconsistent messaging.
The strongest company brands are simple, easy, yet impactful. Your digital recruitment strategy must ensure that you stand out without losing your company’s true identity. With so much hullabaloo of information online, it’s best to have branding that is simple yet powerful enough to make a lasting impression.
Creating the right kind of content that your audience cares about is also a digital recruitment strategy that cannot be ignored in your overall recruitment strategy. Effectively managing content means identifying the needs of your target audience and providing them with what they might be looking for.
The true test is knowing how to differentiate yourself from your competition in your messaging. The key is to tailor your content to the specific types of job seekers that you would to attract. For example if you are running a campaign to attract interest from a particular generation of job seekers, that is baby boomers, Gen X, Gen Y or millennials – your message may need to be different and customized for each.
Understanding online habits, motivations, and lifestyles can further help identify the type of content appropriate for each group. This is the best time to get creative with content and use meaningful and relevant pictures or videos to convey, and eventually convince, your targeted talent that you want them onboard.
What efforts are you making to implement a comprehensive digital recruitment strategy for your company? Are you taking advantage of a recruiting platform and a modern applicant tracking system?
Photo by Mike Szczepanski on Unsplash