Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Cassidy Flannegan from SalariesWiki. Her opinions are her own.
Employees are one of the most important aspects of any successful company. Whether you are a small business or a Fortune 500 firm, building a hiring strategy can streamline your hiring efforts and help ensure that the candidates you hire are highly qualified and fit in with your company culture.
Here are 5 surefire ways to find the right candidates:
1. Research the candidate’s internet presence
By performing a background check, employers are looking for reasons to hire and not hire the candidate as well as conducting research for their online presence, which can reveal the following:
- Inappropriate or provocative photos and speech
- Implications about drugs or drinking
- Discriminatory remarks concerning gender, race and/or religion
- Derogatory remarks and/or confidential information about former employers and/or employees
- Poor written and oral communication skills
- Criminal behaviour
- Unprofessional screen name(s)
In addition to using search engines, recruiters should take time to research the candidate’s social media accounts. This research will reveal additional aspects of their personality and lifestyle that can’t be found on their resume and cover letter.
2. Pay a competitive salary
Employers will attract quality employees by negotiating a salary that is competitive and pleasing to the candidate. Candidates use social networks and websites that reveal salary data to learn how much their position should pay.
For example, the average salary for a web developer in the USA is $64,970 per year. To obtain and retain high caliber web developers, employers must pay that salary or more. Offer the competitive rate and if your candidate presents a counter offer, unless it is unreasonable, it is best to accept the counter offer. Paying a premium salary will not only ensure a content employee who is willing to go above the call of duty when performing their job, but it will also attract other high-quality applicants.
3. Social recruiting
More than 2.1 billion people are active on social media today. Forbes claims that 45% of Fortune 500 companies list job vacancies on social media websites and 90% of all companies are using Facebook and Twitter to announce vacancies. Social media plays such an integral part of the sourcing and recruitment process that employers need to have a strong presence on Facebook and Twitter to reach the high-quality candidates.
Facebook:
If you have a Facebook company page, you can post job vacancies by creating a Jobs Tab which links to another company page that lists open jobs.
Twitter:
• Use your Twitter company account to advertise jobs and search for qualified applicants. Employers may implement the following features:
• Post public tweets about job openings
• Advertise on lists to reach people who are not followers
• Perform a Twitter search for the job title you are hiring for like “web developers”
• Participate in Twitter chats which are a group discussion about a specific topic to reach passive candidates.
4. Consider freelancers for technology positions
Some of the highest caliber tech talent are seeking freelance positions instead of a long-term salaried position with one company. When filling technology positions, employers should consider freelancers. Tech freelancers flock to these positions because they offer flexibility. Freelancers can choose where they want to work and how much they want to work.
Freelancers command a very high rate, higher than a salaried employer, but they are very experienced and highly skilled. The competitive edge that they provide the employer makes the high rate worth it. Employers are able to build a staff of great proficiency. In addition, employers can control overhead by quickly increasing or decreasing their staff.
Out of the top ten jobs postings emerging this year, six are technology jobs. Most companies are hiring applicants based on their IT and tech skills. In 2016 and into 2017, the top skill to get a job-seeker hired was Cloud and Distributed Computing. The most popular searches are “digital marketing”, “web developer” and “information technology”. These are highly sought and highly paying jobs by industries other than the just the tech industry.
5. Make use of quality online job boards
Advertising job vacancies on quality job boards is another way to find the right candidates. The job post must contain clear job requirements such as skills, knowledge, experience and the educational level required. The post must clearly state the job title, description and responsibilities. The clarity of the post will ensure only qualified candidates will apply and helps screen unwanted resumés.
Glassdoor, Indeed and LinkedIn were voted the leading job sites for 2017. LinkedIn is the largest online network for professionals. According to LinkedIn, 85% – 90% of its members are passive job seekers who are not actively seeking job but are willing to accept new opportunities. Prospective candidates will see your job posting in the Jobs You May Be Interested In feature.
By posting your job on LinkedIn, you received the following benefits:
- A list of 50 candidates that match your post requirements
- 5 Inbox mail messages containing contact information on candidates with matching profiles
- Tools for tracking and sharing applicants with your staff
- Analytics on both applicants and candidates viewing your job post
Indeed has 200 million visitors each month. Since 60% of job searches are performed on smartphones, Indeed makes it possible to apply and accept applications using mobile devices. A unique feature about Indeed is that is a search engine and provides job searches from a single search destination which many candidates prefer.
Indeed allows business to set up a free company page which helps attract the candidates with the best fit. This page allows the company to show company information, showcase available jobs, display photos and post and respond to up to 10 company reviews. The company page is available for update at any time. Although you can post jobs for free, investing in job listing ensure your jobs are viewed by top candidates.
Glassdoor is one of the fastest growing job boards because they provide millions of the company ratings, salary estimates, and employee reviews that candidates want to see. Glassdoor attracts 41 million informed, well-researched, and engaged job seekers each month. These are the candidates you want to attract because they are more qualified, productive, assimilate into your company culture more successfully and increase your employee retention rate.
Glassdoor offers a Free Employer Account for employers. This account maximizes your presence and attracts the cream of the crop. The account contains company description and uses benefits and perks to attract the highest quality candidates.
Other features for employers include:
- You can learn whether candidates are visiting your competitor’s company page and why
- Obtain a clear picture of the demographics of your visitors
- Determine how your job descriptions are performing
Employers should include advertise their job postings on quality job boards. By using social media to advertise job openings, you are able to reach not only the active job seeker but the passive ones also. By researching your candidates on the Internet, you reduce the amount of unexpected and unwanted surprises after the candidate is hired. Your hiring strategy should include hiring freelancers for flexibility and high caliber talent. Employers must pay their employees what they are worth to ensure productivity and retention.
Author
Bernadette Eichner
Bernadette Eichner has had a successful career in hospitality sales, real estate, and recruitment. In 1999, she founded HRM Resolutions, a strategic human resource consultancy, and later became a founding recruiter and investor at RecruitLoop.
