As an employer, you don’t want just any warm body in one of your key positions, you want the right candidate. Sourcing and keeping strong talent is one of the cornerstones of building your business. Unfortunately, in many cases, employers find that they have a sudden opening, and the need to fill it quickly sometimes overshadows the need to vet candidates to ferret out the best person for the role. Here are some tips for developing a proactive recruitment strategy that can help you get the right person in the right position for your company.
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Build a Reputation as a Great Employer
Make your business a place that people want to work. Keeping employees engaged, offering competitive and salary benefits, and maintaining a fresh and positive corporate culture will help you develop a reputation as a place that people aspire to work for. Making a name for yourself in your industry as one of the best places to work in the field will increase your chances of attracting the right people, and even enticing them away from competitors.
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Employee Outreach
Don’t overlook the possibility that your current employees might know of someone in the field that would be a great fit for your company. Whether it is someone they went to school with, someone that they previously worked with, or just someone in their own professional network, your current employees can be a valuable resource for acquiring new talent. Ask your employees to keep an eye out for potential candidates, and make sure that they are aware of any new openings as soon as possible, so they can reach out to their contacts.
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Stay Engaged in Social Networks
In particular, you will want to have an open platform to reach out and connect with others in your industry. Accept invitations from all people who might one day have a place in your company, even if you don’t have a place for them now. If you happen upon someone that you would just love to have on your team one day, use the platform to reach out and develop a relationship with them now. If a position becomes available, you will be able to reach out to find out if they are interested.
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Recruitment Process Outsourcing
Professional recruiters have a whole toolbox full of tips and tricks for locating exactly the kind of person that a company is looking for. They can find talent that you might otherwise overlook, and often use big data resources to find people with the exact qualifications you’re looking for. Recruitment Process Outsourcing is a great way to relieve yourself of the stress of searching for candidates and will leave you with a list of the most qualified individuals, who have expressed a willingness to apply for your job. This will save you from weeding through applications of unqualified individuals and will keep you from having to cold call dozens of people who just aren’t interested. Using RPO’s takes a lot of the grunt work out of recruiting, but still leaves you in the position of evaluating the best candidates personally before making an offer.
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Continuous Recruiting
Just because you don’t have an opening right now, doesn’t mean that you should stop your search for the best talent. Hang onto resumes from individuals that didn’t quite fit for one position; they may be perfect for something in the future. Maintain your social networks and continue to accept resumes from people that express an interest. You can tell them that while you don’t have a position in mind now, you might reach out in the future. This way, if you find yourself with a sudden and unexpected opening, you will already have a few leads for filling the role.
Proactive recruiting should be an ongoing strategy for building your team, not just a once-in-a-while chore. The last thing you want to do is advertise a position on short notice and hope that the right person finds it. You need to make sure that you are actively seeking the best talent in your field to add value to your company.
About the author:
Sarah Davies is a careers and education expert, often working with and supporting people who wish to improve their career opportunities, acquire new skills, and find their dream jobs. At the moment, Sarah is writing on behalf of Open Colleges – leaders in the field of online education. If you wish to, reach out to her on her Twitter.
