You want top-notch talent on your team. That’s understandable. But, there’s one issue you keep running into again and again: time. How do you find the best talent quickly?
You’re eager to build a pool of high-quality candidates, yet you don’t have endless hours to dedicate to the hiring process. Even further, when the best candidates are off the market in under 10 days, you know you don’t have much time to waste. You need to hire—and fast.
So, what can you do? How can you streamline things to get better talent through the door, while lifting some of the burden off of your own shoulders?
Here’s how to find the best talent quickly:
Explicitly state what you’re looking for.
In order to have high-quality talent to choose from, you first need to ensure that they’re able to find you and your open roles—and then recognize your company as a place they’d actually like to work.
To do this, it’s important to make your posted job descriptions as enlightening as possible. No, they don’t need to provide every single minute detail of what the role entails day in and day out. However, the candidate should be able to to look at the responsibilities and requirements and get a solid handle on whether or not this job is a fit for them.
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The more applicants you can weed out from the beginning, the better your chances of having a selection of relevant and impressive candidates to choose from.
Additionally, you should also leverage your company “careers” or “about” pages to your advantage. Include employee testimonials or brief descriptions of what sorts of employees typically excel in your work environment. Give prospective team members a glimpse into what working for your company is like.
Use niche job boards.
If your company primarily hires in a specific industry, it’s wise to target niche job boards that cater to employees with specific job skills and experience. This will narrow down your pool of candidates to people who are already looking and experienced in your industry area. If you hire for flexible positions, such as remote, freelance, or part-time jobs, posting your open jobs on FlexJobs can bring you candidates who value flexible work and are possibly already experienced with working remotely. FlexJobs has over 50 different career categories, and we have thousands of candidates on our site daily looking for flexible work.
Streamline your hiring process.
When’s the last time you went through your company’s hiring process yourself? Probably when you were hired, right? Chances are, things could use some streamlining and improving since then. You won’t be able to recognize the bottlenecks or the unnecessary hoops you’re making candidates jump through until you walk through the process on your own.
Give it a try and keep your eye out for completely useless steps. Does your online application really need to ask about high school education? Are five separate video interviews really necessary?
Even candidates who are extremely excited about your company will jump ship if the hiring process is far too tedious or drawn out. In fact, a Robert Half International survey found that 40 percent of job seekers will lose interest and pursue other opportunities if they’re forced to endure a lengthy hiring process.
Emphasize your perks.
Emphasize what makes you a great place to work—particularly if you offer any perks that set you apart from other employers.
If you offer remote positions or flexible scheduling, that should definitely be an aspect that you highlight, as it’s a benefit that many employees are looking for. Glassdoor’s Employment Confidence Survey shared that 30 percent of employees rank flexible scheduling and the ability to work from home as a highly valued perk—even above a pay raise.
Determine what sets you apart and then weave that into your employer brand. Candidates who feel passionate about those characteristics will not only make great employees, but they also won’t instantly run for the hills if your hiring process slows for just a moment.
Act on your decision.
You’ve made a hiring decision—you found the perfect person to fill that role on your team. But, it’s Friday afternoon and you have a meeting to attend, emails to answer, and tasks to wrap up before the weekend. “I’ll make the call on Monday,” you tell yourself.
This might seem like no big deal. But, what seems like an insignificant amount of time to you can feel like years to an interested candidate. Plus, you have no idea how many other offers that applicant might be entertaining (high-quality candidates are likely talking to more employers than just you!). So, if you’re interested in extending an offer, you should let him or her know as soon as you’ve made the decision.
You want to attract the very best talent to your growing team. But, so does every other employer out there. In order to get top-notch employees added to your roster, you need to be prepared to act fast. Use these tips, and you’re sure to increase your chances of building a solid team of rockstars—while also making the process easier on yourself.
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