If your company’s recruitment strategy starts and ends with posting a job on an online job board, you’re doing it wrong. This “post and pray” method of finding candidates is the recruitment equivalent of fishing with a stick and a piece of string one shore while your competition is on a boat using a best in class fishing rod with carefully chosen bait. In other words – you could still catch some fish, but it won’t be very good fish.

Here are EG Workforce Solutions, we have over 60 years of industry experience in building winning recruitment strategies. Here are our 7 tips on how your company can create a winning recruitment strategy of its own to attract and hire quality candidates.

Improve Your Employer Branding

If you could pick any company to work for, who would it be? Chances are you’re coming up with a company that has strong employer branding – even if you don’t realize it. These companies have strong cultures and are highly visible in the community – both physically and online. These are the companies you see on social media showing off their employees, life in their office, or the projects they complete. These companies often have highly visible marketing such as digital advertising, printed materials, billboards, and television or radio ads. The company culture of organizations that have strong employee branding is prevalent and when done well, attracts so many candidates that your company is able to be highly selective during the hiring process.

Improving your employer branding isn’t easy to do. It requires time, money and effort on behalf of the organization to pull it off effectively. One study by Glassdoor cited the average cost a company spends on a total employer branding strategy is about $129,000, the bulk of which goes towards advertising, community outreach, and social monitoring. However, there are small steps your company can take today to start improving your employer branding including sharing staff events on social media, updating your website, participating in community events, and adding an employee referral program.

Utilize Data to Hire Better

You can’t manage what you can’t measure and hiring processes are no different. Whether you’re using an ATS or not, hiring great candidates needs to be a process and not shooting in the dark. Thankfully, in today’s digitally driven world, there are many recruiting metrics that your company can measure. Some of the most common metrics include the source of hire, time to hire, applicants per hire, cost per applicant, cost per hire, employee retention rate, job offer acceptance rate, and more.

By measuring these hiring metrics, your company will be able to improve its recruitment strategy. You’ll be able to identify gaps or pain points your applicants are experiencing. For example, if your offer acceptance rate is low you may want to take a look at your interview process. How long is it? Are candidates having a negative impression after an interview? If a candidate is expected to sit through long interviews, are you making it accessible for them by offering to meet them before or after the hours of 8-5? If you notice applicants dropping off after an interview or passing on a job offer, candidates may be having a negative experience with your company. According to LinkedIn’s research, 83% of candidates said that a negative experience in an interview could change their opinion about a role in a company they liked.

There are plenty of ways to start tracking these metrics, you can find templates and formulas from sites like Hundred5.

Go After Passive Job Seekers

While it may often feel like there is a severe shortage of top talent actively seeking employment, there is no lack of passive candidates. LinkedIn’s research estimates that 85% of the workforce would leave their current job for a better opportunity.

These passive candidates provide a whole new pool of talent your company can find new employees from. Be mindful though that these passive candidates are less likely to be motivated to apply so the application process should be simple and quick.

Make the Application Process Simple

No one enjoys applying for jobs – especially for jobs with long application processes. If an applicant has to spend time manually entering the information that can be found on their resume or work history, like past experience, job title, dates of employment, etc. your company runs the risk of that applicant dropping off. Try to make the application process as simple as possible, you might have to do more sifting through unqualified resumes but you’re also more likely to nab the resumes of top talent.

Write Compelling Job Posts

Job posts are the first impression of what the role at your company would be, so it needs to be accurate and compelling. The job title should reflect the actual position, for example, if you’re searching for a Human Resources Coordinator call it that and not something “fluffy” like “Benefits Guru.” Some other job description best practices include: limited bullet points to one-third of the page, having a summary at the beginning that lays out the position, a company summary at the end of the post, and proofreading to ensure there are no grammar or spelling mistakes that could make your company look less reputable to an applicant.

Reach Out To Past Candidates

When you interview for open positions, you’re bound to get multiple candidates who stand out, even if they don’t make the cut for the position they interviewed for. Keep these candidates on file – you’ll have a pool of great talent to pull from without having to start from scratch!

Whether you’re filling a similar role or replacing your number one choice, these are the candidates you should reach out to. Sometimes, your number one candidate choice declines the job offer or quits weeks after getting hired; dig into your ATS system and reach out to the other applicants who stood out during the interview process.

Post Jobs Beyond the Big Job Boards

While online job boards are the most popular, and should absolutely be part of your recruitment strategy, there are ways to recruit without using just the big job boards. You can post jobs on more niche job boards if you’re recruiting for a very specific position or if you need freelance/contract work. Your company can use traditional methods to recruit including newspaper ads or billboards.

Another great way to find great talent is to let someone else do the heavy recruitment work. Using a staffing agency is a great way to have top talent delivered straight to your company’s doorstep. Here at EG Workforce, our recruitment process works diligently to match your ideal candidate with the position you need filled. You can learn more about how EG Workforce could be the hiring solutions for your business here.

About EG Workforce Solutions

We’ve been in this business for decades and have developed a deep network of professional connections. Whether they’re companies looking for talent, job seekers looking for work or an up-and-coming store in need of some temporary help, we know the right people to bridge the gap between the hiring and the hired.

But what’s more, we get to know people. From employers hiring to candidates looking, we take the time to listen and learn. We hear your likes, talents, and needs. We gain an understanding, and with it, we’re able to facilitate lasting relationships between businesses and people.