The recruitment process is tough. Really tough.
There is competition at every turn, making each candidate feel like they are walking through a shiny, branded, field of recognizable companies.
However, to you the employer on a staffing quest, it looks like a minefield, chock full of job seeker traps and temptations, threatening to claim the candidate of your dreams.
Then there are the economic factors to consider. Supply and demand fluctuates (and has the ability to increase) the applicant price and talent pools can evaporate leaving dustbowl remnants of a lush candidate pipeline.
Oh, but we aren’t finished yet…
Budget. Money. Green. Cheddar. Cash. Bread.
Headache.
Take some ibuprofen and listen up, because there’s a silver lining.
Any organization can have a successful recruitment strategy and remain cost-effective in the process. That being said, you can’t put recruitment very last on your list of priorities either, give it a diet of bread and water, and expect the bare-bones solution to magically yield phenomenal results.
During my previous role with a well-known job board I worked directly with organizations through every phase of their recruitment process from acquisition and onboarding.
Below are just a few scenarios I encountered:
“Why advertise? I have plenty of candidates already.”
I’m sure you do have a quantity of applicants however that doesn’t necessarily equate to quality. Every company wants to hire top talent, however the crème de la crème tend to favor organizations that seem attractive to them. Shiny and branded; top of mind and in their face.
Boom. Without advertising your candidate just hit a doozy of a landmine, is vaporized, and ultimately snapped up by a glittery competitor.
“Why do I need to up my SEO game? My website, all by itself, gets enough traffic.”
No.
No it doesn’t.
If you’re relying on candidates to type your website URL directly into the browser (known as Direct method), you are losing out on about 85% of possible candidates. The reason is job seekers will primarily use a search engine for employment opportunities (known as Organic method) and if Google hasn’t indexed you enough based on keywords, content, and relevancy, your pretty website may as well be a billboard in a basement.
“My ATS puts my jobs on the web.”
This is the number one rebuttal from companies who don’t think they need more job visibility.
True story.
It is wishful thinking to rely on an ATS to make your jobs visible and searchable online. Google “crawls” or “spiders” websites creating an index of your content and keywords, helping you to gain more SEO relevancy, and in a perfect cyber world, that would include an applicant tracking system too.
It’s a virtual ruse.
Most ATS’ have firewalls that prevent a search engine from indexing the content, laying waste to all of the updated, relevant information it provides, making that pretty billboard sink lower into the basement shadows.
“There’s no need to target hard to fill positions. Eventually I will find the right candidate.”
I’m sure EVENTUALLY the right candidate will present itself, however at what price? Consider the cost of an unfilled position. The register not manned, the bulldozer not operated, and the dental hygienist tools collecting dust. Let’s also consider if other employees are picking up the slack, productivity is lost, and sometimes even morale impacted negatively.
Besides, do you want just ANYONE to work for you? Obviously, you don’t want a Registered Nurse when you are looking for an Auto Mechanic, or a Chef when you need a Chemical Engineer (You may need an RN if that hire gets made), but it is imperative to have a selection of quality candidates for niche or hard to fill positions.
Have you ever tried to find more than five physical therapists in a 50 mile radius? I would’ve given my left arm at one point.
…
Now let’s fast forward to the future of recruiting. Through DirectEmployers Association, I now have the privilege to work with organizations on unique custom strategies that address all of the above and then some.
If your recruitment bottom line means money, you’re missing the bigger picture.
The bottom line is your employees, your people, your pillar, and the face of your proud organization.
However, with the My.jobs Solution, DirectEmployers Association has the rare advantage to provide employers with solutions to budget strains like branding, Search Engine Optimization, niche targeting, and a plethora of other phenomenal tools…and doing it at a fraction of the cost of our competition, helping you stay budget conscious.
With DirectEmployers, I can help you create a yellow brick road from candidates straight to you through that minefield with many entry points.
Oh, and you will have money left over for the Ruby Red Slippers.
Check out http://www.my.jobs/portfolio/ to see some of the great brands that are using these strategies already, and let me help you find the perfect fit for your organization’s digital recruitment needs!
Posted by Ruth Toombs, Digital Strategist at DirectEmployers Association. With an enthusiastic, upbeat personality and several year’s experience in the human resources industry, Ruth’s background has well prepared her to collaborate with employers and help develop online recruitment strategies.
