As an employer, your goal is to fill your open positions with the best quality talent you can find. But this can be challenging considering there are more open jobs than there are candidates applying. Additionally, recruiting for highly technical, qualified candidates for hard-to-fill positions requires a hiring strategy with a new approach.
This blog will explain how to strategize and hire for hard-to-fill roles.
Gather competitive intelligence
When a position is in high demand and the candidate pool is dry, the last thing you want is to lose a candidate to a competitor. Candidates with in-demand skill sets will have many companies to choose from. Our team of recruiters suggests doing some competitive research, in fact, Kevin Kramer, Practice Leader ASG Skilled Manufacturing says, “Gathering insight on your competition will allow you to see your strengths and weaknesses in the employment market.” Once you evaluate your competitive research you will be able to better align your hiring strategy for those open positions.
Here are a few items to research:
- Review their website, check for updates, campaigns, and promotions
- Monitor their social media presence. Check out how they engage with potential candidates
- Obtain feedback from customers and colleagues
- Figure out their strengths and weaknesses
Optimize your job description
Every month 64 million job seekers go to Glassdoor to search for jobs. While ads can work wonders to attract quality candidates to your open roles, there is a lot you can do with a compelling job description. “Writing a clear and concise job description will help you attract the right candidates, but be sure to focus on must-have skills and experiences versus nice-to-have skills.” Said ASG Food and Science Practice Leader Marc Kotora.
It’s important that you don’t set the bar too high. Read the job description and ask yourself if the job sounds realistic and if it’s directed toward your target audience.
Click here to view an example of a great job description from our ASG Healthcare practice area that follows general best practices.
Take advantage of social media networks
With millennials quickly forming the backbone of the U.S. workforce, it’s important to utilize social media platforms. This target audience lives on social media not just their social lives, but all aspects, including looking for new career opportunities. Start posting job description videos, hiring images, infographics, and writing blogs to recruit and network for candidates. Using great content as a recruitment strategy is a fantastic way to show prospective talent an inside look at what’s like to work at your company.
Encourage employee referrals
According to SHRM, employee referrals are the most powerful source of finding candidates. Employee referrals are typically higher quality, close quicker, and tend to stick around at your organization longer. The average employee will have 150 contacts on social media networks – 100 employees equals around 15,000 contacts (and possible candidates).
Employee referral programs are important and allow businesses to more easily secure top talent because your current team knows better than anyone what it takes to succeed at your company.
By taking employee referrals seriously, you’ll be able to cut down on hiring time and costs, improve worker retention, and boost team morale. Who wouldn’t want want to reap those benefits?
Focus on targeting both early-career and late-career candidates
Midlife career-changers, experienced workers with transferable skills, and recent grads alike can bring energy and excitement to hard-to-fill roles. Don’t overlook those applicants that don’t quite fit the unicorn model; instead, think about how they can grow into the role.
Takeaway
It’s not an easy task when it comes to hiring hard-to-fill positions, but by establishing a discipline around each of these strategies, you can increase your chances of quickly finding the right people for your toughest roles.
If you need help filling your open positions reach out to our recruitment specialists today!