Every day, there seem to be more efficient and better ways of completing our routine work. Why should the recruitment process be any different?
Traditional recruitment methods fall behind in helping companies hire the talent they need. In fact, our latest survey report revealed that up to 77% of hiring managers would not recommend using traditional recruitment firms based on their latest experiences. The same goes for job seekers, wherein 89% of them director-level and up do not recommend traditional recruitment. The reasons vary, but many survey respondents cited unaligned expectations, miscommunications, and long wait times among the reasons why. And contrary to what we might believe, AI isn’t the end-all-be-all solution to these problems either.
To effectively recruit the right candidates, companies need a balanced recruiting strategy that’s equally relationship-driven and tech-enabled. Here are 15 new and effective ways to start thinking about hiring talent in the modern age.
15 Unique & Effective Recruitment Strategies You Can Implement Right Now
From shoring up your job postings to reaching qualified candidates through a network-first approach, here are 15 unique ways to start thinking about hiring talent.
1. Don’t just rely on AI and mass, cold outreach.
Many traditional recruiters depend on mass outreach and automation to reach a wide talent pool. But is that the best way to reach the candidates companies actually need?
While AI and automation can help us streamline time-consuming recruiting tasks, such as scheduling, it shouldn’t completely replace reaching out and effectively engaging with a real human on the other end.
To further support this sentiment, our latest report revealed that 84% of survey respondents director-level and up believe AI has actually made their email inbox and its contents less relevant to them. Top candidates are entrenched in their day-to-day, and AI-generated or cold recruitment emails gather dust in their inboxes. To cut through the noise and reach high-quality talent, don’t overly rely on AI or cold outreach.
2. Analyze your network and take stock of your connections.
Effective talent acquisition starts with looking within your own circle. Who do you know? Are there potential candidates sitting within your network you can reach out to?
Oftentimes, traditional recruiting encourages us to expand our candidate pools as far and wide as possible. But a successful recruiting strategy focuses on quality, curation, and a pinpointed selection process, not just sheer numbers. Some of the best candidates are within our own networks already, so take stock of your connections and relationships across companies, industries, and job functions.
3. Look beyond LinkedIn and your personal circle.
Similarly, make sure to look outside of your personal network. Can your connections introduce you to a great candidate within their circles? If an ideal candidate isn’t already within our personal networks, they’re often introduced to us by others.
Look at the networks of your peers, existing employees, HR team, and department heads. Who do they know, and would a warm introduction from them cut through the noise to in-demand talent?
4. Leverage recruitment software (Applicant Tracking Systems).
Odds are, either as a job seeker or a hiring manager, you’ve interacted in one form or another with an ATS. An applicant tracking system manages common recruitment processes, such as resume collection and parsing, candidate communication, and job posting tracking.
In addition, recruiting tools like an ATS can provide detailed analytics, enabling recruiters to review key metrics and track their recruitment goals.
5. Go a step beyond with transformational networking tools (NRMs & TRMs).
Not only will these platforms have the features and capabilities of most Applicant Tracking Systems, network relationships management platforms and talent relationship management platforms play a pivotal role and allow recruiters to better manage their existing relationships with both candidates and existing employees. These platforms go beyond an ATS by prioritizing communication and genuine relationship building for faster, more strategic hiring.
6. Vet your recruiting partners and understand their reach and the connections they have.
We often hear that in business and across life, it comes down to who you know.
It’s important to fully vet your recruiting partners’ networking reach and the quality of candidates they’re connected to. Every business’s hiring needs are different, and the search firm you’re working with should be able to show you their connections, the types of roles they specialize in, and the caliber of candidates they place. In fact, a strong search firm may have a robust, built-in network as part of its value proposition.
Pro-tip: It’s helpful to check out the recruiting team’s LinkedIn connections and recent activity. If possible, check out their board and C-suite to gauge the type of networks and communities they’re involved in. Are they community leaders? Are they involved in many networking events? Keep these in mind to understand the reach your recruiting partners have.
7. Understand the technology your recruiting partner or internal team uses.
Understanding the kind of technology your search partner or internal team uses is equally important. Ask them about the platforms and recruiting tools they use to optimize and ensure the best hiring practices, such as candidate sourcing, screening, and communication tools. Is the technology making them more efficient in their recruiting, or taking away from the human element and simply adding more noise?
Implementing technology can be a game-changer in recruiting processes, but it can be equally distracting if not wielded correctly.
Looking for more data-backed strategies to implement in your hiring process? Read our report on how relationships help cut through the noise and make all the difference in hiring top talent.
8. Study the metrics, then improve where needed.
What isn’t measured can’t be improved upon. Tracking and studying recruiting metrics is essential in optimizing recruitment strategies. These metrics offer valuable insights into high-impact aspects of the hiring process, including the time-to-fill, retention, and even the cost-per-hire. By measuring these KPIs and metrics, recruiters and companies can better allocate resources and make data-driven decisions that impact their overall organization.
9. Use every connection; build and activate a robust employee referral program.
Consider this finding from our recent talent survey report: 68% of hiring managers found that candidates who have been personally referred perform better than those non-referred. It’s essential to build and implement an engine for referrals or an internal referral program. Not only do referred candidates perform better, our report similarly highlighted that 61% of hiring managers claimed that referred talent stayed longer at organizations than new employees who were not referred.
An employee referral program is a hiring strategy that not only has the potential to yield better, vetted hires, but also helps expedite the hiring process to less than 1 month. Our survey insights revealed hiring through a trusted network or getting referrals shortens the hiring process to less than a month vs. using cold, mass outreach.
Don’t forget: Consider offering current employees incentives for referrals. Referrals are a high-value advantage in the job market, and by incentivizing employees to refer qualified candidates, you tap into their networks and leverage their endorsement, ultimately fostering employee engagement while fortifying your talent pipeline at the same time.
10. Don’t forget about passive candidates.
Companies that neglect passive candidates in their sourcing and recruiting strategy overlook up to 80% of potential candidates. This is a huge blindspot many companies can’t afford to overlook in such a competitive job market with talent shortages and skills gaps.
Many top candidates are passive (not actively looking for a job), but are perfect for a role. Make sure to broaden your sourcing strategy to include talent who might not be applying for your open roles, but fit the role’s requirements closely. This becomes even more imperative if you have an existing relationship with an ideal candidate. More often than not, great talent is passive and just needs to be introduced to the exact right opportunity from someone they know and trust.
11. Redesign your interview process and prioritize the candidate experience.
According to our recent survey report, 3 out of 4 job seekers report negative emotions about their experiences with traditional recruitment firms. From conducting interviews for too long to unclear job descriptions, we often forget that the best candidates can be in the driver’s seat, too, and neglect to build a process around them.
Top candidates are a critical part of the recruitment process and have the power to influence a company’s direction. Re-evaluate your interview process and ensure it’s designed for a smooth candidate experience to increase the likelihood they move forward in the process, and ultimately, accept a job offer if extended later on.
12. Don’t get lost in the noise of social media and LinkedIn.
It’s easy to see the reach social media can afford recruiters, but consider the fact that only 13% of top candidates are actually successfully sourced from LinkedIn.
LinkedIn and other social media platforms can be helpful in identifying passive and active talent, posting job ads, and fortifying your employer brand. While they can offer expansive reach and connectivity, they can just as easily become incredibly overwhelming, inundating candidates with vast amounts of cold outreach and distractions that take away from real opportunities.
Use social media as a helpful tool to identify candidates, then check to see if there's a network connection that can introduce you to them.
13. Establish and build upon your employer brand.
One of the best ways to bolster your recruitment strategy is to focus on crafting a strong employer brand and company culture that speaks to potential new talent. Before even checking your company’s open positions or careers page, candidates familiarize themselves with your brand. Take, for example, the fact that 86% of job seekers say they would not consider working for a company with a negative reputation or bad social standing.
Candidates ask themselves, “Is this the right place for me?” by checking your About Us page, reading up on your company values, what past employees have to say, and more. Think about why top talent would want to contribute to your organization, and build a story that speaks to who you are as a company, not just what you do.
14. Master the art of writing job descriptions.
It’s not enough to just post job openings on Indeed and move on. Today’s top talent looks for accurate, strong, and incredibly thorough job descriptions.
Job descriptions are often one of the first touchpoints a candidate will have with an organization. Before posting any open roles on job boards, make sure the expectations, duties, and qualifications of a role are incredibly specific and do a good job of accurately summarizing the goals of the role. Here are just a few of the key components you’ll want to include:
- Name of the role and who they’ll report to, if applicable.
- Team members or departments they’ll manage, if applicable.
- Comprehensive role summary.
- Specific duties and expected results, as well as specific metrics they should accomplish in set timelines.
- Required qualifications.
- Nice-to-have qualifications.
- The salary range and work environment.
- Benefits and relevant perks.
15. Streamline the application process.
Don’t underestimate the power your application process holds over your entire recruitment strategy. The application step, if not done right, can deter top candidates and act more as a barrier to entry than anything else. Review your application process and ask:
- Is the process as seamless as possible?
- Can top candidates tell how easy it is to apply just by looking at it?
- Do you require applicants to fill out several open-ended questions? Are these really required at this stage?
- How many fields do they have to fill in before being able to submit?
- Do you require applicants to manually fill out their resume after attaching a file?
Take it one step further: If possible, describe your onboarding process to potential candidates as early as possible. Being able to speak highly of the onboarding process can not only help your employer brand and recruitment strategy, but can even impact your retention efforts in the long run for new hires.
Download the full report to gain more data-backed insights on new hiring strategies and how relationships help cut through the noise.
Hunt Club Can Help You Build an Effective Recruitment Strategy That Speaks to Modern Talent
Hiring the right talent in the age of AI is a delicate balance of efficiency and genuine human connection.
Modern hiring takes a special combination of the right tech and a robust community with the right connections to talent. Hunt Club leverages a strong Expert Community of 25,000 business leaders who refer talent in their inner circles and an innovative, AI-driven search platform that helps us streamline the recruitment process.
Whether your business is a startup or enterprise, our recruiters are ready to help you build an effective recruiting strategy to hire uniquely qualified talent that other traditional firms don’t have access to.
