If you’ve got more than enough high quality candidates for all your roles, and they all turn into committed long term employees, then don’t waste your time. You don’t need to read this guide. For everyone else, here are our top tips when considering your attraction strategy.
(1) Benchmark.
Before you start promoting roles, make sure that they are competitive. An extra few pence an hour can mean that you appear ahead of others in search lists. A relatively small investment can deliver a big lift in the number of quality candidates. If in doubt, GetMyFirstJob.co.uk allows you to see it from the candidates’ perspective. Simply visit the site and run a search sorted by salary. Don’t just look at your own industry, look at others that candidates might be considering to make sure you know the market well.
(2) A/B Test your message.
Don’t just send out the first thing that enters your head. Use data to refine your messaging until it resonates most effectively with the right target candidate base. For those that love their data – and we do! – you’ll find that the same message has to be expressed in different ways to resonate across different regions, cities and demographics. We’re seeing massive differences in the way in which young people respond in different locations. And massive means a difference in open rates of up to 40%.
(3) Maximise Awareness. Google can be your friend.
There are lots of ways to get your message out, but Google has transformed the way in which opportunities are promoted. If you aren’t sure how, find out how – open a Google search window and give it a go.
If you can’t find your roles on Google, neither can your candidates. Being visible on this platform is really important. Not only does it drive volume, but when executed well, candidate data from Google seems to convert at very high levels too.
(4) Integrate the Physical and Digital.
Think multi-channel. Whilst digital can achieve a lot, there’s still a lot to be gained through effective traditional engagement.
Just make sure that when you are investing time at events, you know how you are going to bring the candidates into your overall workflow.
From simplified on-line registration processes, to take-aways that make accessing your application process simple, you can deliver another stream of informed, engaged candidates.
(5) Know your website metrics.
When choosing where to place your vacancies for additional reach, make sure you understand what you’re getting. There are some great tools out there to help you understand the reach of different platforms. SimilarWeb is one example which allows you to take a look at any website’s traffic, but far more importantly where that traffic is from. And how long it stays. And how many pages visitors look at. Sites which have great traffic, from the right demographic, in the right country, who spend lots of time on site are the ones that will deliver the best solutions. Those that quote high traffic numbers which are actually based from ‘bots’ around the world aren’t going to do you any favours.
(6) Ultimately, it’s quality that counts.
All the points above can help you to drive volume, but it’s got to be focused on the right applicants. We’ve seen too many marketing managers who think that driving a high level of candidates into the top of the recruitment funnel is where their responsibility starts and finishes. They couldn’t be more wrong. Simple maths tells you that if you drive 10 times as many poor candidates into a process, you’ve just made it 10 times as difficult and 10 times as expensive to find and engage the highest quality.
(7) Application Process.
We’re all digital customers theses days. Consumer companies have spent vast amounts of money on their customer websites, and along the way, we have all been educated about what to expect. At some time or another, we’ve all bailed out of an overly complex process where we’re asked for lots of irrelevant information, or a process that simply takes too long or is too complex. It’s well worth sitting down as a candidate to try and navigate your own application process to see just what it’s like.
(8) Applicant Tracking Systems (Should support the application Process).
Too often, on-line application processes seem to be focused on the administrative process of a company or training provider, rather than starting with the candidate experience in mind. They look like a paper document that has simply been put online – really complex and capturing lots of seemingly irrelevant information. A good application process will guide individuals and encourage completion. They will record the information that is needed to allow applicant and recruiter to quickly and effectively engage.
(9) Applicant Tracking Systems (Should help recruiters).
Simply put, the job of any recruiter is to quickly search for the best candidates, communicate and engage with them to ensure a good fit, arrange interviews and manage the process, then re-use all of the information to help fill the next role. If you have 100 applicants, the platform should allow you to quickly find the best 10/15 fits for the role – and not by printing CVs, or having to view them on screen. It should help you find that great candidate that someone spoke to last week, and then guide recruiter and applicant throughout the process.
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If you’ve got more than enough high quality candidates for all your roles, and they all turn into committed long term employees, then you don’t need to read this guide.
For everyone else, here are our top tips when considering your attraction strategy.
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Why not contact us to conduct your free digital audit for you? Call us on 023 93006365.
