Looking for the Right Candidate? Improve Your Response Rates by Doing This
Posted December 12th, 2019
When the labor market is tight, finding an exceptional job seeker to fill an open position is a daunting task. The recruitment approaches of yesteryear often won’t yield the desired results, particularly since they typically aren’t ideal for connecting with passive candidates and might not help you stand out with active job seekers.
Luckily, there are techniques that can help you improve your response rates. Here’s how to get started.
Consider What Candidates Want
Not long ago, companies could focus their vacancy announcements solely on the job description. All they needed to do was outline the duties, desired skill set, and experience required to connect with applicants.
Today, that simply won’t work. You have to do more than discuss the job and what the candidate can do for you; you also have to showcase what you can do for the candidate.
In your job ad, include details that speak to the employee experience and what you have to offer them. Provide an overview of your professional development program, highlight existing career pathways, discuss benefits and perks that promote work-life balance, and give insights about your culture. Align the duties of the position with the larger mission, showing the candidate how the new hire will impact broader goals. Essentially, make an effort to paint a bigger picture, as that will increase the odds that a job seeker will apply.
Pique Their Curiosity
When you want to engage with potential candidates, intrigue is your friend. When you can tap into a job seeker’s natural curiosity, they will be more likely to interact with you or your company.
For example, you can tease a cutting-edge project that your team is working on and ask if they’d like to find out more. You can highlight a problem the industry faces and initiate discussions where professionals can share their thoughts and ideas, allowing them to showcase their expertise and interact with others.
The goal is to start a conversation, even if it isn’t directly related to an existing opening. By doing so, you increase engagement and bolster your talent pool, making it more likely that you can find the right candidate when a vacancy occurs.
Explore Multiple Avenues
Reaching out to a potential candidate with a single message might not result in a response. If the person knows little about your company, they might not reply to an unsolicited email or direct message through social media.
When your response rate is low, then it’s wise to explore multiple communication avenues. Along with sending more than one email or direct message (spaced out over several days), you might want to find other ways to connect. For example, you could comment on the candidate’s recent blog post, participate in a social media group they are a member of, or otherwise interact on platforms they use already. This may increase their interest in engaging with you, particularly if you are helpful and able to demonstrate your expertise.
Ultimately, the methods above can take time and energy, but they are worth exploring if you need a better response rate. If you are seeking out candidates for your open positions, the staff at Bayside Solutions can help. Contact us to speak with a member of our recruitment team today and see how our services and expertise can benefit you.
