Have you noticed that the job market is becoming more candidate-driven? This recruitment style focuses on constructing long-term relationships with potential workers. To recruit top workers in a candidate-centric market, your language must show prospective employees that you have what they want.
When you have an open position, here are three ways to make the job descriptions more appealing to the candidate:
Develop your ideal candidate profile. Before advertising the position, create a list of your preferred candidate qualities. For example, what skills, goals, and experiences do your ideal candidate have?
Start with candidate-centric sentences. In other words, don’t begin the job description with what the actual work entails. Instead, focus on what the candidate desires, such as a flexible schedule or working for a top-rated company. Answer why someone would want to work for you.
Focus on enriching job experiences. After describing the job itself, outline the new skills, advancement opportunities, or critical training the position offers. What sets this job apart from others in the industry?
Once you complete your job description, here are five additional ways to draw top contenders to your open position.
Review your marketing plan. To get the word out about your job vacancies, re-evaluate your previous job ads. See which ones performed better and on what platforms. Note unsuccessful campaigns to see what went wrong. This strategy will optimize your hiring campaigns, lower recruitment costs, and increase your talent pool.
Preview the candidate’s journey. Walk through your recruitment and hiring process from start to finish. Put yourself in the candidates’ shoes. Specific areas to focus on include advertising, the application process, timeliness of follow-up, online interactions, the interview process, and onboarding new hires. Consider ways to streamline the process to eliminate lengthy delays.
Keep your applicants informed. After reviewing the candidate's journey, you’ll know about any potential hiccups. For example, if a key decision maker will be out of town for a significant amount of time, let applicants know there will be a delay in the next steps. Keep your candidates informed along the way via automated text messages or emails. Remember, you may not be the only company that they’re interested in.
Hang onto resumes. Some applicants won’t be the best fit for the current vacancy, but they may be better suited for future openings. Keep the resumes of your most promising candidates on file so you have a talent pool to revisit as new positions become available. However, you’ll need to do more than file their resumes. You’ll need to engage with them by providing helpful content related to their field, such as relevant blog posts or free webinars.
Get candidate feedback. During the recruitment process, provide candidates with opportunities to give feedback. Doing so will help you understand applicants’ experiences and identify improvement areas. Surveys and informal interviews prove excellent at gathering this type of data. Potential questions could include the following:
- Was the recruiter professional?
- Did the recruiter seem to know the company and the job?
- Did you gain a good understanding of what the position entails?
- Was the application easy or difficult to complete?
- Did you think the career website was user-friendly?
- How would you rate the recruitment process?
In today’s labor environment, embracing candidate-centric recruiting is essential to filling your job vacancies with top-notch employees. By switching the focus to the candidate, you’ll be able to attract and retain top talent.