When Angling For Exciting New Project Talent – Fish In Exciting New Pools And Don’t Use The Same Old Bait!

The internet has been brilliant for recruitment. As an employer, you can now Access Talent from wider pools than ever and through social media practically pre-interview prospective colleagues before they even set foot through your door.

Despite this, a friend just complained about feeling uninspired by respondents to a recent job advert. She showed me the correspondence.

It seems that something else that has happened – and on this one, I think that the internet needs to hold its hand up and say, “My bad!”

Looking through the CVs and covering letters – they have started to look the same. It was almost as if every candidate had Googled “how to write a CV and covering letter” and then followed the instructions they found on page one to the letter.

I asked to see what stimulus from her organisation had garnered such an unimaginative response and she showed me the job advert. To be fair to the candidates the advert was a rehash of one that I know they’ve used a few times, it had been placed in the same places and copy and pasted onto the organisation’s social media channels and website in such a way that it looked like an afterthought.

It was almost as if they’d Googled “how to write a job ad” and then followed the instructions they found on page one to the letter. Imagine such a thing. 😉

Perhaps if you want to catch new interesting fish you need to use new bait? And maybe it is time to look beyond the pools that you’ve always fished in.

According to recruiter Hudson – 28% of hiring managers in Australia say the effectiveness of job boards is decreasing – nine out of ten say that they’re looking beyond job boards and active job seekers. That report is a couple of years old now, but still relatable and recent anecdotal evidence suggests a similar trend in the UK.

Here’s an idea – why not try to attract talent that isn’t even looking to leave their current position?

Who is most likely to hit the ground running?

Someone who is happy in their current post, getting great results and positive feedback … or someone who is either unhappy in their current position, desperate for a move or even currently out of work?

Now, of course, most job seekers will turn out to be stand up employees and definitely worth a punt but if you’ve ever head hunted someone you’ll know that they do come with an edge. There is a difference between getting a job you saw advertised in the back of the industry paper and being sought out and approached by someone with a position to fill because they think that you are the right person for it.

That Hudson Hiring Report I mentioned surveyed 3,228 Australian professionals and three-quarters said that despite presumably being happy in their work they were open to being approached by a recruiter.

Now imagine the size of this new talent pool.

Imagine how many people in your sector, although not actively looking for a new post, would be open to you approaching them. There’s an exciting side effect too, the bigger the available market the greater the chance of attracting someone who is a cultural fit with your company. Imagine choosing from candidates who will not simply be able to do a job for, but people who are already living your company values elsewhere.

The cultural fit thing cuts both ways too, increasingly job seekers and employees are placing it in their top five priorities and while I can’t imagine it ever replacing things like salary and work/life balance, sharing the values of the firm you work for is more important for individuals than ever before.

Many employers are starting to think more along these lines, many more will as the internet continues to shrink the planet and every potential employee’s web presence grows.

From an individual’s perspective there has never been a better time to get ready for this, here are three things you should do this week.

1 – Make sure your CV is up-to-date, sharp and ready to send.

2 – Be current, visible and impressive. Have a LinkedIn profile with an appropriate current photo. Regularly check your LinkedIn CV (your timeline of current and past jobs, skills and qualifications). Connect with your competitors’ hiring executives!

3 – Know the market and your place and value within it. Do some homework, fire up those online salary calculators.

As for employers. Well the most satisfied hiring managers are seeking a recruitment partner (some are so confident they’ll even share some of the initial “risk”), they’re hitting up social media and attending recruitment events – they’re using two, three, four or more different avenues and they are getting great results and attracting the best talent.

Instead of using the same old tried and tested (often tired and tested) recruitment channels seek out multiple sourcing, more targeted tools and smarter ways to Access Talent.

Source
Hudson Hiring Report