The Great Resignation has been on every recruiter’s mind lately, as the talent wars heat up for job candidates seeking greener pastures. According to the US Department of Labor, nearly 3% of the country’s workforce quit their jobs in August alone - and there is a surplus of more than 1 million more jobs than candidates looking for work. In this tight labor market, you will need to stand above the rest of the companies competing for talent. Start by incorporating the following ideas into your talent sourcing strategy in order to catch the attention of prospective candidates at the top of the recruitment funnel.
Create Thorough (and Inclusive) Job Descriptions
Talent sourcing starts by understanding exactly what the company’s needs are when hiring for a new role, and effectively communicating those needs--as well as company culture--to prospective job candidates. This is why writing a good job description is key.
Start by taking a look at the job requirements and focus on those that are most needed for the job. This will not only make job descriptions more concise, but may also improve the diversity of your candidate pool. Studies have shown that men are likely to apply to jobs for which they meet only 60% of the qualifications, but women often will not apply unless they meet 100% of the listed requirements. Emphasizing real requirements rather than “nice-to-haves” is a way to build inclusivity into the early stages of your talent sourcing process. Another pro tip is to use gender-neutral language and keep corporate jargon to a minimum.
It also helps to explicitly list a few of your benefits in the job description. You don’t need to include an exhaustive list, but highlight a few that speak to your company culture and values. For example, do you offer unlimited PTO? What about parental leave? Give job seekers a taste of what you offer so that they will be interested in learning more, especially if they are looking at opportunities from multiple employers.
Finally, job descriptions during the Great Resignation should recognize that the pandemic has changed how and where we work. According to Gartner, 51% of knowledge workers worldwide are expected to work remotely by the end of 2021. A recent study conducted by Harris Poll also found that 76% of workers want to work for employers who allow flexibility in location and scheduling. For your talent sourcing strategy, clearly display information about onsite expectations versus remote work options in your job description, and reiterate these expectations during screening calls and interviews. If your company is currently working from home (or plans to remain remote indefinitely), share details about the type of WFH support you offer and how you keep employees engaged. If you are back in the office or offering a hybrid approach, clarify how much time is spent in the office and how much flexibility is offered.
Read more: Answering Candidate Questions about the The Hybrid Workplace
Strengthen Your Employer Brand
Don’t just make your company one of the many options that job seekers have; make it their top choice by building a strong employer brand. Ensure your careers web page is up-to-date and provides information that will speak to what job candidates are looking for. Share employee testimonials, as well as information about your benefits, perks, DEI initiatives, remote or hybrid work options, and company culture. Your Glassdoor profile, LinkedIn company page, and other social media profiles are some more great places to showcase your employer brand, highlight stellar employees, and advertise new roles.
Another way to strengthen your employer brand is to host virtual and hybrid events to enable candidates to learn more about your company, talk to recruiters directly, and ask questions. Virtual and hybrid events may also accelerate the hiring process, enabling you to move top talent through the funnel faster than competitors. Brazen’s platform empowers employers to host hiring events such as virtual career fairs, info sessions, and benefits fairs, while providing an amazing candidate experience.
Expand Your Go-To Channels for Sourcing Candidates
Prior to the pandemic, your recruitment strategy may have included attending onsite career fairs at universities, sourcing candidates on LinkedIn, posting to relevant job boards, or offering referral bonuses to current employees. While all of these channels are still viable during the Great Resignation, consider broadening your horizons to reach new audiences.
For example, virtual recruiting means that if you are sourcing talent for entry-level positions, you can expand your list of target universities since you are no longer limited by geography. Hosting one virtual career fair for multiple universities to attend, as well as attending the virtual fairs hosted by other universities, will quickly expand the talent pools you are able to reach based on reducing time, travel, and bandwidth needs alone!
LinkedIn also enables you to search for prospective candidates by a wide range of criteria (such as location, industry, and job function). So if your company does not plan to return to an office, you can expand your LinkedIn targeting criteria to include remote workers.
In terms of finding attendees for your recruitment events, you can leverage Brazen’s new Sourcing Marketplace. The Sourcing Marketplace promotes your events to a range of passive candidates based on the targeting criteria you choose and can help you reach goals such as diversifying your candidate pool, sourcing technical talent, or reducing cost per candidate.
Personalize Your Communication with Prospective Candidates
So after you’ve written the job description, built your employer brand, and identified candidates, you’ll need to communicate with candidates directly. Whether you are reaching out to a candidate on LinkedIn, via their resume on a job board, or through another platform, make sure you personalize your messages. What about their profile stood out to you? Why do you think their experience is a good fit for the job? And what action do you want them to take (schedule an introduction call with a recruiter? Attend a recruitment event? Apply for a position that you’ve linked to in your message?)? For candidates who indicate that they want to learn more, make sure you are responsive to their messages.
For virtual hiring events, you can personalize the process by incorporating features such as video calls, Q&A through text chats, and pre-screening questionnaires that prepare both candidates and recruiters for having effective conversations about career and recruitment goals.
Like this post? Try these!
- Supercharge your Hiring Events with a Sourcing Marketplace Strategy
- Let's Talk Recruitment Marketing and Sourcing with Drew Hebble
- What is Talent Sourcing?
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