Gone are the days of job-seekers finding jobs in a newspaper’s classified section. Even online job boards aren’t as effective as they once were. To be competitive in today’s marketplace, businesses need to leverage more advanced technology to attract, recruit and hire the high-quality talent they so urgently need.
The two most important trends at work today are the explosion of mobile technology and the equally pervasive growth of social media. Companies wanting to reach out to younger job candidates should re-evaluate their current resources and see where improvements could make the difference between finding the right person for the job and missing a great hire.
People are using their smartphones and tablets for an ever-widening range of activities, including the search for a new job. So, in crafting your job descriptions, be as succinct as possible and find wording that conveys excitement about the open position. Remember, people are viewing this content on a small (sometimes very small) screen, so don’t waste time on fluff and distracting graphics.
If you succeed in interesting an applicant, the effort will be wasted if they use their mobile device to access the career page on your company’s website and find only a jumble of words and images. Websites must be optimized for mobile users, so the experience of searching through job postings is seamless.
A variety of recruitment apps are available to aid companies in their candidate search. Undercover Recruiter profiles their “top five mobile job apps for sourcing candidates and making new connections.”
Of course, nothing can replace the human touch in your recruitment efforts. However, certain ongoing functions—posting on numerous job boards, keeping track of submitted resumes, managing the interview process, etc.—can be streamlined by the use of automated HR software and systems. Freeing up your HR person or team to focus on more strategic aspects of their job will improve the efficiency of your recruitment campaigns.
Want additional insight? Read 7 Steps for an Effective Hiring Process now to learn more
It’s likely you use social media to boost awareness of your brand and connect with current and prospective customers. But job-seekers also “live” on social media, and most of what they learn about your company comes from platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
With this in mind, look to customize at least some of your social media content to appeal to this demographic. Sharing updates and images from employee events and other activities helps convey a sense of your company culture—a key element in moving a candidate to further explore your job openings. The idea is to promote your workplace as an exciting and creative environment for its employees.
It’s essential to leverage the big social media platforms for communicating with prospective employees. But it can be equally effective to dig deeper into your own LinkedIn network (or other sites) and put the word out that you’re actively seeking job applicants.
In many cases, “people jump at the chance to help you because it means also helping a friend or contributing to their own networks,” notes Tech Target. “It’s a win-win-win strategy.”
With unemployment rates at a new low, the search for qualified talent is more intense than in recent memory. Exploring ways in which digital technology and social media can help focus your recruitment efforts may prove to be essential to success.