When filling a position, it is important to make sure you hire a candidate with the right skills. It takes a combination of creativity and diligence to help you find the perfect candidate. Even candidates that have all the right qualifications need to be flexible and eager to keep learning. It’s more important to connect with qualified candidates and drive excitement about the role and your company. Below are 4 strategies to help you find candidates with the right skills.
Treat candidates like customers
A candidate’s first impression if your company is critical. It’s important that they know you are just excited about getting to know them as they are to be considered for the role. A great recruiting strategy is to treat candidates the same way you treat your customers.
A few ways to do this is to be respectful of their time, be hospitable, and make yourself available. Whether it’s a phone call or in-person meeting, always make sure you are on time. If you are running late, you need to let them know as soon as possible. If a candidate is coming for an onsite interview, make them feel welcome and comfortable. Lastly, you need to make yourself available. You can easily do this by providing candidates with your contact information. This allows them to reach out with any questions or concerns during the hiring process.
Use social media
Social media is an easy recruiting tool. It allows you to share any open positions with your entire network. If you have connections that aren’t interested in the position for themselves, they may know someone who is a good fit. If it’s a connection that you trust, then their recommendation might be a great fit for your company.
Also, you can make your company more personable to candidates by sharing photos and videos from company events, of your workplace, and day-to-day office life. This will give them a glimpse into your company culture. If you have a more modern company, sharing that on social media you will attract those who want to work in a setting like that. Likewise, those who want to work at a more traditional company will look elsewhere. This will help you find candidates who work best in your office setting, which is better for you in the long run.
Include employees in the interview process
When positions at your company open up, sometimes the best person for it is someone who already works for you. This employee will already know most of the tasks and responsibilities that come with the position. While this will leave you with a different open position, they can help you fill their old position. They will already know what skills are needed for the position when you are hiring, what is expected, and can give an accurate description of the day-to-day tasks.
Also, by including employees in the hiring process, they might have their own recommendation for who you should interview for the position. They know enough about your company and what is expected of employees. Also, they know recommending someone who is not a good fit will look poorly on their end. You can always incorporate an incentive program for employee referrals. This will help you get a large amount of potential candidates from those who already know your company and its needs.
Know what you want in your ideal candidate
If you aren’t sure what you are really looking for in a candidate, you won’t be able to find any to apply for your open position. You need to know what characteristics, skills, and preferences are extremely important to you when hiring a candidate. You also need to determine what aspects someone needs to be a good fit for your company. By defining a candidate persona, you can narrow down candidates quicker and more efficiently. While you might need some input from your coworkers to help put this together, once you have one it will make your hiring process a lot easier.