Trying to fill a new or recently opened position can be stressful for everyone involved. There is a lot of effort that goes into attracting, interviewing and securing a candidate for the position. Even after that entire process, you can still end up with someone who isn’t a good fit. Luckily, your current employees can easily help you when finding the perfect candidate. Below, we will go into how your current employees can help you find the best candidate for an open position.
That’s why it’s important to look internally within your organization as much as any other recruiting channel—you could have fully qualified, talented, and reliable candidates just a few desks away.
Help you define the ideal candidate
The perfect candidate to you might be completely different than the perfect candidate your team is hoping for. By discussing the ideal candidate with your current employees, you will be able to see what they are hoping to gain. Also, they can help you create an appealing and accurate job description. They can give you real examples of activities and key benefits that will help you attract candidates. Lastly, they can help you by telling you what they like most about working in the company. These can give you key points to add into the job description to attract candidates.
Share the position among friends and colleagues
There is a very high chance that your employees have friends and colleagues that work in the same industry as your company. Especially during these times, many people are looking for jobs. They can share your job posting on their own social media accounts to their friends and colleagues. Then, if anyone they know is interested, they can send them over more information about the position. Also, if there is anyone they wouldn’t recommend, you can be made aware of that as well.
Share it in online communities
Similar to sharing it among friends and colleagues, your current employees may be engaged in online communities related to your industries. You will have a farther reach if your employees share the posting among these types of groups. There are many groups that are city and industry based. What better way to share your posting than to a group of hundreds (maybe thousands) of professionals in your industry and city? While your employee may not know some of these potential candidates personally, it still gives you a better reach than just posting the position on online job boards.
Encourage employee referrals
This is similar to the above reasons, but implementing an employee referral program can help you gain better candidates. Employee referrals are a very powerful source of finding candidates. They are typically higher quality and tend to stay with your organization longer. None of your employees want to recommend someone they don’t truly trust and wouldn’t perform in the position well. This can cause a poor reflection on them. By implementing an employee referral program, you can help encourage current employees by offering a small incentive if their referral is chosen. While it doesn’t need to be anything extravagant, it can always be an extra vacation day.