4 Employee Recruiting Tips to Attract Top Candidates

In today’s challenging employees’ market, strategic recruitment can help your company attract top candidates who produce better results and are invested in your company. Successful recruiting these days requires using candidate-friendly technology and positioning your role as one that provides what top talent wants from a career.

Consider using these 4 recruiting tips to stand out in a competitive employer landscape and motivate talent to apply for your open positions.

1. Understand what today’s candidates want from a job

First, understand what your target employees are looking for. Then you can position your relevant company offerings on job descriptions and your website’s about page, as well as any other content that promotes your company.

In February 2022, Gallup released a survey of 13,085 United States employees revealing what was most important to them when they considered whether to accept a new job offer from an employer. The most important factors, along with the percentage of people who cited them as “very important,” were as follows.

A significant increase in income or benefits (64%)

Today’s employees have access to salary averages on sites like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook. They’re also aware they’re in a job seeker’s market, so salaries must be competitive to entice candidates.

Greater work-life balance and better personal wellbeing (61%)

Along with flexible work options, employers must convey how they help employees avoid burnout.

The ability to do what they do best (58%)

Employees want to use their strengths at work. Recruiters can set the stage by creating realistic job descriptions that convey a day in the life of the professional.

Greater stability and job security (53%)

Employers can demonstrate how roles provide stability and job security by detailing learning and development opportunities, career growth paths, and the outlook for the industry overall.

Employers can demonstrate how roles provide stability and job security by detailing learning and development opportunities, career growth paths, and the outlook for the industry overall.

COVID-19 vaccination policies that align with my beliefs (43%)

Employees have strong feelings on both sides of vaccination mandates. To prevent candidate drop-off late in recruitment, employers should provide transparency into pandemic policies early in the recruitment process.

The organization is diverse and inclusive of all types of people (42%)

Employer diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts have become more scrutinized in recent years. Employers should explain how they’re making DEI strides and using DEI principles to drive recruitment efforts.

In addition to addressing factors like those above in job postings, you can survey your current employees to find out what’s most important to them in their roles. You can highlight those details during employee recruitment and on sites where candidates may research your company, including on social media and your company’s careers page.

2. Make the application process simple and easy

With so many employers competing for their attention, talented candidates will drop out of the application process when it doesn’t align with their expectations. According to the Talent Board’s 2021 Candidate Experience Benchmark Research Report, the top reasons candidates exit the application process are:

• Their time was disrespected, especially during appointments and interviews
• The recruiting process was too lengthy
• The compensation offered didn’t meet their expectations

Use technology to your advantage. Clearly state a salary range on the job description. Make applying online easy and intuitive. You might enable candidates to apply simply by linking their LinkedIn profile to the application, for example.

Chatbot technology can answer common candidate questions or put candidates in touch with the right people to do so. Give candidates more ways to engage with your hiring staff, including instant messaging, social media, and text messaging. You can also use an online job application dashboard so candidates can track their materials and see where they are in the hiring process.

3. Eliminate hiring bias

Technology can help you expedite the hiring process, but it can also exclude talented candidates. An October 2021 report by Accenture and Harvard Business School found 90% of companies believe high-skilled prospects miss out on relevant opportunities due to not meeting all the criteria listed in a job description, including:

• Years of experience
• Academic performance
• Professional/vocational credentials
• Career progression

Many people won’t even apply for a job if they don’t meet all the requirements. “Harvard Business Review” reports women are far more likely than men to not apply for a job if they don’t tick every single box.

You can widen the talent pool and eliminate hiring bias by rethinking job requirements and being more open-minded about career gaps. For example, you might consider eliminating a college degree requirement from a job.

If you use applicant tracking software, adjust the scanning settings to make broader matches. Make your posting more applicant-friendly for a wider audience. Use inclusive job description copy regarding language around:

• Gender
• Age
• Sexual orientation
• Race
• Ethnicity
• Ability

As you compare resumes or applicant profiles, consider using inclusive hiring software that anonymizes candidates based on qualifications or evaluates candidates based on skills testing. Train your hiring staff to recognize inherent bias and avoid potential effects during recruiting.

4. Enlist your employees

Referrals are also more likely to stay at a company longer, with 47% of those hired based on employee referrals lasting for 3 years or longer compared with just 14% of job board hires.

Expand your recruiting efforts with the help of your employees. According to research by Jobvite, compared with those hired from career sites and job boards, candidates found through employee referrals are hired up to 26 days faster. Referrals are also more likely to stay at a company longer, with 47% of those hired based on employee referrals lasting for 3 years or longer compared with just 14% of job board hires.

Employee referrals can help you improve your DEI efforts and hire more qualified candidates. Your employees know exactly what’s required of a position, so they can refer those in their network who are truly qualified for the role.

When you have open positions, promote them to your workforce. You might offer an employee reward system for successful referral hires to further motivate team members.

Drive recruitment with transparency and inclusion

There’s a wealth of talent available for the positions you need to fill, but you might unwittingly exclude top candidates. Consider:

1. Opening up job requirements
2. Clearly communicating the benefits of working for your company
3. Being transparent with salary expectations and work benefits
4. Enabling a broader candidate pool if you’re using screening software
5. Eliminating hiring bias
6. Enlisting your workforce to help with recruiting

Candidates in today’s job market have the ability to be more discerning in choosing the companies they consider applying for. Meet their demands by explaining how your company and the position provide career growth potential for the candidates you most want to attract.