Basics to Attract Good Candidates

Recruiting the right candidates is becoming more and more difficult in our market. I've been discussing recruitment with our partners lately; you can do some simple things to improve your chances of finding the right candidate besides set and forgetting on Seek.

What are you advertising?

• Have clear subheadings and a breakdown of the role, responsibilities, skills and benefits
• Use action-oriented language to set expectations such as 'own', 'contribute', 'build'
• Don't put in a wishlist of everything you'd like to have. If it's not essential or a regular function of the role, leave it out, and don't crowd the information
• Give a vision of the work culture (set the scene) and outline company values (if you have them) so they can see whether they relate or don't
• Assess whether, and if so, demonstrate how you are a people-focused org. Show how your people are your success and make you what you are
• How are you focused on developing thriving staff, training, growth?
• Celebrate your success and demonstrate how you do that
• A bit about you, the types of business you support, as well as the technology

Throughout, you need to think from a candidate perspective, would I want to apply for this? Would I understand who the company is and the expectations of the role? Is it easy to understand and interesting??

You want an advertisement to make the person not just want to apply but want to join before you've even had the interview. We make many decisions based on sentiment, so we appeal to that.?

Be realistic with the salary band, too; Seek provides you with industry averages. If you're hiring for an $80k position and are hoping to get someone for $60k, the most suitable candidates would have filtered you out of the search.

Leverage LinkedIn

Use LinkedIn job postings to appeal to a different audience.

• Use LinkedIn job postings to appeal to a different audience who may not be browsing Seek daily. - I look at LinkedIn a lot more than Seek, for example?
• Configure the filters and questions right so you only get the suitable candidates through
• Once posted on LinkedIn, use the purple hiring badge; it's another way to attract candidates when you engage and gives extra visibility.?
• Engage more and be genuine; many candidates will look at your activity when applying for a role
• Leverage your team and network. Have them share the job posting, get your peers and staff to share, promote it or recommend candidates - Looking for a L3 engineer or an AM? Chances are people already in those roles will know others in a similar role and can talk to the experience better than your posting

Publicly engage?

Don't just post on LinkedIn when you're hiring or selling. Offer some insights, write articles, put up videos and build awareness of you and your business. Encourage your people to do so, too, and put some guidelines for representing the company on social media.

People knowing you and what you're about is another area many service providers neglect. Participate in industry events and meetups, and do webinars for further visibility. In a previous company I worked at, I was sold from listening to a podcast from one of the founders.

Keep in touch:

If you end up with a shortlist of great candidates but only have the budget to hire one of them, make sure they know that you were impressed but it wasn’t the right time. Ask if it’s okay to connect and keep in touch with them and consider them for the next time you’re hiring.