Where are all the Best Candidates Hiding?

Recruiting sometimes poses as a difficult and messy task. Not just because the right candidate is hard to find, but because most candidates at hand do not really turn out to be the best. So why the rush for the best talent? Success is not attained single-handedly by employers. Employees have a major role to play in it. Having an employee that promises to give you a successful return for the salary paid and the resources used are the kind of employees that every company looks for.

Entrepreneurs can’t afford to lose time, money or face consequences of a bad hiring choice (a recent Forbes article by David K. Williams pegs the cost of a single bad hire anywhere from $25-50,000). Leaders view new employees as an investment and anticipate an excellent financial return over time.

And how do you know how to make a great hire? Alan Hall, contributor at Forbes mentions seven C’s to recognize the best option - Competent, Capable, Compatible, Commitment, Character, Culture, Compensation.

But in most cases, such talent is hard to come across. Not because there aren't any. But because they might not be in the places that you are looking in. Now let us dig deeper and find where to look for that right candidate:

• Existing pool of employees - You might not always notice this, but there are candidates who are the right fit for your post within your own employee pool. And there is no better choice than hiring from your current employees, the people who know, understand and follow the standards and goals of the organization. Internal hiring develops better growth in terms of profit as well as company satisfaction. Promotion, as employees view it, encourages and motivates them to work more and give the best results possible. Promoting internally additionally helps in boosting morale and retention.
• Vertical Social Networks - Also referred to as Niche Social Networks, VSNs are specialized communities around a shared interest, location, need, event or affiliation. With such networks, finding relevant candidates would become all the more efficient.

Vertical social networks like Doximity (doctors), Spiceworks (IT), and Edmodo (teachers) are building huge bases because they provide great value to specific industries and have become more of a workflow tool than just a social network, - Lauren Lloyd, Doximity.

• When we go on a hiring spree, we come across a number of job seekers. They are called as Active job seekers- those who openly seek opportunities. There are also passive job seekers- who might not seek jobs on the front but are still open to better opportunities. Engaging such passive talent should be a key pillar of any business recruitment strategy. Sitting back and hoping to get a good employee from advertising alone isn’t going to cut it in this day and age, as statistics show. In fact, Active job seekers make up only 20% of the market.
• Social Networks - Research from LinkedIn shows that at any given time, only 12 percent of candidates are looking for jobs, but 85 percent of the workforce is open to hearing from recruiters. Most passive job seekers are attracted from posts found online, on social media networks. So these platforms should be one of your go-to places. Find out the space they are likely to be most part of and get to them through the same. Professional social networking sites like LinkedIn- the biggest community of online talent globally- is a boon to recruiters. Never miss out on them.

 Social Media recruiting is taking pitch these days. It gives a sketch of what the candidate is likely to be. And knowing that is always advantageous for any recruiter.

As an employer, having the right employee is very important for stability, growth and success of a company. While the listed are a few places our candidates can be found in, there are a lot more you wouldn't want to miss. Word of mouth is a good way to reach the passive seekers. An employee referral program helps a lot in this manner. Keep a look out. Conferences and summits are also a great place to start. You will find yourself surrounded by like minded professionals who might turn out to be a great addition to your company.

After making the hire, keep the employees engaged, inspired and focused on the shared goals. Ongoing success depends on the ability of a firm's executives to build teams and execute the company's vision. And to keep the vision going, retention of the best talent is a must.

Ceipal, the easy Human Capital Management System has come up with TalentHire for all your recruiting woes. Applicant Tracking Systems are growing in the recruiting world and Ceipal’s TalentHire, a cloud based ATS features a number of tools that will ease up your hiring process and all along only give you the best results. The resume parsing method used is a guarantee to never miss out on that candidate that you have been looking for and the mobile application makes up for all the flexibility you need.

Disclaimer : This article was originally published in CEIPAL