In the War for Talent raging right now, the recruiter is arguably the company’s most valuable asset. Why? The recruiter is tasked with wading through the talent pool and finding the talent that will best support the company and further the goals of the business.
But it’s not easy. In fact, it’s getting more difficult as the days and months continue to pass. The United States is currently experiencing a time where there are more jobs than there are people to fill those jobs. Taking that into account, every person in the workforce can now be considered a passive job seeker.
Technology is the recruiters’ friend
Technology has ‘invaded’ every part of the business and that includes human resources. For a recruiter, technology is a huge competitive advantage. It can exponentially speed up the process while also positively impacting its efficacy. Recruiters not adopting technology as part of job run a high risk of seeing job candidates choosing to work for a competitor company.
All of that being said, here are five things every recruiter should know to find the best hires possible:
- Recruiting is marketing
According to the Alabama Media Group, 86% of HR professionals believe recruitment is becoming more like marketing. The modern recruiter isn’t just a good recruiter, but proficient also at marketing whether it’s through social media or some other technology. AMG also says, “Organizations believe social media marketing will be the most in-demand need for recruitment by 2020, followed by data analysis and modeling skills.” Mastering the use of social media helps recruiters to build strong employer brands as well as the consumer brand.
- Track candidate data
HR is much more data-driven these days. The same can be said for recruiting. Tracking applicants is a no brainer thus bringing into focus the need for a robust applicant tracking system. A recruiter needs to be able to see how a job candidate came in contact with the company? This happens in a multitude of ways whether it’s through the company website or through social media. In either case, this allows for a recruiter to focus his or her efforts on the location that provides the best candidates.
- Be critical about candidate references
Nearly 20-30% of candidates tend to fake references. Alone, that statistic seems less alarming. Couple it with the fact 70% of recruiters rely on those references for quality hires and it becomes a much larger issue. That’s according to a TimesJobs study that surveyed more than 650 recruiters. To add to that, the same study found 58% of employers always contact references applicants provide. For more information on how to validate references, click here.
- Use automation tools
Recruiters have a lot on their plates. Most have to schedule interviews with candidates, track where they are in the process, and of course, keep communicating with them at every critical stage. Not all of this work has to be done by the recruiter. Automation or AI can manage some of the more mundane, time consuming processes. Scheduling is a good example. Some scheduling tools give the applicants the ability to make their own appointments on recruiters’ calendars.
- Know the business
A great recruiter knows intently about every business unit and its needs. It’s important for a recruiter to stay on top of what the company is doing and how it’s doing it. It’s equally important to understand the trends happening within the industry and being able to read the future. This helps attract and hire the right talent now, but it also helps target and focus the future recruitment needs of the company.
Final Thoughts
There was a time when recruiting happened almost under a veil of secrecy. Not that recruiting is secretive, but like a television news crew, the work is really conducted ‘behind the scenes’. However, the world is changing and now recruiting is very much in the open. Embracing that and the five topics mentioned above allows for some easing of the day-to-day job responsibilities and some strengthening of the ability to hire the best and brightest for the company. Recruiting isn’t easy, but can be rewarding.
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