If you’re reading this article, then chances are high that you’ve got some job openings in your company. And you’re probably looking for only the best of the best to fill these jobs. Whether you are looking for interns for social media promotion or employees for the post of business analyst, it is a tough job indeed. However, what are the ways that you can find people for this spot? Great candidates for jobs don’t just fall out of the sky. If you want really great candidates for your jobs, then you’ll have to take an active role in your HR strategy and find those people yourself. Keep reading down below to learn more about some great creative ideas to recruit employees for those challenging jobs you have open.
1. Find Ways to Bring Your Job Openings to Job Seekers Directly
Many HR departments aim to have their HR strategy go one way. They just wait for job seekers to find their open positions and apply for them. However, is that really the best way that you’re going to find great candidates for your positions? Definitely not! You should be having a two-way HR strategy that brings the candidates to you by you going out and seeking them out. Figure out innovative ways that you can speak with job seekers directly that go beyond simple college-recruitment fairs and online postings.
For example, you can have your marketing team develop some short commercials that could play on local TV stations or at some movie theaters in the area. This is a great way to get some word out about your job openings, how people can apply to them, and what skills they need, like operating an aerial lift safely. There are tons of new ways that you can get your job openings in front of the eyes of potential employees.
2. Hold Creative Contests That Challenge Your Job Seekers and Weed Out the Best Ones
This is absolutely one of the best ways to find great candidates for the positions you have open. It’s going to take some extra work than other easier options, but if you can pull this off, you’re going to find employees that will push your company forward. You can organize a creative contest as a way to reward people for being creative, but to also find great candidates for your positions. For example, the Department of Defense holds a robotics competition that pits candidates for positions against each other to create the most innovative and useful robot. Depending on what industry you find yourself in, you could create a contest like this to find some great candidates.
For example, if you are in the technology business, you can hold a contest to see who can create the best app that people will actually use. This tests your candidate’s creativity, their ability to create mobile applications, and how hard they will work at their job. Once you determine who has won the competition, you will have a great pool of candidates to choose from for your open position or positions.
3. Get Your Employees to Help with The Recruiting Process
Of course, another great way that you find candidates for you challenging job positions is to get your existing employees involved. This might sound a bit weird at first, but trust that this is a great way to get applicants. You would first need to create some neat recruiting business cards to give to all of the employees in the company. Then, the employees would be tasked with going out after work and giving out these business cards to friends and family members who might be interested in the job position. Your employees are going to be the ones who can speak best about why it’s so great to work at your company and will be able to get others on-board more easily than a job posting could. Turning your employees into job ambassadors is one of the absolute best ways to get some great applications coming in.
4. Poach Out Some Employees from Your Competitors
Of course, you should know that it’s completely OK to work against your competitors a bit in this realm. When you want to score some top talent, one of the best ways to do this is to work under your competitor’s noses. Find out where your competitor’s employees go to lunch all of the time and go speak to them there. If you are a technology company, you could introduce them to your piece of technology as a way of coaxing them over to your job positions. If you are lucky and convincing enough, then you will get them to check out what you have to offer. Think of other creative ways that you can get your competitor’s employees to apply to your job postings!
5. Try to Go Undercover and Really Speak with Potential Employees
If you are stuck behind your computer or your smartphone trying to get people to apply to your job postings, then you’re doing it all wrong. In today’s world, it’s all about going out and speaking with potential candidates undercover to really get to know them. Head out to a conference that’s going on in your industry and try to get to know people who would be great for your positions. There are tons of events like this that will be going on. You could even try to speak with people at networking events and just act like you’re another job seeker. This is one of the best ways to get applicants out of their shells and really get to know them.
When you are trying to get candidates to apply for your challenging job positions, the biggest thing you need to think about is how you’re going to out-smart your competitors. There are so many open positions out there that your competitors are trying to fill with the same talent you’re trying to attract. If you don’t get attractive with the ways you bring in applicants, then you’re not going to get nearly as many applications as your competitors.
