Having experienced the war for the best talent, companies have been pushed to rethink their hiring processes. 

The days when employers would just post a job opening and wait for people to apply are almost obsolete. Today, employers need to be proactive in order to be attractive to candidates. Rest assured, hiring is a challenge for the majority of clients which is why we exist as a business!

There are many different ways to optimise hiring effort and there are certain best practices that should be factored into your hiring strategy.

Here are some…

Have a strong employer brand

Having a strong employer brand is one of the most important elements. According to Glassdoor, 84% of job seekers say the reputation of a company is very important when making a decision about where to apply for a job.

In other words, it’s much easier to attract candidates if your current employees are proud and happy to work for your company. Your existing employees will naturally become your employer brand ambassadors which can certainly help talent attraction.

Optimise your career website

Your career website should be the representation of your company culture, employee benefits, your EVP and open positions in your company. Recent research conducted by LinkedIn states that 59% of candidates visit the company website after discovering a job. 

It’s important to build a career page that has answers to the potential questions candidates may have. Information such as; the companies open positions, benefits package and salary bracket, the hiring process and employee testimonials would be really helpful. 

Simplify the application process

The best candidates expect an easy and intuitive job application processes. They don’t want to spend hours filling out job applications and completing technical tasks - unless you are Amazon or Google.

Often, applicants who find your application process too time consuming, or difficult will not apply so employers really need to adjust their processes based on the candidates’ needs as they are likely to miss out on the best software engineers.

Advertise on the right job boards

There are many job boards, some of which are very costly and do not necessarily equate to a hire. Organisations need to use job boards wisely when hiring new talent. Whilst Indeed may be a perfect channel for some professions, they do not fit all. There are also some niche websites that are worth considering - Otta for tech jobs is a perfect example.

Use the power of social media

Don't forget to leverage social media for hiring. Many people, especially younger generations such as millennials and gen Z use social media channels to find new job opportunities.

It also helps you better target your candidate personas and receive more applications from high-quality job candidates.