Tips on Developing Your Recruiting Strategy

March 14, 2012

Perhaps you’re working for a venture-backed startup company that is growing. Maybe you are managing the recruiting of a large public organization. Either way, you truly realize what an amazing company you work for. After all, you are at your company daily, thriving in the work environment, enjoying some of the fringe benefits. Now it’s time to hire some new people – this should be easy, right? They should feel honored to even be considered to work at this fantastic place. Wait, someone’s not interested? They’re happy at their current job? They don’t want to leave? What is going on here? You might think, “why am I not getting in touch with the right people? How do they not realize what an amazing opportunity this is?”

Recruiting can be frustrating.

Even some of the best jobs at the best companies require a structured recruiting strategy in place. You need to reach the right people at the right time in the right place. You need to sell the job even if it seems like it can sell itself. You need to create a brand for your company to create a positive buzz about your company.

In this post I will go over some guidelines that can positively affect any recruitment strategy.

Build a Target List of Competitors: Where better to source talent than at one of your competitors. After all, if the company you work for is the superior one, these candidates will be happier in their new home. With LinkedIn and other resources, it’s easy to research competition in the area.

Generate Some Buzz: Make your company aware that you are recruiting so they can mention it out and about. Attend networking events, or even better, sponsor them. Word of mouth is a great marketing technique and a huge facet of recruiting is marketing your company, and yourself. Be seen as a subject matter expert that has everything going for you, and candidates will come flocking.

Use Social Networking/Blogs: This can aid in your branding and buzzworthiness. Write a blog about all of the amazing features of your company. It’s okay to self-promote when you’re trying to draw candidates in. Make it known if you have received any awards or are growing rapidly. Prospective candidates are looking for stability and growth – use this to assure outsiders your company offers this and more.

Build Relationships: Get your name out there and talk to people in the industry. Building relationships and networking is absolutely crucial in recruiting. The Manager with 5 years more experience than you need may refer you to an entry level person…and then a few months down the road they can fill a more senior position! Be sincere when reaching out and let candidates know you are interested in networking and spreading knowledge about your company.

Work on a Pipeline: This is especially helpful if you find yourself recruiting for the same position over and over. The best policy here is to let candidates know they are a great fit, but there is not a current need. Explain that you would be more than happy to keep in touch and will reach out when a new opening is available.

Response Rate and Candidate Experience: This plays into your personal and company branding. Make a policy of getting back to candidates 24 hours after an email or phone call is received. Although it is out of a recruiter’s control at times, try to relay feedback the day after an interview occurs. Be sure to make time for responding to candidates by working it into your daily activity. By giving a candidate a great experience they will be happy to send over referrals, and will only have great things to say about interviewing, even if they don’t get the job. I believe that candidates just appreciate being reached out to, considered, and given timely feedback even if it doesn’t work out perfectly for them.

By incorporating these themes into your recruiting strategy you will be sure to start garnering excellent response rates from prospective candidates!

What additional recruiting guidelines would you add?

 

Recruiting Lead - Software

<strong>Katy Smigowski</strong> is the Recruiting Lead-Software at <a href="https://www.fitbit.com/">Fitbit</a>, where she is directly managing sourcing team, recruiting process and recruiting strategy dedicated to driving software hiring in our Boston office. Prior to Fitbit, she was a Talent Specialist at OpenView responsible for recruiting initiatives for both the firm and its portfolio companies.