Having trouble hiring?

Fill your open positions by better understanding today’s hiring environment and how candidates are leveraging their power in new ways.

Understanding Today’s Job Seekers

In the past, businesses had a much easier time acquiring and retaining employees because job seekers had less resources at their disposal than they have today. 

Job websites such as LinkedIn and Glassdoor offer unprecedented insights into job availability, benefits, salaries, and reviews by other employees. Along with online recruiters constantly reaching out to both job seekers and employed workers alike with new opportunities, candidates are beginning to realize that they hold all the cards. 

This presents businesses with a new challenge for their hiring departments:
how do we convince job candidates that they should want to work for us?

Importance of Employer Brand

Something businesses are placing a greater emphasis on is their employer brand, and for good reason. According to Glassdoor, 86% of women and 67% of men in the United States wouldn't join a company with a bad reputation. 

Employer brand is the company identity a business takes on in the mind of potential employees. The elements of a company that make up its employer brand are its company values, culture, mission, and personality.

Knowing the message and image you want to convey is one thing, but knowing where to do it is another. 

The Channels Small-Mid Sized Businesses Use to Extend Their Employer Brand

1. Company Website

The company website is the main point of contact between many consumers and a brand. The website not only is used to sell products or services, but also to share your brand's history, goals, news, and culture.

2. Online Professional Networks

Professional Networks, such as LinkedIn and Glassdoor, allow potential employees and business partners to learn more about job opportunities, company innovations, and reviews from other current and former employees. 86% of employees and job seekers research company reviews and ratings to decide where to apply (Glassdoor).

3. Social Media

Social media is the place where brands can share the day to day of their business as well as different events they’re participating in. The best thing about social media for businesses is the way it allows brands to share their corporate ethos through interactions with its customers.

Polish Up Your Job Postings

Everyone wants to fill their positions quickly, but if you aren’t tailoring your hiring process and postings to the candidates’ interests and behavior, then you aren’t likely to see results. 

The first thing you can do when making your job posts is focus on making them easy to fill out. In fact, 60% of job seekers claim they’ve quit in the middle of job applications because of their length or complexity. As a hirer, you often want as many applicants as possible, because it’s better to turn candidates down than to make your applications either too hard to fill out or too restrictive.

Additionally, you should focus on mobile-optimizing your job posts. Make sure the text is easily readable, and try to avoid requiring multi-step processes to apply. 70% of job seekers search for positions on their phone (Undercover Recruiter).

Top reasons candidates accept a new position:

1. Compensation

2. Chance to achieve professional development

3. Improvement of work/life balance

‍

Here are a few additional facts about job seekers that should guide your job listings:‍

• Job postings that include a salary range get 75% more clicks than listings that don't
• 75% of job seekers are voluntarily looking, as opposed to searching out of need, so they can afford to be selective
• More than 70% of people currently employed would consider a new job

5 Steps You Can Take To Improve Your Online Hiring Process

1. Cultivate Your Employer Brand

Be active across internet channels to show off your brand and create a positive image in potential employees’ minds. You should utilize social media, your website, and online professional networks to create a consistent brand voice that speaks to your target employee.

2. Create Job Posts That Speak to Applicants’ Needs with Transparency

Make sure your posts always include a salary range. Highlight the opportunity your job provides for the applicant to receive better compensation, professional development, and work/life balance. If you can’t promise any of those factors, then you may want to look into shifting your company culture to be more employee friendly, in the process helping with your own employee acquisition and retention.

3. Reach out to Non-Active Job Seekers

70% of global workforce is not actively looking for jobs, while 87% would be open to a better job opportunity (LinkedIn). Focusing only on people actively searching for jobs means you are missing out on 61% of your potential candidates. Reach out to qualified candidates holding other positions either through direct messages on networking sites or through targeted ads.

4. Streamline Your Hiring Process 

Don’t make candidates jump through hoops to apply. Utilize the Easy-Apply feature on LinkedIn and other similar job sites to avoid making applicants visit multiple sites (often seeing a drop-off at each additional click). Additionally make it easy to apply on mobile to reach people scrolling job boards on their phone. Follow these guidelines to see higher application rates compared to a more restrictive application strategy.

‍5. Maintain a Quality Website

The majority of applicants won’t apply at a job without doing any research into a company, and the first place they’ll go to look is your website. Making sure your website is clean and inviting will help with your brand image, and candidates will respond positively to you highlighting your company’s commitment to employee culture.

‍