5 Ways to Entice Candidates to Your Job Opportunities
I can’t stress enough the importance of making sure your job opportunities are attractive to candidates. While I don’t necessarily recommend padding your job posts with flowery descriptions of how wonderful the company is, I do believe you must do more than share a link to your corporate website.
According to Forbes contributor Mark Murphy, candidates often turn down jobs due to bad impressions, not salary concerns. This is an important point. Candidates want to know why they should spend their precious time interviewing with your company. As a recruiter, your job is to get candidates pumped from the very first discussion.
It’s one thing to get a candidate to the plate, and another thing to get a placement. If you don’t sing the praises of the company you represent and give candidates reason to be interested, they will look for greener pastures.
Here are some suggestions to help you entice the candidates you want to your requisitions:
1. Adopt a Win-Win Mindset
Let the candidate know you are interested in their needs, not just the needs of the employer or your need to make a placement.
One of the philosophies I hold dearest to my heart is this rule of win-win, and I recommend you adopt it, too. Why place a candidate in a role that doesn’t make sense for them? They won’t last, and the employer will need to start recruiting all over again.
If a placement isn’t a win-win, then it is a waste of time.
2. Convey Core Company Values With Enthusiasm
Find out why the company is competitive in the marketplace, and share what sets the employer apart in a way that generates genuine excitement among candidates.
Highlight unique differentiators to increase candidates’ interest levels. Any information you can share about product features; company awards and recognitions; or positive standing with Gartner, Forrester, and other influencers will be extremely valuable.
If the company is young and/or lacks industry recognition, discussing corporate goals related to growth and plans for expansion will suffice. Your candidate needs to believe this firm is going places.
3. Talk Up the C-Suite and Hiring Manager
Provide your candidate with information about the people in charge, and explain why it’s worth working for these leaders.
It bugs me to no end when recruiters don’t take the extra time to send over the LinkedIn profiles and website bios of company leaders. I just placed a candidate with a small, privately held startup, and the successful history of the CEO was a huge factor in making the placement.
4. Showcase the Staff
Share with candidates a few LinkedIn recommendations containing positive information about the hiring manager(s), executive, and even peers or subordinates with whom your candidate may eventually be working. By painting a picture of how wonderful the people at the company are, you’ll get your candidate foaming at the mouth (hopefully not during the interview).
Seriously though: Candidates want to know their coworkers and leaders will be not only competent, but also likable.
5. Help Your Candidate Compare Opportunities by Serving as a Trusted Advisor
By staying close to your candidate and helping them weigh the pros and cons of each offer they receive, you will gain valuable information about what competitors have to offer. You can then pitch your company more intelligently, highlighting all the ways in which its offer better meets the candidate’s needs. Things to stress in your pitch include funding, recent events, and product/service upgrades. You may also want to send your candidate links to various positive stories regarding the company and/or its executives.
Wendy Schwartz, CPRW, is an IT recruiter, resume writer, and career consultant. Wendy is launching ITJobSearchHelp.com to complement her staffing firm SearchProDirect.com.