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Finding the right employees for a job is never easy, with hundreds of candidates to sift through. You don’t just need a better way to go through all of these applications. You need innovative sourcing strategies to help you bring in more potential candidates, especially passive ones.
Up to 85% of currently employed candidates passively seek other working opportunities.
Therefore, a sourcing strategy shouldn’t focus solely on including people in your recruitment process actively seeking out jobs but also on passive job seekers. And if you want to improve your sourcing efforts and find better candidates, here are a few innovative sourcing strategies.
Innovative Sourcing Strategies to Improve Recruitment
Top talent is essential to the longevity of a business, but finding them is never so easy. It would be best if you thought outside the box to get more qualified candidates to walk into the industry who can help it flourish.
So to help you bring in better prospects, here is a list of some ways to source candidates to help hiring managers:
1. Use the Product or Service to Recruit Candidates
A company’s product or service can sometimes become significantly popular, mainly thanks to websites like YouTube and TikTok. Even if brands are not looking to spend money promoting their product on these websites, people who find it interesting will talk about it. So when the product itself becomes a marketing tool, why not use it as a way to bring in more of the best candidates.
Spotify has famously done the same thing, where they have started recruiting prospects through a playlist. Andre Hellstrom, the lead recruiter at Spotify, created a playlist that people can find publicly called “Join the band?” It featured various songs that described the requirements for a front-end developer. The idea was simple and very effective, quickly making it one of the best candidate sourcing techniques that you can find.
If you have a product with a dedicated following, you can help market the job opening to your customers. They might have the skills for the job, and with how much they enjoy using the product, they will be more inclined to join.
2. Add Job Offers for Developers Who Go inside a Website’s Console as Innovative Sourcing Strategies
Developers are often curious about how some websites to function or what the backend process looks like. So when visiting a website they like, they will often open the console and look better at how sure developers worked on it. So why not leave a short message saying, “We are looking for developers.”
This strategy can be very effective since it instantly brings in a specific group of prospective candidates. Since people rarely open a website’s console to check it, you can rest assured knowing that a developer is looking through the code.
Furthermore, finding a job offer inside the code can be like finding an Easter Egg, showing them that the company has a fun side. Or, if you want to take it a step further, you can create a challenge in the website for developers to solve. The one who solves the issue the fastest will be able to join the company as a developer. The challenge can also become popular in developer circles, further spreading the word.
3. Interact With Passive Candidates
Over 79% of people looking for jobs are searching online. That staggering figure alone is enough to tell you that the future of recruiting is online. However, there is an argument that offline platforms like job fairs can be a perfect place to look for applicants and expand your talent pool.
The average attendance for candidates is people who are actively looking for jobs. But even if they’re not, you can engage with passive applicants in a way to make them feel heard and valued. The critical part here is that you do not want to seem desperate and should try to convince the prospect why it would be good for them.
Other than job fairs, you can arrange a tour of the office. Many passive applicants and university students can come to the office, meet with all employees, and engage in meaningful conversation. It can be one of the most effective ways of bringing recruits into the company by giving them a glimpse of what it is like to work there.
4. Make Use of Referrals
Diverse workplaces have unique social circles that very rarely overlap.
Therefore, employees themselves can become ambassadors for the brand, talking to friends and family about openings in their job. Employees might also be part of various social circles that focus on finding jobs, making finding the right person significantly easier. With such a wide range of possibilities for each employee, using an employee referral program is an undeniable choice. This choice is so popular that 82% of the employers in a survey ranked it first compared to various other recruiting alternatives.
However, the important thing about a good referral program is that you should be willing to compensate employees participating effectively. They can get pay or a one-time bonus that can be a percentage of their annual salary. You can also offer them options like more vacation days, better incentives, gift cards, and other things that can make their troubles worthwhile.
Employee referrals can also be very effective in testimonials, which you can use in other recruitment material. You can use their quotes on promotional material for other candidates, and their interviews can go online.
5. Offer Rewards for Filling in Forms
An unorthodox way to bring in more applicants is to have them pay people to fill in their forms. Adding relevant information for the field, you are hiring for can attract many active and passive applicants. While enthusiastic applicants would have most likely filled in the form, passive applicants might consider applying and give it another chance.
The rewards don’t have to be outrageously big either. Amazon gift cards or coupon codes can be a great way to bring in a new crowd of applicants and are just enough to get people to fill in the form.
6. Make Applying As Easy As Possible For Creative Sourcing Strategies
Speaking of filling in forms, you should also focus on making the steps between seeing the ad and sending the application as few steps as possible. There are more job openings than people to fill, which creates an optimized website that holds the form more critical.
Once applicants click on your application to fill it out, it should not take them more than ten minutes to provide all the necessary information. To be possible, you will need to optimize the page properly to open immediately. It would be best if you also made the questions easy to answer, making the hiring process faster.
7. Use Snapchat to Bring in a Younger Crowd
It is not uncommon for recruiters to think from marketers’ perspectives when targeting applicants. Therefore, various social media platforms can be a great place to bring in suitable applicants, especially when targeting different age groups. Snapchat is a more popular service with the Gen Z age group. More specifically, ages between 15 and 25 make up 48% of the total users on the platform.
Furthermore, Snapchat also happens to be very engaging. With its concise story structure, all content falls into 10-second increments. Therefore, you can say a lot about the company enticing applicants to become a part of the business.
8. Show Off the Company Culture on YouTube or YouTube Shorts
A company’s brand and the things it associates with itself can become a significant determinant in the company an applicant chooses. So if a brand doesn’t have specific environmental policies or does not contribute to helping the climate crisis somehow, some applicants will not be willing to join a company. Up to 70% of employees will not join a company unless it serves a greater purpose.
And there is no better place to show off the company’s culture and message than on YouTube or YouTube Shorts. YouTube shorts has become very popular in a few months and quickly compete with similar apps like TikTok. The primary benefit something like shorts offers is connecting to the brand’s official YouTube page if they have one. You can show off the brand’s promise to help the environment or towards specific social change. The company is an entity, so it should also have its voice.
9. Make an Engaging Job Description
Job descriptions often do half the work when bringing in a specific candidate. It would be best if you made them feel like they would fit right into the office space and create a great working environment. That is only possible if you are making an engaging job description.
To make the job description on job boards engaging, you can write witty and exciting content that can make an applicant laugh or think more about their current situation. This type of content is also advantageous to write, as it shows the effort a company is willing to bring in new people.
Besides writing fun content, a good salary range front and center can show transparency. Up to 96% of job seekers value transparency over anything else in a company, allowing you to get on their good side immediately. The job offer can also be very enticing to passive applicants, as the increased pay could be what they are looking for in a new job opportunity.
Of course, money is not everything to everyone. So other than the salary, you should also mention any perks or benefits that come with the job. These include travel expenses, personal transport, paid vacations, and health insurance. These are just a few big things that a company offers other applicants to make up for their better choices.
10. Improve Your Employer Brand and Innovative Sourcing Strategies
Innovative sourcing strategies can effectively bring in individuals who think similarly to your brand. While having people from various backgrounds in a company is essential, you never want to bring in an individual who could make others uncomfortable. They might have insensitive ideologies, or they might have a particular disdain for certain people.
Either way, the brand has to show its applicants that there is no place for these people in their business, which is where the brand image comes into play.
The employer’s brand image is essential to creating an innovative sourcing strategy, where they can attract suitable candidates to develop a safer working environment. Maintaining our brand specifically refers to answering questions, responding to reviews, and actively engaging with the community. Almost 70% of people will only apply for a job with a company if they are trying to maintain their brand.
11. Contact Candidates Who Have Lost Interest
You won’t bring in every candidate that happens to cross your way. There will be applicants who leave in the middle of the application process or do not appear for the interview. You need to follow up on these candidates, creating an innovative sourcing strategy. It would be best if you asked for feedback on why they are leaving or what you can improve to avoid further applicants from going.
Innovative sourcing strategies can help you bring talent that can elevate your company to new heights. And with the process mentioned above, you can quickly bring in the top talent in the industry, allowing them to work for you.
To learn more about how you can make the most of your recruiting process by sourcing candidates, contact us at Recruiter.com today.
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