Attracting Top Talent in a Tight Candidate Market

It might seem like the local talent market is tapped-out or that the candidate pool is small. But in reality, that’s not entirely true. In fact, you may just need to switch your mindset about how to attract top talent. Your candidates may already be hard at work… at another
organization.

Here’s proof: a recent study shows that 65% of employed adults look at new opportunities. Further, 58% of workers look at other opportunities at least once a month. So, how do you draw these highly qualified, actively working candidates into a role with your company?

Since Celarity’s got a lot of experience in this area, here’s a few of our best tips for finding and hiring top local talent:

1.) Find out where your talent pool is and go there!

• Invest in postings on relevant sites.

Posting to your website won’t be enough to draw-in qualified candidates. You’d be expecting candidates to come to you rather than you reaching out to them. Post to places your talent visits on a more frequent basis. Here are some examples: MIMA (marketing & digital), AIGA (design & creative), PMI (project management & IT), and Ad Fed (marketing & advertising).

• Attend local organization events.

Candidates often attend events not just for learning opportunities, but also with the hope of meeting new connections or even finding a job! This is a great place to search for qualified candidates who also show an interest in continuous learning and improvement. (By the way, we keep track of local industry events on our Scoop Calendar.)

• Don’t forget about referrals.

Referrals should be one of your best sources for finding strong candidates. Having a referral program can help boost the incentive for employees to share job opportunities with others in their network. As employees share open positions, you’ll get additional organic reach for these roles and likely, some positive reputation points.

2.) Ensure that your recruitment marketing content is top-notch.

If you’re really interested in finding first-class candidates, you’ll likely have to put a bit of time into some content-creation. Some important pieces to develop include:

• Compelling and clear job descriptions
• Persuasive job ads with distinct calls to action
• Company success stories and testimonials

Remember that your main goal should be establishing a personal connection through engagement. And with any content published, whether it be social media, blog posts, or job ads, always ensure that your organizational culture and values shine through in each piece.

3.) Create a smooth & speedy hiring process.

Don’t miss out on capturing the best talent because your hiring process was too complicated or slow, or because it misrepresented the organization or position. There are a lot of resources dedicated to helping companies revamp their hiring processes but there are a few basic guidelines that you should always try to follow in a tough recruitment market:

• Make it as easy as possible for candidates to apply (the shorter, the better!)
• Set clear expectations for the hiring process
• Try to reply to each candidate in a timely manner (stay away from automation if possible)
• Be prepared to expedite the hiring process if you find a great candidate

Do you want more information on best practices for recruiting in a competitive or candidate-driven market? Reach out to us!

Visit The Ultimate Guide to Hiring Digital Talent page for more information about how to attract top talent!