Snag the tough-to-get candidates with personalized recruitment strategies
Author: Scott Fiore
When recruiting hard-to-get candidates, a personalized strategy is more likely to result in success than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Candidates who feel you take a personal interest in them will have a more favorable view of your company and be more likely to accept your position. And even if they don’t choose you this time—or you don’t choose them—you are expanding your talent pool for future available positions.
Use the approaches used by job recruiters, particularly for top-tier candidates
- Search social media to get information that candidates share there (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and learn more about their interests and skills. Job recruiters do this to familiarize themselves with candidates and personalize outreach to them.
- Customize email communications with each top candidate to get a higher response rate. If you’re not using the services of a professional recruiter (aka headhunter), you might want to get an applicant tracking system to help you do that. Keep in touch via email with each candidate, individually, throughout the search and interview process.
- Get to know prospects as individuals, not just as professionals with desirable skills, in your communications with them. Ask what is most important to them in deciding to change positions and try to meet their needs. If you feel your position can match their criteria, encourage them to apply.
- Use the telephone. Email shouldn’t be your only form of communication with top candidates. The phone is as personal as you can get without meeting in person. For high-priority candidates, perhaps your CEO would give them a call to talk about the company and position.
- Give job descriptions a visual look reflecting your company’s brand. They should look distinctly different from those of your competitors. Make certain they are specific and clear, and include information about your company, its mission, and its positive qualities as well.
- Interview candidates face to face. In a survey of job seekers, 72 percent favored traditional, in-person interviews over phone interviews, at just 15 percent. The age and career level of respondents didn’t appear to be factors. So, despite the dependence on technology and social media, most job seekers still prefer face-to-face interaction for interviews.
The bottom line: The personal touch, if applied correctly, can make the difference between snagging and losing candidates.
Want to personalize the recruiting/hiring experience for top candidates? We can help
You may want to give personalized recruiting a try on your own, but it takes time and strategy. You might need the assistance of professionals at a recruiting agency to help with finding candidates, interviewing them, doing reference checks, and ongoing communications.
The recruiters and employment specialists at our recruiting/temp staffing agency and HR consulting firm can assist you, whether it’s filling a full-time position or needing temporary administrative staffing or professional staffing services. At TriStarr, we screen candidates by checking backgrounds, doing personality/behavioral assessments, and conducting in-depth interviews. Our team of professionals will help you find the best candidates and hire the most qualified employees.
TriStarr is a professional temp and employment agency in Lancaster, Pa., also serving Harrisburg, York, Lebanon, and Reading. Contact us online, or give us a call at (717) 560-2111.
When recruiting hard-to-get candidates, a personalized strategy is more likely to result in success than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Candidates who feel you take a personal interest in them will have a more favorable view of your company and be more likely to accept your position. And even if they don’t choose you this time—or you don’t choose them—you are expanding your talent pool for future available positions.
Use the approaches used by job recruiters, particularly for top-tier candidates
- Search social media to get information that candidates share there (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and learn more about their interests and skills. Job recruiters do this to familiarize themselves with candidates and personalize outreach to them.
- Customize email communications with each top candidate to get a higher response rate. If you’re not using the services of a professional recruiter (aka headhunter), you might want to get an applicant tracking system to help you do that. Keep in touch via email with each candidate, individually, throughout the search and interview process.
- Get to know prospects as individuals, not just as professionals with desirable skills, in your communications with them. Ask what is most important to them in deciding to change positions and try to meet their needs. If you feel your position can match their criteria, encourage them to apply.
- Use the telephone. Email shouldn’t be your only form of communication with top candidates. The phone is as personal as you can get without meeting in person. For high-priority candidates, perhaps your CEO would give them a call to talk about the company and position.
- Give job descriptions a visual look reflecting your company’s brand. They should look distinctly different from those of your competitors. Make certain they are specific and clear, and include information about your company, its mission, and its positive qualities as well.
- Interview candidates face to face. In a survey of job seekers, 72 percent favored traditional, in-person interviews over phone interviews, at just 15 percent. The age and career level of respondents didn’t appear to be factors. So, despite the dependence on technology and social media, most job seekers still prefer face-to-face interaction for interviews.
The bottom line: The personal touch, if applied correctly, can make the difference between snagging and losing candidates.
Want to personalize the recruiting/hiring experience for top candidates? We can help
You may want to give personalized recruiting a try on your own, but it takes time and strategy. You might need the assistance of professionals at a recruiting agency to help with finding candidates, interviewing them, doing reference checks, and ongoing communications.
The recruiters and employment specialists at our recruiting/temp staffing agency and HR consulting firm can assist you, whether it’s filling a full-time position or needing temporary administrative staffing or professional staffing services. At TriStarr, we screen candidates by checking backgrounds, doing personality/behavioral assessments, and conducting in-depth interviews. Our team of professionals will help you find the best candidates and hire the most qualified employees.
TriStarr is a professional temp and employment agency in Lancaster, Pa., also serving Harrisburg, York, Lebanon, and Reading. Contact us online, or give us a call at (717) 560-2111.
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