Fitting the right candidate to the right job is an art that Radius Staffing Solutions has made an effort to perfect. Since we work with both employers and employees, we get to hone both sides of the practice and share our findings with our partners on both sides. Keep reading to get an inside look on how we attract the best candidates for the job.
Avoid Corporate Clichés
This is something we hear often in nearly every form of social media, so why do we still see the same clichés on every job board? Corporate cliches are buzzwords and phrases that, while once new and eye-catching, have devolved into signals for disengagement. Candidates who see these terms in job postings or hear them in interviews are likely to feel that they are being fed a script instead of something personalized and real.
It may be tempting to hold onto these terms, as they might have been popular when you were being hired or have simply become habit to use over the last few years. Language is ever-growing, though, and, the more these terms are used, they less interesting or engaging they become. At some point, being told to ‘think outside the box’ stopped telling people that the speaker is creative and did more harm than good.
Studies show that using terms like ‘overachiever’, ‘buy-in’, ‘key metrics’, and ‘self-driven’ can cause a job posting to take up to 3.6 times longer to fill. To replace these terms, be clear about what you are looking for. Instead of saying ‘team player’, be specific. Let people know what a ‘team player’ would mean in your company and you will attract the people who can truly fulfill that role.
Highlight the Highlights
We want people to join our workplaces because they want to be there, but we need to get their attention first. Taking time to focus on the highlights of an opportunity, like pay, benefits, PTO, commission, and other similar structures, does not take away from the quality of the company or opportunity. It simply shows candidates that you, as an employer, understand what they are looking for.
Additionally, take time to talk about company highlights beyond what comes in a job offer. Show pictures and describe events, like Halloween parties or anniversary celebrations the company has done in the past. Showing off events like these lets job seekers see that the ‘family’ your job posting describes is actually a genuine part of the company culture.
The highlights need to be the focus of any job posting, but if there are deal-breaker requirements, make sure to include those as well. The best way to order the information is most-to-least exciting from the candidate’s point of view. The factors that candidates are interested in change with every specialty, so talk to our recruiters to get a better idea of what qualified candidates will be looking for.
Set Expectations
There are a few different ways to set expectations in a job posting. Whether you are working with recruiters or posting on your website, one of the best things you can do is tell a story. The Harvard Business Review quotes Nick Morgan saying “business leaders ‘won’t be heard unless they’re telling stories'” in an article about the power of storytelling.
Storytelling should be a simple, authentic, and personal way to connect with candidates beyond resumes. It gives both sides a chance to see if their ethics and ideals could be a good match before moving forward.
Another great way to set expectations in a job posting is to write how you speak. If our office is formal, than there is no issue in writing a formal job posting, but if your office is more relaxed, than make sure to use familiar office language when typing the job posting.
Along with adding a story to connect, you need to add requirements and instructions to ensure the candidates are a good match to the job. It will waste more time than it will save to tip-toe around necessary experiences, licensure, or abilities, so be clear and concise when describing the needs for the opportunity. You may get less candidates applying if you write an honest and tonally accurate job posting, but the candidates who apply will be genuinely interested and fitting candidates.
Beyond that, set an expectation for the candidate’s next step. Let them know if they can expect to hear back, even if they are unqualified, and what that timeline looks like. Candidates want to know that their application efforts will not be ignored and their time was valuable to the company.
83% of candidates say it would greatly improve their application experience if employers could immediately give a timeline of the hiring process. Giving an accurate timeline and sticking to it fosters a healthy cooperative dynamic between possible employees and future employers.
While these are all relatively simple practices, not every company has the resources to keep up with the market changes that influence these shifts. If you are interested in finding the best candidates in a way that fits the active market, connect with our recruiters today!
