The Who, What, and How of Recruiting

Recruitment professionals play an integral role in scouting out fantastic new talent for a company. They spend the majority of their time networking with potential candidates, reviewing applications and holding interviews. Recruiters can either be found internally in an organization’s human resources department, or externally at a staffing agency.

Recruiters use an array of strategies to find top new candidates. Below is a guide to a few of the most effective:

Use a staffing agency

Although in-house recruiters and human resources professionals are no doubt effective at finding great new candidates, there are also a number of benefits to enlisting the services of a recruitment agency, to either supplement or replace an in-house team. According to LinkedIn, recruiters that work for an agency typically have more time and resources to dedicate to the search. Recruitment agencies can spend the majority of their time – up to 90 percent – cultivating professional relationships and building a strong network of potential talent. Furthermore, passive candidates tend to maintain ties to recruitment agencies, meaning that a recruitment specialist at an agency will be able to head hunt talent that isn’t even looking for a new job. And more often than not, passive candidates tend to be of a higher caliber.

Use social media

It is no surprise that in the digital age organizations are harnessing the power of social media platforms for their recruitment efforts. Social media has invaded every aspect of our lives and it can be an ideal way to market new positions and connect with candidates. Some 56 percent of employers now use some form of social media site for recruitment, and Jobvite found that around 55 percent of hiring managers had reconsidered a candidate based on something that they had uncovered on his or her social media site. And it’s clearly an effective strategy, as job seekers are flocking to social media in droves to learn more about new opportunities. As Jobvite detailed, some 83 percent of candidates recently surveyed revealed that they use Facebook to look for new jobs, while recruiters are primarily focusing their attention on LinkedIn.

A truly effective social media strategy will utilize a range of social platforms, from Pinterest to Twitter to LinkedIn to find a diverse field of candidates. According to Jobcast, Twitter, for example, is more popular with millennial candidates and Pinterest is especially popular with women users – some 80 percent of the platform’s user base is female.

Referrals still key

Candidate referrals are still by far one of the most effective recruitment tools, however, with a vast majority of employers reporting that the very best candidates are found through this strategy.