Technology has undeniably changed the game for recruiters. On one side, it brings in candidates every day from all kinds of channels, and can help you sift through the applications for the “good fits”. On the flip side, what about those gems in the rough, the uncommon fit outside of your checklist of requirements, that joins the team and takes off sprinting? Those gems take some manual effort to find. The most successful, sometimes unconventional, candidate placements can’t be found through automated process in your applicant tracking system. So how do we land them, especially if they’re employed elsewhere and the timing isn’t right?
There’s a way to find those gems and land them, and technology’s on our side. Not just through an ATS solution, setting filters with keywords to attract the cookie-cutter employee – but through creative approaches that leverage your tools in a way that keeps quality conversations going.
Make sure your technology is working for you, and implement these tactics today to boost quality candidate conversations:
Dig Up Previous Candidates
Just as marketing teams drop leads into nurture programs, you should be setting your tech stack up to do the same with quality candidates.
Sales and marketing teams typically tag-team buyers if they dropped off or went dark. Buyers interact with brands, even when it’s not the right time to buy. Sales and marketing have tons of data based on your interactions, and continue to reach out to you with relevant messages. When it is the right time to buy, they hope you’re top-of-mind. Same thing goes with a job, right?
Set up a campaign to keep in touch, even if it’s only once a month, with candidates you know are rockstars. Keep them engaged, build your relationship with valuable (but automated) touches. When something changes in their world, you’re the one they’re going to call – and it didn’t take you any more manual effort to get there.
Do yourself a favor. Keep your quality circle tight and “nurture” it often. What email automation or social connection can you set up today to recycle and continuously engage with the rockstars in your system?
Get Super Targeted With Job Ads
We all know buyers respond better to personalized ads, and the best sales emails are customized specifically to what the recipient cares about.
Getting a job is no different.
When the time is right for those rockstar candidates, what does your job ad look like? How much are you able to stand out using your current technology stack, and how automated is that process to scale?
Personalization is king, whether you’re sending a cold email, a marketing message or a job opportunity. Touch on an emotional trigger if possible. Figure out how this candidate identifies with their current role, and what would be unique or better in a new role – your messaging needs to make the candidate feel something, and something specific to them.
Candidates want a trustworthy relationship with the recruiter and team they’ll be working with, and personalized email automation done right can help you get there faster. Just be cautious not to send a “personalized” job ad that looks like every other templated message they’re getting about a new opportunity.
If they’ve been “nurtured” and you’re the one to bridge that emotional gap, you’ve got their attention. How can you leverage candidate data and technology to stand out and get to candidates with a relevant message faster?
Speed Up Your Social Media
Job postings on LinkedIn extend your reach and allow you to connect with candidates on a deeper level. Use this channel to its full advantage or lose top candidates to those who are.
Social engagement is becoming an integral part of cross-channel strategy, and there’s a huge opportunity to be different (and faster) than the millions of recruiters on the platform today.
The LinkedIn integration with Mixmax enables easier prospecting, icebreaking and engagement with candidates: The good news is you can work your LinkedIn game directly from your inbox now.
Got a rockstar candidate interacting with your job posting or company on LinkedIn?
Connect with them straight from Gmail, browse your personalized templates, add them to a campaign and organize time to meet with them via an online meeting scheduler. All that in 2 seconds, from one place, so you don’t miss out on that quality hire. That’s how your technology works for you and not the other way around.
Get on social often, because that’s where your top talent is. Play the long game and get to know them, their strengths and what their interests are. Where are they interacting most? Are they part of LinkedIn groups and do they comment or like specific posts you can reference? Consider ways you can mention or connect with them beyond a job opportunity first, and they’ll consider you more valuable than a recruiter. Stand out to be remembered, and create a company culture experience they want to be a part of before an opportunity is even available.
Quality always wins over quantity. As recruiters you sometimes have piles of applications that just miss the mark, so you can relate. It’s better to get 5 brilliant candidates over 50 mediocre fits, right?
Attracting those 5 incredible candidates sometimes takes more of an outbound strategy. Sure, we can use technology to our advantage to automate some of our mindless daily tasks, but we can also leverage technology more strategically to best position ourselves in front of top candidates.
What can you automate to free up your time and focus on landing top talent faster? How can you further use technology to personalize outreach to those top candidates and stand out to them in a sea of opportunity? The game has changed with tech, and it’s up to you how you use it! Use it wisely and continuously land your top talent.
Competition is stiff for recruiting teams. Your candidates demand nothing short of excellence. See how Mixmax can help give your recruiting team a competitive advantage.
Start a free trial of Mixmax today.
