Today’s job seekers are far from what they were ten years ago. In the war of talent, they wield the biggest weapon. In short: the applicant is king. You’re probably wondering how your SME can stand out among all that big job listing noise? 🤺 Well, to make your journey a lot more bearable, we’re giving you 5 tips in this blog for optimal recruiting. 🤩

5 tips for optimal recruiting during the recruitment and selection process

Tip 1: Craft a job listing that appeals to the applicant during the application process

Job listings with verbose requirements, minimal company info, and simple job descriptions no longer cut it. To be efficient and effective, you need to master the basics of a good job listing. How do you do that? You’ll find out in our whitepaper…

A good job listing works wonders for three crucial factors in your recruitment and selection process:

• Finding the perfect applicant or candidate through the job description.
  By outlining a clear job description, the applicant knows what you expect. By providing that information, you win a small battle… But when you vividly describe what the candidate can expect from you, that’s how you win the war.
• Saving time by including the right information in the job listing.
  A good job listing acts as a sort of pre-screening. Applicants or candidates who don’t align with your expectations, benefits, and ideologies automatically drop out. All of this without adding an extra phase or assessment to the recruitment process.
• Establishing your employer brand.
  A clear job description and sharing the right information about your company are just small parts of what employer branding does. Job listings reflect your employer brand. So, it’s the perfect tool to reveal your employer brand.

Tip 2: Showcase your employer brand during the application process

Companies with a strong reputation (read: strong employer branding) attract top applicants much easier and faster. It all starts with a powerful employer image; companies that excel in their brand.

Waiting for applicants to fall from the sky is no longer the norm. Beware, large enterprises like Google and Meta easily catch them. However, SMEs and SMBs… You need to work on a strong employer branding strategy. You do this with these three pillars:

1. The importance of a job site or career site.
   Your job site or career site is your company’s business card; it’s the best tool to establish a strong employer brand. Show potential applicants where they might end up. Nice photos, videos, and other employer brand materials simply belong on your job site or career site.
2. The impact of recruitment marketing.
   Promoting your job listings through marketing tricks and social media channels is the way to go to entice potential applicants. You’re not just enticing them; you’re simply winning them over. Not unimportant: each channel has its own function, tone of voice, pros, and cons. It’s up to your company to see what matches your employer brand.
3. The power of internal employer branding.
   Internal employer branding equals success. Your employees embody the company and are reliable advertisements for potential applicants. They are ambassadors, so flaunt them; take testimonials, show how fun company outings are… It’s worth trying.

Tip 3: Recruit proactively during the application process

HR professionals are always on the lookout for the perfect match for their company, vacancies or not. They recruit proactively. It’s the key that opens the door to a steady influx of top talent.

Tip 4: Don’t leave applicants in the dark during the application process

Not every candidate who applies is suitable for the company or a particular position. Maybe the profile isn’t what you expected, or the cultural fit is just bad. That’s all very normal and okay.

What’s not okay is leaving a (rejected) applicant in the dark during the recruitment process. Because who knows, there might be a vacancy opening up in the future that’s a perfect fit for that one candidate. Stay in touch with non-selected applicants via a newsletter, social media, etc.

Tip 5: Measure Your Success with an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is designed to make the lives of HR professionals easier and more efficient. You never lose sight of the status of candidates, data remains easily accessible, and talent pools ensure that the pipeline is never half empty but always half full.

By now, we don’t need to tell you that finding the perfect candidate is very time-consuming and costly. An applicant tracking system (ATS) efficiently and clearly provides candidate data with the aim of automating and optimizing your recruitment and selection process or application process.