It’s no secret that hiring requires valuable time, money, and resources. You’re spending hours behind a desk to recruit the right candidates and build your dream team, but what do you have to show for it?
If you’re struggling to hire qualified candidates, you’re far from alone. Recruitment isn’t easy in such a tight market—and countless contractors are fighting for top trade talent. After all, hiring during the Great Resignation comes with unique challenges. There’s been an upward trend of quitting for the past decade, and job shuffling has made recruitment all the more challenging.
So, how can you capture your ideal candidates’ attention and convert them into new hires before they slip through the cracks? First, you’ll need to identify the recruitment marketing mistakes that are driving prospects away from your contractor business. Here’s how to get started.
Put yourself in your candidates’ shoes. You’re scrolling through job boards, feeling overwhelmed by bland cookie-cutter job descriptions. You’re just waiting for the perfect position to cut through the noise and grab your attention so you can feel confident clicking the Apply button.
If you’ve been playing it safe with snore-worthy job descriptions, it’s time to tap into your creativity. If a hiring manager, client, or job applicant stumbles across your job postings, you don’t want them to feel bored. When you write better descriptions, you might not attract more candidates, but you’ll attract higher-quality candidates—and that means less time sorting through resumes, scheduling interviews, and dealing with unqualified applicants.
How to fix it: Think of your job description as a blueprint. When you put time and effort into writing the perfect description, you’ll make the rest of the hiring process that much smoother.
Start with your job title. Make it clear and concise. Instead of overwhelming candidates with long lists of on-the-job responsibilities, highlight key aspects that set your company apart from the competition (think: your core values and culture). It might be tempting to copy and paste job description templates from the internet, but you’ll need to get creative if you want to hire the right people.
When it’s time to list the job requirements, clarify the necessary skills from the desired skills. Let potential candidates know that your list of desired skills would add value, but they’re not concrete requirements. To top off your job description, run the text through Gender Decoder to eliminate any subtle linguistic bias.
Your candidates are busy, and they don’t have time to waste on a time-consuming application. If it takes too many steps to get applicants to the finish line, then it’s probably a good idea to rethink your application process.
Why? A complex application process can leave candidates with a poor first impression of your company. According to Appcast, the candidate drop-off rate for job applications is a whopping 92 percent. At the end of the day, candidates are consumers—and they expect a quick, easy, informative application process. If you don’t meet their expectations, they’ll save their time and move straight to the competition.
How to fix it: Audit your application. Everyone involved in hiring, including recruiters and hiring managers, should navigate the application process to identify potential areas of improvement.
Throughout the application process, think about your branding. If you’re using an applicant tracking system (ATS) to hire new team members, consider what kind of experience it creates for candidates. Does your ATS bring prospects to a new website? Is it confusing? Is it filled with vendor branding, or do you keep prospects engaged with a consistent application experience?
Next, you’ll need to create an application that works for on-the-go candidates. Your ideal candidates are searching for new jobs on their smartphones, and you need an application that meets them where they already are.
You’re fighting for qualified candidates in a tight market, and they’re paying attention to every move you make. The way you treat candidates throughout the hiring process reflects the way you’ll treat them after hiring. And if they have a negative experience, they’ll be much less willing to work with your company.
What does that mean for your communication strategy? Well, you need to communicate with your candidates to keep them engaged. They already took the time to fill out your application and learn more about your company. Now, you need to treat them with respect and keep them updated with regular communication.
We know what you’re thinking: “I’m busy. I don’t have enough time to consider every single candidate.” Sure, it might be tempting to put off hiring when you’re working on a complex project, but you should block off time on your calendar to review candidates as soon as applications come rolling in. If you don’t act fast, you’re only going to lose your top picks to other employers.
How to fix it: Start treating your candidates like customers. Set expectations for communication by telling candidates when they should expect to hear from you. If you’re using automated hiring tools, make sure to set reminders to follow through. Don’t go MIA in the middle of the hiring process.
You want to give candidates a sneak peek into life with your company, and that means staying in touch from recruitment through onboarding. For example, if you’re scheduling an interview, give them all the necessary information they need to feel confident during the interview process. Let them know what to expect from the interview, who will be there, and what the next steps are. If you decide to hire another candidate, don’t leave your prospects waiting around for a reply.
We’ve said it before, but your online presence matters. Your candidates are more likely to apply for positions that seem credible and trustworthy, and they’re going to take a deep dive into your company before they hit the Apply button. According to LinkedIn, 52 percent of candidates check out social media to learn more about potential employers.
If you want to cut through the noise and show candidates why you’re worth working for, you need to build a strong online presence—and that starts with effective social media marketing. That means posting regularly, interacting with candidates and customers, and highlighting your achievements. And no, it’s not enough to just post when you’re actively recruiting.
How to fix it: Check out our guide on contractor social media strategies to upgrade your online presence. If you’re hiring for a smaller company, it’s fine to use your regular business social media accounts to recruit new candidates. But if you’re hiring for a bigger organization, it’s worth creating separate social media accounts to separate your employer brand from your company brand.
Social media isn’t just an amazing opportunity to promote your business. It’s also an easy way to share new job roles, captivate passive candidates, and boost your employer brand. Once you’ve established a regular posting cadence, you can highlight your company culture with employee spotlights, testimonials, pictures from company events, and more. This way, you’ll differentiate your brand from the competition and show potential candidates what it’s really like to work with your company.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully converted your ideal candidate from applicant to new hire. Now it’s time to take off your HR hat, right? Not exactly.
If you want to retain top talent, you’ll need to invest in a comprehensive onboarding process. Research shows that 44 percent of workers leave within six months due to inadequate training, and 88 percent of employers think their company doesn’t do a good job when it comes to onboarding.
How to fix it: You already know that onboarding is key for employee retention and productivity, but how can you improve your onboarding process? Take a step back and think about your current process. How long does onboarding new hires take? Do they feel confident on their first day?
If onboarding ends after their first day on the job, that’s a red flag. An effective onboarding strategy is the best way to set new hires up for success, even if you’re hiring for an entry-level position. Remember: Most customers are willing to pay more for a better experience, so entry-level shouldn’t equal zero training.
Your onboarding strategy should start with a pre-boarding process that teaches new hires about your workplace policy, values, products, and services before their first day. Make sure to show new hires around the office, introduce them to the team, and give them contact information—but avoid overloading them. As your new hires navigate the onboarding process, ask for their feedback and put it into action.
Recruitment requires a lot of heavy lifting, but it doesn’t have to. When you fuel your hiring efforts with a winning recruitment marketing strategy, you’ll take one step closer to winning the war for talent.
Ready to build your dream team? We’re here to help you create standout campaigns so you can attract, hire, and retain the talent you need. Reach out to our team to take a new approach to recruitment marketing.
