Too much traditional recruitment has been about 'Plug and Place', without thinking strategically about where to find QUALITY candidates and using the right tools to decipher who is best for your organisation.
As anyone who has recently tried to hire will know, it's not easy to find great talent right now. There are skill shortages in many industries and plenty of employers fighting over the same candidates. Shortlisted applicants are getting snapped up elsewhere before the interested HR Manager has even had time to schedule the first interview. Paying big money to a recruitment agent is no guarantee you're going to see a pool of terrific candidates. Here's why:
Typically, recruitment agents are not media experts.
Ten years ago, it was OK for a recruitment agency to buy a mega pack of Seek adverts and automatically list all their client vacancies on that site. Today, that's not good enough. With the rapid expansion of social media, digital targeting options and emergence of new and powerful job boards that rival Seek, your Recruitment Business Partner should also be your independent media expert. Or be working with a specialist advertising agency that is.
Part of providing a good recruitment service is about keeping your finger on the pulse of the job seeker market and knowing which media is delivering job seekers by industry and region.
Getting a pool of good applicants takes more than putting your bait in the job board pond and hoping for a few bites.
Today’s job seekers are fueled by information and choice. They research organisations before choosing to apply and they care about your reputation, your social media profile and what your current employees say about you. It's no surprise that businesses cite Employer branding as the #1 area they wish they invest more.
So why then, do recruitment agents persist in advertising their brand and not yours? Candidates hate it, they want to know who they are applying to. Lack of specific detail in job adverts is the second biggest job hunter frustration (behind lack of feedback) and can actually cost you applications.
Get a Recruitment Business Partner who helps you build your own brand and talent pool, not theirs.
Your application process is a reflection of your overall brand
60% of people who have a bad candidate experience will tell their friends, and your chances of getting them to reapply to another role are significantly reduced. Couple that with industry stats on how candidates feel about recruiters in general, and you can see the danger signs when it comes time to fill your vacancy.
It’s important to create a seamless brand experience for people applying for your job and that starts with a tailored application process. Every industry is different: the way a driver applies for a job is far different than the way a pharmacist would. Your Recruitment Business Partner needs to know this and adapt accordingly.
A poor application process can cost you dearly, so make sure your agency is on top of it. Asking for lots of personal details such as medical history, long questionnaires, forcing candidates to build a profile on a recruitment agency site, using media where candidates are also forced to build a profile on the media's site before they even get to the recruitment agency site... all are signs that you may be disappointed with your candidate pool.
Shortlisters by Talent Propeller offer fixed fee for service packages with media expertise, a transparent application process and a range of pre-employment tests to help you choose the right candidate.
