A common cry from recruiters and companies alike in this period of a 'candidate driven' marketplace is that there is a shortage of talent.
A fair comment some would say, but I believe that there is an abundance of talent in the marketplace. You just need to know where it all is and then how to go about finding it!
With this type of market the candidates you want will be:
- Working for a competitor
- Well paid
- Not actively looking for work
- Happy in their job
- Regularly have other job options
So how do you get a chance of talking to them?
You need to be different! Yes you should be using the standard methods of attraction as a minimum such as:
- Good career website
- Employee referral scheme
- Staff Networking
- Relevant job advertising
- CV database searching
- Agencies where needed
But why not be different to other companies and be 'brave' - add something different to the mix as well such as:
- Using the new websites
- Actively encourage the use of LinkedIn and Jobster internally
- Change the way you advertise - be different and be bold
- Revamp your career pages
- Use SEO and SEM
- Talking jobs via podcasts
- Encourage your younger staff to assist you with the 'in' websites
- Use internal messaging/networking tools such as Ning
- Create an external blog - you can use this to drive traffic to your career site
And above all, when you do get to speak to these candidates make them feel special, important and wanted - after all they are, so make them feel that way in how you interact with them every time.
