How to Make Your Company a Candidate’s First Choice

Welcome to recruitment in the 21st century, the competitive phenomenon for today’s candidate-driven market.

Gone are the days when employers would advertise a job, eager candidates would flood in, and one lucky applicant would snag the position. The mindset of doing your applicants a favour is over.

In the current economy, companies are scrambling to find the top talent they need. The new reality is employment is up, with 32.26 million people working across the UK and 76% of hiring managers saying their biggest challenge is attracting quality candidates.

With skill shortages escalating, more hiring managers are finding the competition for talent is steadily increasing. Recruitment is becoming hard work.

Selling your firm starts with your ad

Very few companies recognise they need to ‘sell’ their firm and the opportunity they are offering. How to go about this can be baffling but it really isn’t rocket science. If you view the recruitment process as a whole – from the advert to the contract and beyond – you’ll understand what candidates need to know about your company and the job. Put yourself in the candidate’s shoes.

How does your business stand out from the competition? On the job perks? Great benefits? What sets your firm apart? Use this information in your advertising – remember you are selling your organisation to the best candidates.

Company culture is a vital key to hiring success. You are looking for the type of applicant who will thrive in your workplace environment. And attracting the right kind of candidate from the beginning starts with the job advertisement.

Reflect company culture

Crafting an effective job advertisement begins before you even write a word. You need to identify your target audience; who is your ideal hire? What skill-sets will they have, how would they go about job-seeking? Your message needs to be crafted to reach the best qualified person for the position.

It takes time to write an advert that will convey everything you need to say while targeting the best talent for your firm. Core company values like integrity, passion, trust, and honesty should be evident in the advert wording.

Don’t be tempted to downplay any unappealing facets of the job. The successful candidate is going to learn about them after they start the job. By being upfront from the outset, you will eliminate any unsuitable applicants. High-quality candidates will look past the downsides and focus on the bigger picture.

Be honest and upfront, and you amplify the message you are trying to get across.

Use words to convey your company culture. Words like fast-paced, exciting, laid-back or friendly all give clues to the kind of work environment you offer. If your culture is laid back and relaxed, use casual language to match. Formal wording would indicate a more formal corporate culture.

The next step is getting your perfectly crafted offering in front of as many high-quality prospects as possible. By using an online recruitment company like Jobheron, you’re assured of your ad appearing on all the major job boards.

Hiring involves much more than looking good on paper. Getting the right talent is half the battle, but keeping new hires engaged and satisfied is the other half.

Draw in five-star talent

Shortlisted candidates will be assessing your company from the moment they walk through the front door for that first interview.

This is where your business brand stands out. Outperforming your competition automatically makes your firm a more appealing workplace. Top performers like to be connected to a winner.

Your business brand is important. Even small businesses can become extremely attractive employers by highlighting the appeal of their corporate brand, their culture, workplace environment and reputation.

What job seekers want

Studies show that nearly half of job seekers turn down a job offer due to a poor recruiting experience. Clearly, knowing what skilled professionals want in a hiring process is a serious problem for many hiring business.

Experts emphasise that companies involved in the recruitment process gain bonus points by offering career development, a flexible selection of benefits, and a decent working environment. Good management, interesting work, and attention to the employee’s work/life balance give an organisation the edge over its competition.

The four most important factors for high performing job seekers are:

1. Salary: Since 40% of the workforce cites pay as the reason they are unhappy with their jobs, employers offering better salaries will always attract talent more easily. If you want to appeal to and hold high performance candidates, your firm needs to offer competitive wages.
2. Opportunity for development: If employee retention is your aim – and it should be – keep in mind that 39% of UK workers would turn down a position that didn’t offer professional development.
3. Flexible work solutions: Flexible working opportunities are considered a significant work benefit.  28% of people surveyed said they would prefer extra holidays and flexible working hours over a pay rise. Most companies now know it makes good business sense to offer flexible working arrangements for their staff.

Common forms of flexible work are:

• Flexi-time
• Part-time work
• Job sharing
• Compressed hours
• Staggered hours
• Home working

4. Work/life balance: More UK organisations are recognising that work-life balance has an effect on employee performance and engagement. The lines between work and home are increasingly blurred by our ‘always-on’ technology, adding extra work stress. Companies with programs in place to support employee wellbeing give the clear message they care about their people.

Employee growth and retention

Your business reputation plays a major part in winning top quality candidates. But have you considered your ‘brand’ as an employer?

Elements that attract job seekers to your employer brand are sound working practices and great company values.

Don’t forget that employees talk, staff review sites are shared around, posts are made on social media. The recruitment process doesn’t end when the contract’s signed.

Employers need to go beyond the first day on the job. Investing in a new hire pays off later in employee loyalty and engagement.

Bring on the candidates

You’ve identified your ideal candidate profile and written the perfect advert. It highlights the best of your company culture and emphasises your appealing business brand. You know that your perks and benefits can compete with most on offer, and there’s plenty of room for growth and advancement in your firm.

Now all you need are candidates – high-quality people with skills and talents suited to your job. This is where Jobheron comes in, getting you the big pool of applicants so essential for recruitment success.

Don’t let your advert go to waste by only posting on one job board. Jobheron posts your advert to all the top job boards, where 85% of all job seekers are found. Hidden there is your next employee. Even better, if you are tight on time we will write your advert for you.