What do Human Resource, Payroll, Benefits, Department Administrators, Faculty, Directors, and many other positions have in common? At some point in our careers we all participate in the recruitment and hiring new employees. This may come in the form of setting up the posting and sourcing, reviewing application materials, participating in the interview process, hiring employees, meeting someone on their first day of employment, or helping to onboard and train new employees.
Stacy Zapar, owner and founder of TenFold, was the keynote speaker at the inaugural HR@UW Conference. She shared many great tips when it comes to recruiting. But many of her practices can be used in other areas of our work and we don’t need to be recruiters to use them. For example, when sending emails, it can be helpful to be strategic in the timing of your message. If you need a response quickly, try sending your message out when a candidate would be more apt to check their messages. Stacy talked about this in terms of recruitment, but many us send and receive email and sometimes our next steps are dependent on others responses.
Here are some best practices Stacy shared, that one of OHR’s TRE team member’s, Erica Fini-Marten, suggests we consider. Even if you do not work in recruitment, feel free to consider how these tips could benefit you in the work that you do.
- Block time off at the end of the week to provide your candidates with a recruitment update if it’s been a while.
- Connect with good candidates whom you are no longer considering for your vacancy. Instead of pushing them to a black hole, encourage them to check the job posting site for other opportunities.
- Looking for referrals? Share a message you’d like your employees to send out to those they know, informing them of a new position within your department or division (this simple act can increase your response rate to 95%).
- Looking to boost your proactive candidate searches? Consider these options:
- Upgrade your LinkedIn account to the Premium level (costs associated ~$48)
- Utilize the free Boolean string creator, SourceHub
- Visit the MeetUp website and search relevant groups. Host a meetup to tell others about your vacancy. Message anyone for free.
- 86% of all job seekers have at least one social media account. Consider using social media to connect with candidates who may be a potential fit for your vacancy.
- 83% of job seekers are on Facebook.
- 18 million people say they got their current job through Facebook.
- Facebook is a great spot to reach out to candidates in the Healthcare, Legal, Finance, Service, Blue Collar and Tech fields (to search, for example, type in “Finance Employees in Madison, WI”).
- If you’re proactively reaching out to candidates to encourage them to apply to your vacancy, follow this 3-step process to stay ahead:
- Create and send your initial message – customize it and make it personal. Instead of using “I” or “me” a lot, make the message about the candidate and their career while keeping it short and sweet.
- Be strategic in the timing of your message. Send it on a Sunday evening, Monday morning or during the lunch hour when candidates are more apt to be checking their messages.
- If you haven’t heard back after a few days, try a reminder message. Create a sense of urgency and, if you’re comfortable, give that candidate a call.
- After sending two messages and you get no response, send a final message thanking the candidate for considering your previous messages. Invite them to stay in touch in the event a future vacancy becomes available that matches their experience.
- At the end of your interviews, ask candidates if there was anything that was not covered that they would like to discuss. This is where critical details about timelines and availability typically come out.
This information is timely with the implementation of the Talent Recruitment Engagement Management System (TREMS). As you are learning how TREMS works with your current recruitment processes these tips can help you to rethink or improve practice. For more information, review Stacy Zapar’s presentation materials here.
If you have questions regarding any of Stacy’s presentation materials or questions about recruitment you should contact your division HR office.