As you’re beginning to look for new hires, you may notice something: You could have a bit of great talent, but you’re likely facing a lot of different companies in order to get the same great recruit. Competition is rife, so much so that LinkedIn reported that more than 50 percent of U.S. businesses felt competition remained their most significant obstacle in hiring new talent. With so many different businesses offering similar pay and perks, how can you stand out from others in job recruitment? One way of doing this is to establish a bond with your candidates. In other words, you should be able to nurture them.
Building a pipeline
Before understanding what nurturing is, you should learn what a talent pipeline is, since the former requires the latter. The pipeline, as Brazen Careerist noted, is a method of creating a steady stream of likely candidates for your company. For one thing, it doesn’t have to be made up of people pertaining to a specific role, but rather candidates who are likely in fields that you may need new help in some time in the near to medium term.
“While a talent pipeline can consist of active recruits, you must bring in passive candidates as well.”
While it can consist of former active job seekers who have applied to your business in the past, you’ll also want to be engaging with people who aren’t actively looking. These passive types are often dipping their toes in the water and keeping their options open. While they may be working, they’re open to new career opportunities, should they arise. With a combination of both of these types of job seekers, you’ll feel like you have no shortage of potential candidates in due time.
Getting to know people
Once you have a steady stream of applicants that you can easily reach out to, either through social media, an applicant tracking system or job board, that’s when a nurture campaign truly starts. Basically, you’re looking to build interest in your company’s business over time, both directly and indirectly. This requires different skills and organization abilities. Namely, you have to be in regular contact with these people, willing to check in at any given time. More importantly, you have to get to know your applicants and let them know about your business, according to Matthew Hakaim of Recruiting Blogs.
By talking about what it’s like working there, while giving them the chance to offer up their experiences in general without creating pressure, you give recruits a reason to be interested in your company. That allows you to nurture them into people that will accept your job offer if you decide on them.
