How To Attract Top Talent To Your Company
In a perfect world, all you have to do is post your open position online, receive perfect applications, and find the best candidate for your position. That candidate brings in tons of business, promotes great culture, and your business thrives as a result.
Sounds amazing right? I mean, who wouldn’t want that? But it’s not as easy as you may imagine. The “perfect” candidate may be out there but finding them takes much more effort and planning than just typing up job requirements and clicking “POST JOB”.
Here are 6 ways to attract top talent to your company:
1. Post In The Right Places
Simply posting your opening to one website will not cut it. You also want to post to the right site for the position. I am not knocking Craigslist at all, you can find talent there but it's like searching a haystack looking for a needle. Craigslist is a mixed bag of thousands of job titles and you can guarantee that your position will get lost in the sauce, especially if your position is in a popular field.
Additionally, if your position requires any type of specialized training or very specific experience and education then you are setting yourself up for failure just posting on Craigslist. You have to post a specialty job on job boards that specialize in that area of roles such as a medical job board or a dental job board. And don’t forget about the bigger sites like Indeed or Zip-recruiter, they come at a cost but that cost is worth it to attract the right candidates.
2. Attractive Advertising
To find the perfect candidate for the position, you have to use the most attractive advertising that you can in order to attract them. When I say advertising, I am talking about the job description. You may not be a scholar but you have to put forth your best effort to make the company and position sound as attractive as it really is. Of course you will be honest (i.e don’t promise them a company Tesla unless you offer that) but be descriptive!
If there are benefits, include that! You would be surprised how many companies do not offer benefits so having them listed is important. Talk a little bit about the company and brief background. Link to your website (if you have a nice one). Mention the work schedule, days off, any perks like company lunches or retreats, you should even mention if there’s a stocked kitchen with snacks and drinks. The small things matter to someone when deciding if they want to work with you. The little things your company offers can say a lot about the culture of the company and it says more than any job description could ever say.
3. Be Descriptive
When describing the job, don’t assume that your candidates just know exactly what goes into the job. Even if someone has years of experience in one field, they still may not be a good fit for your job position.
Example, you have a tax accountant position available. Simply posting the basic copy and paste tax accountant job description like ones found will not cut it. Describe the software your office uses, be specific on the tax forms they should have experience with, and mention other skills they need to have to excel at the position at your company. A candidate may have 10 years of tax experience but they may have never done individual tax returns or they may have never dealt with the kind of clients you service. These details matter because it’ll save you time on interviewing people who don’t qualify and it’ll raise the quality of people who apply for the role.
This advice matches any position you have available. Be as specific as possible about the job requirements, and utilize screening questions on the job posting to weed out those who don’t qualify.
4. Money Money Money
We can go on and on about what our jobs mean to us and you may have a passion for what you do but at the end of the week, month, or year that paycheck means a lot more. If you truly desire top talent, you will not attract them with mediocre pay. You cannot use sardines as bait if you’re trying to catch a shark. Similarly, you will not find someone at the top of the pack professionally, with years of experience and an ambitious spirit if you’re offering entry level or mid level pay. If you are not offering top talent what they are truly worth, then either raise the compensation or lower your standards.
Another thing, if a “perfect” candidate is willing to discount themselves and take less than they are worth, are they really all that “perfect”? These candidates know their worth and if you want them working for you, you need to acknowledge their worth too.
5. Interview Like A Pro
It’s important that your interviewing skills match the kind of talent you are trying to attract. You have to ask the right questions and try to know if that person is really someone you want to work with. A candidate can be “perfect” on paper but in person they miss the mark. Their experience is important yes, but who they are and how they perform at work is equally if not more important. Give sample realistic scenarios that can arise in their workday and ask them how they would handle it. Listen closely as you watch them explain how they handle those issues.
Prior to the interview, send out a personality assessment like the DISC or 16Personalities so you know the profile of the person they are inside. Then watching them in action, you can really see if they fit the culture of the company and will mesh well with their coworkers and your clients. Any professional in management knows that a bad hire can cost your company way more than having the position empty while waiting for a good one. If they don’t fit, they can cost you clients and more time as you start back at square one.
If the position requires any type of writing, ask them to bring a writing sample for you to review it. Some positions may even call for a working interview where you can shadow them and see them in action.
Finally, do not draw out the process unnecessarily. You can lose amazing talent if you take too long to make a decision. Your interviewing process has to be organized, swift paced, and concise.
6. Use a Professional
Everything you need to do to attract top talent may sound a bit overwhelming. It’s understandable, unless your job title is “recruiter” your focus is not fixated on hiring someone. You have your own work and a company or department to manage.
So that’s where a recruiter comes in. They can spend 40-60 hours per week looking for the talent you want and they have many more resources to find the perfect candidate. Not only do they have the tools but they know where to look.
At my firm, we spend much time not only advertising but we also perform our own interviews and screening that aligns with exactly what you are looking for. We sift through the haystack for you and find those diamonds in the rough.
If attracting the best of the best is your priority, then using a recruiter is the way to go. If you decide to do it on your own, then follow my tips listed in this article.
