Employer looking to engage job seekers.

Engage Job Seekers in 5 Steps

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In a way, the whole recruiting and hiring process is a lot like dating—both parties have to put in a lot of time and effort in order to form a strong, positive relationship. And in today’s tough job market, you can’t automatically assume that just because you’re posting a job listing that you’ll get tons of qualified candidates clamoring to work for your company.

Companies have to woo job seekers in order to attract and retain the best talent possible. One way to accomplish that is by taking the time to engage job seekers right from the very start.

Learn how to engage job seekers in these five simple steps:

1. Make the job listing as comprehensive as possible.

Job seekers are busy people. They don’t have time to decipher a cryptic job posting to figure out if they’d like to work for your organization or not. So make it easy for them by being as thorough about the job listing as possible.

You don’t have to include every single detail, but the listing should have enough information that a job hunter can determine: a) if they have the skills, education, and experience necessary to qualify for the position, and b) if they really want the job. If a candidate can’t do either one of those things, then your job listing isn’t clear enough.

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2. Include flexible work options.

Some companies are quite open about their flexible work policies. They understand that the vast majority of job seekers are looking for positions with flexibility built into them. If your company is a proponent of flex, and the job is flexible, be sure to include that in the job listing. Otherwise you could lose out on a lot of talented workers who are specifically looking for jobs that allow telecommuting or have the ability to be flexible.

3. Create a cool and comfortable company culture.

Ideally, you want to hire a person who really, really wants to work for your company. After all, you’re not looking to hire a person who is going to quit after a few months, leaving you in the lurch and having to start the whole recruitment and hiring process all over again.

One way to engage job seekers is to have a company culture that they would want to be part of. It might be that your company is philanthropic, is known to promote from within, invests in employees’ education, offers on-site daycare and fitness centers, has fun company retreats, and so on. Share how your company culture is cooler than your competitors’, and you’ll have a bigger applicant pool to choose from.

4. Personalize the hiring process.

Engaging job seekers isn’t just about catching their eye as they begin the application process. It’s also about keeping them engaged during the entire hiring process, which can take weeks at a time.

Since you don’t want to lose your leading candidates, be sure to personalize the process. Keep the connection going throughout by offering updates to your candidates so they know that they’re still in contention for the job. Address them by their first name and learn a thing or two about their personal lives, like their hobbies and interests. It will help make job seekers feel like you really care about them, and in turn, keep them motivated to continue through the various rounds of interviews until you make your decision about who to hire.

5. Update your company’s website and social media presence frequently.

Job seekers worth their salt will do research on your company before an interview. But if your site is stale and not updated, you’re not only not giving them much to go on, but you’re also sending a message to applicants that you don’t care what your brand looks like.

Job seekers want to work for a company that they’re excited about, and one way to pique their interests is to post information on a continuous basis. For example, you can post pics from your company’s recent retreat on your company’s social media channels, or you can upload the latest company newsletter that highlights some of the stellar workers from this month on your site. Doing so will show job seekers that you care about your employees, your brand, and can give them a greater sense of what your company stands for.

Engaging job seekers is a great way to ensure that you hire talent that truly wants to work for your company. It helps to personalize the process, make your own brand stronger, and earn you the reputation for being a company that cares about its workers, which is something that every job seeker ultimately is looking for.

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