Recruiters need to be able to locate and effectively communicate with candidates wherever these may be found. Though it may seem at times that the process of finding key talent is something akin to playing pin the tail on the donkey, you can’t rely on blind luck when it comes to fulfilling your recruitment goals. You need a game plan—a strategy for unearthing prime candidates.
A big part of your plan should involve the proper care and maintenance of a recruiting portfolio, which can be defined as a collection of tools used to locate potential applicants. This portfolio may include job boards, social media platforms, miscellaneous websites, ATS software, and other resources that can be called upon when you need to locate promising leads. Here are a few tips for making the most of your recruiting portfolio.
Become familiar with niche job sites – You probably know the big names in internet job boards, like CareerBuilder, Monster, and Indeed.com. The problem with these popular sites is that everyone else knows about them, too. If you’re uploading job postings or searching for resumes, you’re selling yourself short when you restrict yourself to high-traffic sites like these.
Your recruiting toolbox should also include niche and industry-specific job boards. There are a number of such sites that cater to a particular occupational sector, such as TalentZoo.com (for advertising and marketing jobs), Dice.com (tech jobs), Efinancialcareers.com, and Healthcarejobsite.com.
Provide a simple application process – If you maintain a job portal or website where candidates can upload applications directly to your office, then you owe it to yourself—and your applicants—to make the process as pain-free as possible. Don’t make candidates jump through a lot of hoops, like forcing them to fill out a multi-page application that asks for everything from their high school GPA to their mother’s maiden name. That’s a good way to scare off talent.
Get the right recruiting software – Managing all the tools and resources you need as a recruiter can be difficult if you don’t have the right software. A good applicant tracking software package like Exelare will allow you to organize and work with your candidate materials (e.g., resumes), communicate with talent, easily access social media and internet sites, and carry out a number of other key recruiting functions, all in a single platform.