3 Insanely Useful Productivity Hacks To Win The War For Talent As A Tech Recruiter
In a candidate-driven market, recruiting has turned into a competition of who can win over the best candidates the fastest. A conducted by Bersin By Deloitte discovered it takes on average 52 days to fill a job. Yet quality candidates only last on the market for about 10. The pressure to convert top talent into employees can take a toll on recruiter productivity and performance.
Here are 3 insanely useful productivity hacks successful recruiters swear by to win the war for talent and prevent burnout from doing it all themselves
Optimize Public Platforms
In a millennial-driven workforce, social media has become an essential component of sourcing and connecting with the new generation of candidates. Recruiting isn’t only relying on active candidates, it’s seeking out, getting the attention of and convincing passive candidates that a new opportunity is worth more than the one they’re currently in.
found passive candidates make up 70% of the global workforce while only 30% are considered to be active. It’s crucial recruiters source candidates from both passive and active candidate pools or risks losing out on potential top talent.
Survey results from Indeed found 86% of recruiters admitted their greatest challenge is finding and hiring technical candidates due to a global shortage of tech talent. The majority of tech talent is considered to be passive. Since most passive candidates aren’t active on job boards, recruiters need to develop a sourcing strategy that puts them where the candidates are.
Most recruiters prioritize their search on other platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. While tech talent does occasionally visit these platforms, the most overlooked place where they tend to hang out is on public online communities such as Stack Overflow and
The popular public online tech forum, Stack Overflow, researched further into the global shortage of tech talent by asking over 100,000 developers around the world about their job seeking status. The results were rather interesting. While 16% of developers reported actively looking for a new job, 75% admitted to not actively searching but still open to hearing about new opportunities.
Tech-savvy individuals are more inclined to research further into a company before accepting and interviewing with a company. The secret to winning over these candidates is making the most of a company’s online presence. HR professionals and recruiters should craft and post content on their social media accounts that promote the culture and relationships of those employed with the company. Candidates want to see content that showcases what the company has to offer, what the culture is like and painting a picture of how they would fit in should they decide to join.
To make the most out of social media, recruiters can take advantage of automation apps, chrome extensions and online tools to better manage their time and find high-quality tech talent. Scheduling applications such as Buffer and automate curated content to be posted and seen during peak hours across various platforms. Instead of being everywhere at once, recruiters can partner with marketing to craft content that speaks the language of their ideal candidates and schedule them in advance.
Retire The Multitasking Mindset
Multitasking used to be the most sought after and bragged about skill in the workplace, but Stanford University recently the opposite to be true. According to their research, “multitasking is less productive than doing a single thing at a time.” The reason behind this is, when a person switches between tasks, they struggle to organize their thoughts, filter out irrelevant information and were found to be much slower at switching from one task to another. The same research by Stanford found multitasking to be harmful to the brain because the brain lacks the capacity to successfully perform both tasks.
Recruiters carry out many duties that have forced them to learn how to multitask early on in their careers. They rely on multitasking to source candidates, schedule calls, conduct interviews and chase hiring managers to compile feedback for the candidate. Recruiters prone to multitasking will have a difficult time breaking the habit.
There are a few ways tech recruiters can set up their day for success. First, they should pause email, chat and social media notifications to remain committed to their designated task without distraction. Cell phones, desk phones and notification sounds and icons can easily be silenced and placed on do not disturb. Setting a schedule to check them will still allow timely responses.
Some recruiters swear by designated “no meeting days” where they focus solely on sourcing and following up with candidates. For example, “no meeting days” will be held on two days of the week while the other three days, known as the “meeting days,” are dedicated to scheduled interviews, phone screens and meeting with the interview team and hiring manager.
Another alternative is dedicating one half of the day for phone calls and the other half for sourcing and follow-ups. These days alternate throughout the week. Ultimately, it comes down to finding what works best for each specific person and tailoring to which method produces the best results without becoming too stressful.
Ditch The Solo Mentality
Productive recruiters know they can’t do it all on their own. They need to work closely with hiring managers and the interview team to make sure everyone is aligned. Poor candidate experiences are a result of disorganized practices. This can easily be prevented by making sure everyone internally is on the same page before actively recruiting candidates. A clear plan creates a smooth and enjoyable experience for everyone involved, especially the applicant.
Most recruiters miss out on top talent because they overlook the connections their employees have. Employees know the culture and job better than any website or job board could explain to a reader. Employee referrals are one of the greatest productivity hacks for finding great talent. According to HR technologist, candidates that are referred are 55% faster to hire, compared with candidates sourced through other efforts.
There are many benefits to employee referrals such as reduced costs per hire, improved quality of hire, reduced turnover, increased profits and them producing the best return on investment. Recruiters should actively communicate referral incentives to their teams to turn high-quality candidates into long-lasting employees.
Would you agree multitasking is dead? Why or why not?
Originally published by Heidi Lynne Kurter at https://www.forbes.com.