8 Recruiting Channels You Should Use to Fill Open Positions Faster
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If you want to win in the “war for top talent”, you have to come up with a suitable talent acquisition strategy. For a long time now, it has not been enough to post the job ad on one or two websites and wait for applications, as the number of skilled workers is decreasing every year. To successfully hire the best candidates, multiple recruiting platforms must be enlisted to help.
We want to introduce you to the best recruiting channels and explain how to engage your target audience. Afterward, we will give you some tips on how your company can measure the effectiveness of these channels in order to use them in a more targeted way.
What is a Recruiting Channel?
A recruiting channel helps a company find potential employees and contact them directly. They exist both online and offline. Among one of the online channels is the online job board. Among the offline channels is the print media. As soon as interested parties become aware of the advertisement, they can write to the company and, ideally, arrange an interview.
In recruitment, a distinction is made between the active and passive strategy. A company that posts job ads on various media and waits for applicants takes a passive approach to recruiting. In the active strategy, applicants are approached directly by recruiters and convinced to apply to the company. The active approach to sourcing is also referred to as Active Sourcing and is becoming more and more popular with companies.
What are Recruiting Channels Used For?
Many companies are already rethinking and updating their talent acquisition strategies. The reason for this is, on the one hand, the falling population rate and thus the decline in skilled workers and, on the other hand, the progressive digitalization. Recruitment channels are used for the following reasons:
- To draw applicants' attention to the company
- To establish contact with promising talent
- To fill vacancies more quickly
Overview of Recruiting Channels
In order for companies to have the best chance of attracting new applications, a mix of existing recruiting channels should be used. These need to be updated regularly, as new channels are being added all the time. Of course, a company does not need to spend resources on all possible channels, you should focus on the most effective platforms.
Furthermore, good employer branding plays an important role. The use of various channels will do companies no good if a bad reputation precedes it and employees bail out after only a short time. So make sure that applicants get a good impression of your company.
Online Recruiting Channels
Especially for Generation Y applicants, the media approach is tremendously important. With smartphones and tablets, these are constantly accessible and the first stop for young jobseekers.
Job Boards
Job boards are among the most-used recruitment channels and the reach is extremely high. Again, it is beneficial to post multiple job ads on different boards to reach applicants.
When doing this, ask yourself which job board is most popular with your target audience, as each portal attracts a different group.
Career Pages
In today's world, companies will not be able to operate without a career page on the company's homepage. Even if applicants first find the job posting through a job board, they will subsequently go to the homepage to search for more information.
Be sure to update your homepage and delete jobs that have already been posted. In addition, when hiring top talent, it also helps to post the recruitment history on the homepage, so candidates know what to look for.
Career Platforms
Career platforms can be used by recruiters to publish job ads. Some platforms also allow them to actively reach out to suitable talents that haven't even thought about changing jobs yet.
An example of such is TieTalent. We provide a user-friendly interface for talents to indicate what their career aspirations are. On their side, companies can find within a few clicks technology talents they need to be successful.
Our platform also offers resources and tools to help users enhance their job search and career development efforts. Find out more!
Social media
The reach of social media is enormous and although most users are not actively looking for jobs, using this recruiting channel makes perfect sense. Companies can promote themselves here and improve their employer branding.
Offline Channels
Although digitization is in full swing, offline channels continue to enjoy great popularity.
Employee Referrals
Employee referrals are incredibly handy, as friends can best judge each other and the risk of making a bad hire is reduced. Additionally, it is one of the most cost-effective ways to recruit.
Career Fairs
For many applicants, personal contact with companies is important, which is why they look for new jobs at career fairs. There are also events for specific job industries where you can more easily reach your target audience.
Internal Recruiting
With an internal talent pool, you can immediately see which of your existing employees are the best fit for a position that needs to be filled. Internal promotions improve work culture and increase employee motivation.
Print Media
Print media is still popular and perfect for finding people with existing work experience. Here you can have your advertisement printed in trade journals provided beforehand, such as in engineering or heavy industry.
How to Measure the Effectiveness of Recruiting Channels?
So that companies do not have to waste unnecessary resources in the hiring process, the effectiveness of recruiting channels should be constantly monitored and optimized. Key metrics include:
- Cost per hire
- Time to hire
- Quality of hire
- Fluctuation rate
So ask yourself how many applicants each channel brought in, how many of those were interviewed and actually hired, and how applicants found out about the job. Using software designed for this purpose, you can compare the numbers and filter out the best channels.
Recruiting channels allow you to target candidates and invite them for an interview. To have the best chance of attracting qualified personnel, your company should use multiple channels and measure their effectiveness. Different channels are used to target different audiences. Although online channels are becoming more common, offline channels also have their advantages.