Recruitment: how to
Do It Yourself without an agency
A FREE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE CREATED BY FOLKS FROM NORTHREACH
A recruitment agency telling you how to avoid using a recruitment agency. Yes, you heard that right. We could write a five-thousand-word essay on all of the reasons you should hire Northreach to take care of your talent acquisition. But the truth is, you don’t have to outsource your recruitment. There are plenty of things you can do to build yourself a next-generation talent attraction programme that pulls in exactly the right candidates you’re looking for. So, we’re going to give away our secrets so that you can source your candidates directly. Seriously. First of all, what do we mean when we say direct sourcing? Direct sourcing is the act of seeking out clients to fill the needed positions internally. Doing it yourself, basically. If you have an excellent direct sourcing strategy, you won’t require the help of an agency.
1. Setting up your job ads. Once you’ve got your flawlessly-written job spec and your ideal candidate in mind, the first step is to get your job advert on all of the popular job platforms: CV-Library, Indeed, Glassdoor and Google for Jobs are the top sites. You can advertise in other places of course, but making sure your ad is on these four platforms gives you a strong start.
2. Use your network. The first step is to use your network; speak to former colleagues and individuals in the profession that you’re seeking out. If you don’t know anyone that can help personally, rinse LinkedIn for everything it’s worth. Northreach has access to over 16,000 candidates in our network, so the more people you can get to see your ad the better your chances of filling the role.
3. Applicant Tracking System. An applicant tracking system is a process designed to make managing the hiring process less stressful. It’s essential in the management and organisation of candidates, interview stages and stakeholders to give you accurate analytics and make sure you’re giving an excellent candidate journey. It also helps you build a credible and inclusive candidate journey that promotes integrity and provides clear analytics and reports that you can use to enhance diversity in your business.
4. Why should you care about your candidate journey? The job application and hiring process has changed dramatically in the last ten years. Gone are the days of grilling someone in an interview purely just to find out if they can do the job. We’re no longer living in a time where employees only care about salary. You have to go the extra mile for your candidates, in the same way it’s expected that they
Gone are the days of grilling someone in an interview purely just to find out if they can do the job.
go the extra mile for you. Plus, if you don’t provide a good candidate journey, it reflects badly on your business and candidates won’t want to work with you.
5. Reporting and analysis. Yes, it’s important! Measurement of performance is a massive part of recruitment culture, and for good reason. By producing reports and reviews of your hiring process, it’s easier to spot the bottlenecks in the journey and streamline it effectively, from the new job briefing straight through to giving a formal offer.
6. Maximising Affiliate Programmes with Universities and other Educational Institutions. Some institutions will allow you to set up affiliate programmes, particularly universities for their graduates. It means you can attend career days at specific universities to promote your company and show why graduates should want to work there. You can even host open days (or virtual open days, in the age of COVID-19) to give a real-life taster of what it’s like to work for your company.
Phew, that’s a lot. And that’s just the basics! Next, you need to focus on organic talent attraction online that goes beyond using job sites and sharing job specs. The goal is build yourself spot-on employer branding that makes candidates want to work for you before they even know what the job is. Fortunately for you, Northreach has developed an intensive talent attraction strategy that – when executed correctly – promises to bring you the best candidates.
Here are things you can do to get there: 1. Visual-focused job descriptions A document that graphically showcase responsibilities and challenges of the role in a way that’s unique, easily digestible and speaks to your desired candidates.
2. Video Interviews Interviews with hiring managers and leaders give a powerful insight into the personality and objectives of their business. Creating authentic videos that engage viewers and highlight what makes their business attractive will generate more interest from candidates.
3. Headshots
The more personal and humanised the brand becomes; the more candidates and employers will identify with you. Headshots used in signatures, professional networking sites and careers pages help show a more human side and give personality to the company.
4. Social media audience Build your social media following by creating engaging
content
on
your
desired
platforms. This can be challenging and pretty time consuming, but it all contributes to a boosted employer brand.
5. Write ten good reasons to work for your company It helps set yourself apart from other companies in your space and clearly states why someone should work for you. It’s also great for retaining existing employees!
6. Internal interview guides Internal interview guides provide hiring managers with competency-based questions, templates and one to one training manuals so that they feel comfortable and prepared when interviewing candidates.
7. Candidate FAQ Answering candidate FAQs in list form helps address any questions the candidate might have early on, which speeds up the hiring process. It’s a great way to share insight into life at your company and builds confidence with the brand too.
8. Virtual Tour Video Virtual tours allow the viewer to virtually immerse themselves at your location. They’re also solid marketing tools that can help bring new candidates to your business, as well as a sales tool that can be used to illustrate your business in a unique and contemporary way. It’s the best way to accurately show what your location really looks like, but more importantly, show that you are taking all safety precautions possible and adapting your workplace to protect staff following the recent COVID-19 outbreak.
9. Promotional Video A powerful and engaging promotional film creates positive feelings towards a business and product. Sharing information through video makes the content much easier to digest and reaches candidates on a deeper level because it caters to different learning styles. It’s also a great way to showcase the personal culture and environment you’re cultivating. It can be used as a test of candidates’ commitment and understanding of the business as well as an educational piece to share your vision and insight to the people that work for the business.
We know it’s a lot for one person to take on.. Listen, when we said we’d share our secrets and tell you how to do it, we didn’t say it would be easy! This is an overwhelming amount of work, especially if you’re a one-person hiring team tasked with finding a highly sought after role or team of people. That’s why a lot of companies decide to outsource this responsibility. But of course, by all means, if you’re up to the challenge then use these steps and watch the candidates come rolling in!
Do you need to hire? We’re here to assist you!
If you’re short on time, resources or you simply think your time is better spent focusing on what you do best then get in touch with us at Northreach. Collectively, we’ve got over forty years’ of experience taking care of the end-to-end hiring process so that you can save yourself a bunch of time and concentrate on making your business a success.
01277 532984 hello@northreach.uk
#yougotthis www.northreach.uk