THIS is the secret to successful recruiting; the best place to find your ideal candidate is where your ideal candidate hangs out. Kinda obvious isn’t it.
These are five ways of fishing where the fishes are. Some involve actually stepping away from your PC..!
a) Digital
Looking for techies? Hang out in the online forums that they frequent. Need someone who knows about Japanese soil filtration – I bet there’s an online group for that. Don’t just focus on business forums though. Spend a bit of time imagining you have the interests of your target candidate and locate the places they’ll be online. Warning – don’t go barging straight in sharing your job posts – they’ll kick your butt straight out!
b) Events
In an ideal world you’ll be attending the same industry events your target candidates are. Maybe the World Toilet Summit & Expo in Singapore or LEGO World in the Netherlands are just a bit too niche for you. However, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants’ annual expo is going to be a must attend event if you recruit in that space. If you can’t make it along in person check out the twitter stream and follow everyone who uses it. Some will be potential candidates and other influencers (more on that later).
c) Go to the Pub
This is really old school but it works! Looking for legal professionals? Go to the pubs they hang out in near Chambers. Hold fire (I’ll say it again) – don’t go barging in asking who is looking for a job – you’ll blow your chances. Chat to everyone; locate the influencers and build relationships.
d) Trade magazines
Want to get in front of potential candidates – write for trade magazines (both online and printed press). If you recruit in the FMCG industry try and get something printed in The Grocer magazine and comment in their online forums for example. Start to be recognised as an expert in your (and their) field.
e) Influencers
This is the long game but it’s where you’ll see results. Both online and IRL (in real life) engage with the people within your recruiting industries who will be useful contacts and sources over time. Online you can engage by RT’ing and commenting on their twitter posts, sharing LinkedIn articles they’ve written, commenting on blogs etc. In real life – compliment their speaking gigs or printed articles.
The key to all of this is building relationships – in their space and in their language. If you haven’t got time for that then you aren’t a real recruiter. If you are already doing all this check out 7 traits of an Amazing recruiter to ensure you really are heading for recruiting success!
