Recruitment and how to get the applicants YOU want

Recruitment across many sectors, and particularly for professional services firms has become more competitive since the pandemic. 

We are currently experiencing a ‘candidate market’. The unemployment rate nationally fell to 6% unemployment through the end of March 2021. What is interesting to note, is unemployment for degreed professionals is now under 5%, and 1.5% away from hitting its all-time low that was achieved in 2019.

During the pandemic, firms were forced to transfer parts or all their operations online. A few months into the pandemic and geography became less of an issue for many firms which meant they could look for customers much further afield. 

As time has progressed and businesses start to focus on their recovery, many will start to recruit again. What the pandemic has done is:

● made many candidates take a step back, take stock and assess what they want from their future, and what work-life balance looks like to them

● made location less of an issue for firms when recruiting talent. 

For employers that have embraced flexible working on a permanent basis, their pool of talent has suddenly become much bigger.

For firms that have decided to phase their staff’s return to the office, many are going to continue experiencing significant demand on them to consider how flexible working features permanently in their workplace. Hayley Rose from Harvey
John, a recruitment firm in the Southeast says, “Many firms I speak to are currently rethinking their future flexible working policies – each taking a slightly different approach. Most candidates I deal with have enjoyed this time working from home. They realise they are more productive from home, and in fact can give their firms more of their time due to not needing to factor in the time they would usually take to commute.”

For many candidates, remote working is now a primary consideration when job hunting. Employers can no longer ignore the option of implementing permanent remote working.

What else is important for job-seekers?

In addition to flexible working, the economic impact that the pandemic has had on businesses is also something candidates are likely to consider in their job search.

“With the uncertainty that the pandemic has created, candidates are likely to look for jobs in sectors that are more established, stable. and offer greater security.” 

Flexible working, stability, health and wellness packages, and sick leave policies for when employees need to care for a sick family member, have all become increasingly important for Job-seekers.

Firms also need to consider that physical perks can’t replace genuine company culture. Enticing job applicants with a fancy office or a quirky recreation room may be a thing of the past. Firms can no longer rely on a stocked pantry, or bean bags, to replace cultivating healthy work culture and lasting company values. Now is the time for employers to focus on their company culture and begin defining the successful values under which they operate, and they need to show how they will look after their staff. 

Whether you are a professional services firm or not, some or all these factors may impact your ability to recruit the right talent. You also need to stand out, to actively ‘sell’ yourselves to job-seekers. Whilst this has always been the case, the ability to do it successfully now is more important than ever before. 

How do you get candidates to apply in the first place?

Whether you have flexible working or not, some old school recruitment approaches need to be put in the bin. If you don’t change your approach, then you will never get the top pickings. Think about your USPs and company values. What makes you different, unique, ‘better’ than your competitors, and then share those with the outside world. Share these with your recruiter, the candidates you get the opportunity to meet with, share them through your marketing, and even put them on your social media!

Gone are the days where you advertise for a role and sit and wait for the CVs to start rolling in. In fact, you need to market to your candidates similarly to the way you would market to your clients. Use the available communication and marketing channels that you have and get creative. You need to use recruitment marketing to attract talent and stand out from the crowd as an attractive option. 

So, if are looking for talent, you could hire a head-hunter, but it’s not cheap. Alternatively, you could leverage marketing to help promote your firm and your vacancies to attract the right talent for your firm. This comes with the bonus that you will raise your firms’ profile at the same time. Here are some marketing tactics you could use to attract talent to your firm:

How to use recruitment marketing to attract talent

Rethink your ‘normal’ job descriptions

For many firms, the first time a job applicant comes across your firm is through a job description, but typically, job descriptions can be unbelievably uninspiring.

Firms with well-written job descriptions get up to 10x more applications (yes, really). Some top tips from flexible working advocates Flexa:

● Use plain English – tell applicants why they should want to work for you and what you want from them.

● Break experience down into “must-have” and “nice to have~.

● Give your words personality, and don’t be afraid to be fun!

Flexa has made a job description checklist that helps Hire Managers 

to ensure their job descriptions are well written. 

Use your firms’ website

Have you got a careers page on your website? Use it to tell your applicants your story so they understand what life is like at your firm. Don’t just rely on Indeed or job vacancy sites. Consider creating an in-depth careers page.

And don’t be scared to talk about what flexibility you offer, what benefits you have and how great it is to work for your firm (use staff and their stories to back up what you say).

Use employee stories to promote your firm

People love hearing about other people, and the best way for prospective applicants to find out about your culture is by hearing from people who already work there.

Either through staff case studies or video, you can entice applicants to your firm before they even attend an interview!

You can use your social channels to promote your video and blog content that interested applicants can peruse, and for the wider social network to discover and realise what a great place you are to work at!

Talk about your values

Candidates are more informed than ever before about working conditions, and how they responded to clients (and staff) during the pandemic or challenging times will make a big difference.

People remember what a firm does. How they respond to clients, staff, and their communities during tough times will be remembered forever. During difficult times like the pandemic, employers become the social safety net for many employees, and how firms lead their team through a crisis will determine retention and the ability to attract talent in the future.

Use free ‘advertising’ portals

If you use recruiting sites and job listing sites that integrate with Google for Jobs, you can reach job-seekers that search for jobs using keywords in their Google search.

By structuring the job posts properly and using the proper HTML coding syntax outlined by Google (or the job listing sites), the jobs will be indexed by Google for Jobs and displayed when job-seekers search for related keywords.

Some of these sites include Facebook, LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, Glassdoor, etc.

Promote your firm and vacancies on social media

Most candidates are using social media, specifically LinkedIn, to research and follow firms that match what they want, so think about using your social accounts to show what life is like at your firm. Whether your clients use social media or not, you can be assured job-seekers are, so regardless, you should make sure you have a presence on social media.

Other available marketing tactics you can use

Other tactics include submissions to industry awards – both mainstream awards and carefully selected employment/HR awards. Whilst this route is a longer-term option, the benefits will be that your firm becomes recognised as an employer of choice.

You can also consider industry event stands and sponsorships. These will have an associated cost, or you can use virtual or in-person networking events that you and your existing fee earners can attend where you can promote your firm.

So, what is next?

All the tactics above classify as recruitment marketing. It is where you use targeted digital marketing strategies to promote the value of working for your firm to attract, engage, recruit, and retain talent.

As a marketing agency, we can provide the strategic and tactical capabilities to generate interest in your firm and help you attract the talent you need.

If you would like to find out more about what we offer, click
here, alternatively contact Lara to find out how we can help you find the talent you are looking for.