Strategies for a Successful Hire in Today’s Job Market
/Today’s hiring landscape is complex. Some positions are drawing numerous candidates to choose from, while others can be extremely difficult to recruit for. While certain sectors are seeing mass layoffs, others show strong growth. What’s more, overarching economic uncertainty is making many candidates hesitant to move jobs.
In a nutshell, this is a unique time to find new talent. Let’s look at some ways you can achieve a successful hire in today’s job market.
Know Your Market: The Foundation of Effective Hiring
An important part of recruiting and hiring for a position in today’s environment is gaining an understanding of the current demand for the role you seek to fill.
In today’s hiring landscape, it’s important to understand the unique dynamics within both your industry and the specific vertical of your open position. This information will align expectations and inform key decisions about how to recruit for the specific skills and background you seek in prospective candidates.
Having knowledge of the landscape around a specific role in your market will allow you to adapt your hiring strategy accordingly.
For example: Is your industry growing or shrinking? Who are you competing with for candidates? Are you up against only a handful of companies, or are several companies seeking the same talent? Are there candidates out there looking for the type of position you’re offering, or will your hiring efforts result in crickets?
In an environment where some sectors are fighting over a small pool of candidates, while others have way too many people to choose from, knowing what you’re facing in the market is key to a successful hire.
Analyze Supply and Demand for Your Specific Role
Before you start to advertise for your open position, it’s important to do some labor market research, looking at industry trends and candidate behavior in your region, industry, and role. This research will give you valuable insight into the hurdles you may face in your specific market so you can build a strategy to overcome them.
Visit online job platforms like Indeed or LinkedIn and search for the position you’re looking to fill. Look at how many other positions are posted, how many candidates have applied (when applicable), and what your competition is offering in terms of salary and benefits. This will show you how competitive it will be to find candidates and how to ensure your position stands out from the crowd.
Look at recent labor statistics to determine if there is demand for the role you’re offering. If demand is low, consider how you can create targeted campaigns to get your open position seen by the right candidates.
Once you’ve analyzed the supply and demand for your role, you can then adjust your expectations and timelines to create a realistic strategy for filling the position.
Rethink Your Recruitment Strategy
Based on your research, you can begin to retool your hiring strategy, making changes to ensure your efforts will be as successful as possible:
Tailor your messaging based on industry trends and momentum.
Be transparent in job descriptions about salary, benefits, and role responsibilities.
Match compensation to market norms where possible. If you’re unable to match salary, consider other benefits and perks you could include, such as hiring bonuses, remote flexibility, and so on.
Take a multi-channel approach to finding candidates. Today’s candidates look for jobs the way they shop for products: using several different channels (online job boards, social media, professional recruiters, etc.). Leverage multiple channels and networks to target your ideal candidates.
Implement new technology like AI-powered resume screening tools and video interviews to streamline your hiring process (especially in more competitive sectors).
When hiring for a position that will attract many job seekers, your hiring plan needs to be especially strategic. To make the most of your time, develop clear criteria upfront to help you efficiently review and sort resumes. Additionally, you and your team will likely want to speak with more candidates, so it's crucial to create a time-efficient strategy for contacting, tracking, and vetting a higher volume of applicants.
On the other hand, if there is a lot of competition for the talent you seek, consider revamping your job post language, optimizing the posting for prime visibility, and highlighting competitive salary and benefits packages and relevant perks (like remote or hybrid flexibility). And don’t forget to communicate company culture and show potential candidates what’s in it for them if they come to work for you.
In addition, a targeted recruitment strategy focused on identifying passive candidates can be effective in competitive markets. Exploring creative recruitment avenues you may not consider in a saturated market—such as employee referral programs and partnerships with educational institutions or professional organizations—can yield positive results.
Ramp Up Employment Branding
Regardless of whether you’re in a hot market or a slow one, employment branding will always benefit your candidate search.
Employment branding is no longer a nice-to-have option; it’s a must-have if you want to find qualified, best-fit candidates. Today’s job seekers in every sector want to know who you are before they apply for a position with your company.
To attract your ideal candidates, promote your company culture, showcasing what makes your company a great place to work. For example, you could:
Highlight career growth opportunities on your website’s career page.
Offer an insider’s look at what it’s like to work for you by sharing employee testimonials on your social media platforms and website.
Talk about the perks you offer that your competitors don’t, such as flexible work options, wellness initiatives, or tuition reimbursement programs.
Pay attention to and nurture Google reviews about your company as well as reviews focused on the employee experience on sites like Indeed and Glassdoor.
Show how your team members have fun together, collaborate with one another, or serve the community together
Learn more about employment branding in this blog!
Be Agile: One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Because there is so much variety in the job market today, there truly is no one-size-fits-all recruitment strategy. Some hires will necessitate more speed and volume (seasonal roles, for example). Others will require a long-term strategy of nurturing ideal candidates (such as senior tech roles).
For best results, embrace agility. Flexibility, adaptation, and innovation are essential for a successful hire in today’s job market.
If you’d like further insight into hiring for your specific industry and role, the Red Seat team is here to help! We’ve assisted hundreds of clients in finding qualified candidates in every type of hiring environment, and we’d love to put our expertise to work for you. Contact us at (952) 893-0020 to discuss your recruiting and hiring needs.
