KEY TRENDS IN RECRUITING TO IDENTIFY, ENGAGE, AND HIRE TOP TALENT

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dallas jobs, dallas staffing, dfw careers, dfw staffing, Recruiting, recruiting program, retaining top talent, rockwall jobs, top talent, trend personnel services

by BLR

Here are some of the top trends in recruiting that promise to change the way organizations identify, engage, and ultimately hire top talent in the coming years and how employers can adapt procedures to these changes to ensure a successful recruiting program.

There are three major trends in how companies connect with top talent in today’s challenging recruiting landscape. These include:

 

1. Increasing role of the employer brand

Two-thirds of HR leaders surveyed say their organization is more focused on employer branding than they were 5 years ago. Additionally, more than half (57%) attribute their company’s ability to attract top talent to a strong brand. Not only does an enhanced employer brand help draw in qualified candidates, but it can also lead to improved corporate awareness and reputation.

Moreover, the top three reasons why organizations succeed in attracting top talent were found to be a pronounced reputation and brand, strong industry appeal, and competitive salary and benefits. These factors further drive the need for companies to continually enhance their brand to stand out as an employer of choice.

 

2. Culture and aptitude fit win over skills

Company culture has an enormous impact on attracting and retaining top talent, which explains why many of the companies noted for their unique, enjoyable work cultures are also some of the most profitable. Investing in the creation and continuous improvement of a differentiated company culture should be a priority for C-suite executives. At the same time, aptitude, personality, and cultural fit will emerge as key factors in the talent selection process, favored over traditional hiring factors, such as specific qualifications.

Focusing on aptitude and attitude to do the job, and investing in learning and development to build needed skills and qualifications, will enable organizations to expand their talent pool and enhance their culture.

 

3. The rise of online talent communities

More employers will build robust talent communities throughout 2015 to engage with a larger talent pool. This will provide access to passive and active candidates, past applicants, current and former employees, and other members who help employers find the talent they’re looking for.

Overall, the company found that 50% of employers plan to invest in social media and online community management in 2015 to better tap this source of talent.

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http://trendpersonnel.com/en/news/item/154-key-trends-in-recruiting-to-identify-engage-and-hire-top-talent

Preemployment inquiries under the FMLA and ADA: What’s prohibited?

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ada, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), applying for jobs in dallas, asking a job candidate, dallas temp jobs, discriminatory, employers prohibited from asking, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), fmla, FMLA and ADA, hiring process, job applicant, job search, leave rights, Preemployment inquiries, reasonable accommodation, rockwall jobs, trend personnel, What's prohibited

by BLR 

What questions are employers prohibited from asking a job candidate under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?

Preemployment inquiries and the ADA

Under the ADA, an employer may not ask about the existence, nature, or severity of a disability until the employer has made the applicant a conditional job offer.

However, an employer may describe to applicant what the hiring process involves (e.g., a written test) and ask him or her whether he or she will need a reasonable accommodation for the hiring process.

An employer may also ask a job applicant if he or she needs a reasonable accommodation, if the employer knows that this applicant has a disability—either because it is obvious or the applicant has voluntarily disclosed the information—and could reasonably believe that the applicant will need a reasonable accommodation.

Likewise, an employer may inquire about an applicant’s ability to perform job-related functions, with or without reasonable accommodation. This can be accomplished by describing a particular job duty (e.g., carrying 50-pound bags from a loading dock)—and then asking whether the applicant can perform that function or demonstrate how to perform it.

Preemployment inquiries and the FMLA

There are no specific FMLA statutory or regulatory requirements regarding preemployment inquiries. However, it is not advisable to ask about leave previously taken, because the question could indicate discriminatory intent or an intent to retaliate against the employee’s protected exercise of leave rights.

http://trendpersonnel.com/administrator/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&cid=153

Look Behind the Credentials: Find Candidates with Multiple Skillsets

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applicants needed, applying for a job, candidate’s experience, Candidates with Multiple Skillsets, company culture, Credentials, dfw careers, Find Candidates, hiring now, HR professional, Multiple Skillsets, people skills, perfect candidate, Potential Employees, rockwall jobs, skills on paper, smart recruiter, technical skills, technical talent, trend personnel dallas, trend personnel services

by Julie Long | BLR

Thoughts of IT, engineering, and computer science don’t normally conjure up images of people who are the life of the party. Or even those who enjoy exchanging pleasantries. But, these unicorns of the tech world—those that have technical talent and people skills—do actually exist. You just have to know how and where to find them.

What’s in a name?

The first instinct of any recruiter or HR professional is to look at the title. This can be a grave misstep because titles are often misleading. Titles like Field Engineer or Systems Administrator may not imply the full extent of the candidate’s experience working with others. While technical-sounding, candidates with these titles actually have to work alongside staff and clients on a consistent basis. What’s a good way to make sure that you fully understand someone’s communication ability through his or her resume?

See if they have any consulting experience. The word “consultant” doesn’t have to be in the title, either. For example, an applicant with experience in website coding design probably has had to communicate with clients and staff to deliver the desired result. Producing designs that are aligned with a company’s brand requires a high-level understanding of what a company’s culture is all about. Awareness of company culture is usually an indicator of someone who can appreciate the value of a company’s people.

So they can talk the talk, but can they walk the walk?

Once you’ve found someone who appears to have all the skills on paper, how do you know if they can walk the walk? A technical skills screen is probably the first thing that comes to mind, but it isn’t the only thing you should be doing.

It’s crucial to make the most out of group interviews and phone screens. Seeing how people interact with others is a good way to gauge overall social skills, so is asking questions about what they do and don’t like about their current or previous positions. And then there’s the all-important question: would I enjoy going to dinner with this person? If they seem like someone you’d enjoy spending time with outside of the office, it’s likely they’ll be just as interesting to work with.

Hold the phone, social media is important too?

The phone screen doesn’t have to be brutally difficult. It can actually be quite the opposite. In addition to observing how easy they are to communicate with over the phone, asking people simple, casual questions—such as what they like to do outside of work or what they’re truly passionate about—can give insight into their like or dislike of social interaction.

You can tell a lot from a phone call, but you can tell a whole lot more about an applicant by their presence on social media and in their professional networks. People who have robust, but appropriate, social media profiles and who regularly attend networking events are usually people who enjoy the company of others.

However, even the most people-oriented of tech talent may not be on LinkedIn. The reason is simple—tech talent is in high demand and many of the people with those skillsets don’t want to be bombarded by recruiters. If you do find a qualified applicant through LinkedIn with a strong profile and a few solid recommendations, chances are you’ve got someone with potential.

You may have found the perfect candidate, now what?

So you’ve found the illusory candidate with a mix of tech talent and people skills online. How do you woo them? By being personal. All too often, recruiters search strictly by title without doing any research about the individual before reaching out. Even though you may be searching for people with hard technical skills, they probably are driven by more than just a paycheck.

Take time to figure out what someone’s previous work experience is and allude to it in your initial email. Be sincere when you ask them about what they want their job to look like, or what their passions are. A smart recruiter and HR professional shouldn’t just be looking for a technical skills fit—they should also be looking for potential employees who are looking to advance their careers over the long run.

Searching for candidates with both the right technical skills and a big personality may seem like a lost cause. However, the more effort that’s put in to get to know the person behind the credentials, the more satisfied the person—and the company—is going to be with the job fit.

http://trendpersonnel.com/en/news/item/152-look-behind-the-credentials-find-candidates-with-multiple-skillsets

Why Conduct Background Checks on Potential Employees?

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by Bridget Miller | BLR

Does your organization conduct background checks as part of the hiring process? Many organizations do, but the type of background check—and the extent of it—varies considerably. Let’s take a look at some of the most pertinent reasons so many businesses opt to perform some type of background check on any potential new employee.

Some of the Reasons for Conducting a Background Check

Probably the biggest reason employers choose to perform background checks on potential employees is safety and security. Employers have an obligation under OSHA to provide a safe workplace—one that is free of known hazards. It can be easily argued that hiring an individual with violent tendencies—tendencies that could  have been discovered with due diligence—would represent a disregard for that obligation. As such, many employers opt to perform at least a criminal background check on potential employees before finalizing any offer of employment.

Similarly, if an individual causes harm to anyone—such as a customer or vendor—the employer may be liable if there was an opportunity to learn about this tendency, such as the existence of a public criminal record.

Security is another concern, especially for jobs in which an individual is responsible for cash or for making decisions that affect the company’s profitability or reputation. For any individual in these roles, employers often consider doing a background check that confirms the individual does not have a history of fraud, negligence, or theft, for example.

Background checks can also be done on a more limited scale. Technically, even calling references is a form of background screening. In these situations, an employer is trying to gauge what the potential employee is like to work with, to better ensure it will be a good fit. These can also be done as a means to try to uncover any fabrications or exaggerations on the application, résumé, or during the interview.

Conducting Background Checks: Some Caveats

Despite these very good reasons to conduct an employee background check, there are limits to what an employer can discover and use. For example:

• Employers should be careful not to make decisions based solely on arrest records. An arrest is not the same as a conviction, and some protected groups may be disproportionately affected by a policy that disallows a perspective employee due to any arrest—thus making such a policy discriminatory.
• Credit checks and other background checks require employee consent. Without consent, such checks can be illegal, depending on what type of check is conducted. Consult legal counsel and get advance permission before conducting background screenings. Additionally, if you use an employee’s credit rating as part of the background screening process, first be sure there is a legitimate business purpose for doing so. Otherwise, this alone can be a form of discrimination if potential employees are excluded based on credit. This is because lower credit scores disproportionately affect some protected groups, and eliminating on this basis alone would create a disparate impact on these groups. Even with a legitimate business purpose for checking a credit score, the employer must also be sure to follow the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) rules.
• Background checks can inadvertently turn up information that discloses an employee’s inclusion in a protected class. Even if this information is not used in the hiring process, it is risky for an employer to have such information at this stage because it raises the possibility of a discrimination claim. For this reason, many employers use third-party services to conduct background checks—and those service providers only turn over information that is relevant to the hiring process, insulating the employer from knowledge about protected class inclusion and other information that should not be used in hiring decisions.
• There are many federal, state, and local laws that limit the type of information that an employer can seek out—be sure to consult local laws and understand the limitations.
• Be sure any background screening is relevant to the job. For example, there is probably no need to get a driving record for someone who will not be driving for the company in any capacity.
• Be consistent in conducting background checks. Do not conduct background checks only for certain applicants but not others who are up for the same job. It’s OK to only conduct background screening after you’ve made a short list, but it’s not OK to only conduct background checks on individuals of specific groups, such as minorities or immigrants. Be consistent in the hiring process for each job opening.
• When something is uncovered during a background screening, consider giving the applicant the opportunity to share more information about the situation. While you still need to be consistent in how the situation is handled, it’s always possible that there’s a mistake that can be rectified or there are extenuating circumstances that change the view of the situation. Of course, if you’re going to give the opportunity for explanations, be consistent and offer this opportunity every time the situation arises.

Does your company conduct employee background checks? What advice would you provide based on your experience?

*This article does not constitute legal advice. Always consult legal counsel with specific questions.

http://trendpersonnel.com/en/news/item/150-why-conduct-background-checks-on-potential-employees

Job Interview Best Practices

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by Bridget Miller | BLR

Many of the items on this list are meant to keep the hiring team on the right side of the law and avoid situations in which an applicant could assume any type of discrimination or bias. Other tips are meant to ensure the hiring team is effective and consistent in order to find the best applicant for the role. Here are the tips:

• Be sure that anyone involved in the hiring process is trained in and fully understands the laws that relate to hiring and the implications for each step of the process.
• Avoid behaviors that could imply a discriminatory bias. For example:
  • Do not ask about disabilities. Focus on the ability to do the job.
  • Treat all applicants the same. in other words, don’t require some groups to meet higher criteria than others for consideration.
  • Don’t ask about medical issues or other personal information.
  • Don’t ask any questions that could serve to gather information about:
    • Marital status;
    • Whether the applicant has children; 
    • Race;
    • National origin;
    • Age (besides confirming the applicant is over 18, if necessary);
    • Religion;
    • Sexual orientation (in many states it is illegal to discriminate on this basis); or
    • Protected activities, such as past filings of workers’ compensation claims. 
  • Don’t imply there is any type of problem or bias related to the applicant (e.g., “Our customers may react negatively to a woman in charge”).
• Be consistent in how applicants are assessed. For example: 
  • If an applicant must prove his or her ability to perform the job (such as via a performance test), this should be required of all applicants, not just a few. Requiring it of some but not others can appear discriminatory.
  • Stick to enforcing minimum education and experience requirements that are truly consistent with job needs, and do not vary this assessment for certain individuals. If the minimums are realistic, it won’t be necessary to make exceptions.
  • Be consistent with the questions you ask to avoid the appearance of biases. It can seem biased if some interviewees are required to pass a higher threshold than others.
• Be well-prepared.Before interviewing a candidate, you should:
  • Have questions ready, and know what you’re trying to learn from each of the questions you choose to ask. The questions should be related to the job or the person’s ability to perform the job. 
  • Know what the next steps in the hiring process are and advise the applicant of such either during or at the conclusion of the interview.
  • Review all of the information available about the applicant, including the details of how previous interviews went (if applicable). 
  • Plan to be in a space that is appropriate for the interview, free from distractions, noise, and interruptions. 
• Be aware of subconscious biases. We all have biases that cloud our judgment, but it can help to simply be aware of this in order to take steps to ensure it doesn’t affect the interview process. For example, how an individual dresses or styles his or her hair may create an instant assumption, but it does not necessarily mean that person is not a good job candidate. 
• Allow silences. Sometimes interviewees need time to formulate an answer. By filling in silences too quickly, you may lose the opportunity to hear what the applicant has to say. Always give the applicant time to talk—in fact, he or she should do the majority of the talking—so that you can get a clear understanding about the applicant and how he or she will fit with the organization. 
• Ensure everyone involved in interviewing and hiring knows the next steps, knows who is authorized to make an offer to an applicant, and what processes must be completed before an offer is made (such as conducting background checks, reference checks, and so on). Know what applicable conditions the offer is subject to, such as passing drug screening. 
• Remain objective in your assessments.
• Remember to assess soft skills as well as specific skills required to perform the job tasks. The issue of cultural fit is often just as (or even more) important as skills that can be trained. 
• Be sure that the interviewing team, especially the person making the offer, knows to avoid making any kind of reference to a contract in terms that could be construed as an implied employment contract. (Unless, of course, you’re offering an actual employment contract, but this is the exception rather than the norm in the United States.) This might mean avoiding phrases like “permanent position” or “long-term role” or anything that implies that the applicant cannot be fired without cause. 
• Give the applicant the opportunity to ask questions.

What would you add to this list?

http://trendpersonnel.com/en/news/item/143-job-interview-best-practices

Why You Can’t Afford Not to Hire College Graduates

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apply now dallas, companies now hiring, employees for hire, Hire College Graduates, hire for potential, Hiring, hiring temps, performance rewards, Provide training, rockwall jobs, Support staff, trend personnel services

By Krista Williams | BLR

I have been working with college students … well, since I was in college. In most, if not all, of my positions I have had the fortune of working with interns, new graduates, placement offices, faculty, and students. My support has not only been to assist in job placement but also to support the transition of students from the life of ramen noodles and 10 a.m. classes to meeting the demands of a completely connected work environment with high expectations.

I enjoy the aspect of the students being full of life, holding huge aspirations, and having absolutely no idea how to get where they are trying to go. I have partnered with placement offices at several colleges and managed college hiring programs for several organizations. Over the years, some things have changed and some things haven’t at all. Here is what I have learned and what I would advise hiring managers to keep in mind:

Students have very limited views of the types of positions they can actually perform once they graduate.

They need to speak with a lot of people in various industries in order to be able to make an educated decision about where they should be focusing their career search efforts. There are several places that we are able to assist and make an impact on college graduate entry into our desired markets.

As a prospective employer, you can offer internship programs, volunteer to be a guest speaker, participate as a guest panelist, and/or sign up for career day involvement as a start.

Companies should hire for potential, not experience.

A pickle we often get in is that if we do have entry-level positions, we think we are too busy to slow down enough to train someone without experience. I disagree. This is an opportunity to take someone without any preconceived notions about what it is like to work for an employer—someone who has not developed any bad habits yet—and completely mold him or her into the type of worker we would like. This particularly helps in high production environments of companies with really elevated goal structures. If you are able to attract highly talented, motivated, bright, competitive staff, they will only have one another to compare themselves to—not a slower paced previous past place of employment.

Provide training and opportunity.

Whether it is on the desk or in the training room, make sure you are providing an environment where your eager, fresh graduates can continually learn. They are coming off many years of absorbing lots and lots of information and let’s face it, if you don’t use it, you lose it. Make sure that you keep your new hires challenged, interested, and involved.

Don’t worry about whatever path you thought was good enough for you or others several years ago. Allow effort, production, and results to speak for themselves and reward based on performance.

Although I will be the first to admit that sometimes time is the best teacher, as you get to experience lifecycles and events recurring, don’t let too much time go by and allow the next best opportunity to come from an outside employer. The first several moves or promotions for fresh graduates (once earned) should be made in shorter time intervals their first 2–5 years of work. Otherwise, you may stand to lose your rising leaders to competitors who may appear to value their worth sooner than you do. Stay abreast of talent, how marketable they are, and make sure they are rewarded appropriately.

There is a great amount of opportunity for everyone if we work together and have the right frame of mind. So, next time you think you must have 3–5 years’ experience in a hire, think again. And take a close look at the advantages of hiring a fresh college grad.

http://trendpersonnel.com/en/news/item/142-why-you-can-t-afford-not-to-hire-college-graduates

5 Ways To Get Noticed By Recruiters

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application tips, dallas jobs, dallas temporary staffing, dfw careers, Get Noticed By Recruiters, interviews, potential employers, recruiting employees, recruiting tips, resume tips, rockwall jobs, stand out to recruiters, trend personnel services

by Catherine | Monster

1. Show No Fear

“The best way to stand out to recruiters is to stand up to them” says Joseph Terach, CEO at career services firm. “Don’t let them overly influence your preferences for work responsibilities, arrangements or salary based on their reported understanding of the employer.”

Your job search is your own, even if they are helping. Terach recommends listening to the insider information recruiters can provide, “but keep in mind that recruiters have split allegiances and are salespeople at the end of the day.”

2. Communicate

Knowing what you want is a great way to stand out, Terach says. You’re not just looking for “a job”; you can tell the recruiter the job you want.

“If you come to the table with a crisp professional pitch, not only will your recruiter know exactly what it is you want (and don’t want), but they will also be more able to discuss you and communicate your background to potential employers,” he says. “It will save you time because you won’t be getting calls for interviews that don’t interest you; and when your recruiter finds the right job for you (one that fits your pitch), he/she will have zero reservations to get behind your candidacy 100 percent.”

3. Be Honest

You of course want to put your best foot forward when dealing with recruiters, but it’s important to be candid about any shortcomings you have as well, says Heather Neisen, talent coordinator. “Self-awareness and honesty are extremely important. Be proud to share your strengths and passions, but also be able to openly discuss areas where you need — or better yet, want — to improve.”

Many candidates don’t realize being honest about their shortcomings actually offers a chance to shine, she says. “Admit them and offer ways you’re trying to overcome them. Few things are worse than a candidate who believes they have nothing left to learn.”

4. Highlight Your Tenure

If you’ve got staying power, promote it, says Andy Barberio, account executive at Fortus Healthcare Resources. “I always look at tenure — tenure is really big. When you find somebody that’s been with an organization for a long time or has helped build it up, they are marketable. Switching jobs every year or year and a half over a five to six year period doesn’t present the best on a resume.”

5. Let Yourself Shine

Barberio says you can’t teach personality, but if you have it, flaunt it. “Personality and fit and being able to relate to staff is tough,” but it’s what recruiters are looking for. Some positions just require “a special kind of person,” he explains, and recruiters will try to get a feel for who you are when they are meeting with you. Being yourself will help the recruiter find the best fit for you and your skills.

http://trendpersonnel.com/en/news/item/139-5-ways-to-get-noticed-by-recruiters

10 Tips to Help You Hire Right

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applying for a job, carrollton jobs, Good candidates, interview process, locating professionals, recruiting tips, recruitment process, rockwall jobs, trend personnel dallas, trend personnel services

by Vanessa Merit Nornberg | Inc.

Hiring is the Achilles heel of all small companies. Good candidates are hard to find, and the recruiting process always seems to take more time than planned.

Here’s what they are:

1. Allow six months for the recruitment process. Hiring when you have a start date in mind that is just around the corner causes you to accept candidates you would have otherwise passed over. Give yourself three months to search for and screen applicants, one month so a new hire can give notice to her current employer, and at least two months to train a new person.
2. Write a job post that accurately describes your company. Believe it or not, you don’t want to emphasize the qualities you need in a candidate in a job description. You want to tell a prospective candidate about what makes your company a different or special place to work, to insure you get interest from people who are the right cultural fit. It’s far less expensive to teach skills than attitude to a new recruit.
3. Make the interview process several steps. Candidates who want any job–and not necessarily the job you are hiring for–rarely take the time to apply if they know they have to go above and beyond a one-click submisssion just to get looked at.
4. Handle at least one part of the recruiting process yourself. Whether it be screening resumes, doing phone interviews, or conducting the first interview. The earlier you get involved in the recruiting the better the chances you have of finding the right candidate (and weeding out the others!). No one knows your company’s needs better than you.
5. Identify the five most important qualities for the positiong you’re filling. Create interview questions that measure these five qualities to allow you to determine if a candidate possesses them or not.
6. Do more than ask questions when you interview. Set up opportunities to observe how an applicant handles herself in situations similar to the ones she will be asked to handle if she’s hired. For example, if she will be organizing data for your company, give her data to classify, and pay attention to the way she does it. Does her approach match how you do things at your company? Does she follow a logic you can understand?
7. Bring others in on your recruiting process. Make sure strong candidates are evaluated by at least two members of your team in addition to you. Instincts are important in picking the right candidate, but sometimes you end up on the fence. Having someone to talk about the candidate with can help you get clarity when it matters.
8. Create a training program. Make sure your training program truly reflects the tasks a hire will be called upon to do. And then formalize it so the new hire can understand where she is at in the training process at all times.
9. Reevaluate both what you teach a new hire and what he retains on a regular basis. Never be afraid to slow down the training process, teach a concept again, shift gears, or add new modules as you go. The idea is not to train fast, but to train right. Taking the time to do it once and thoroughly will shield your customers from errors, and your company from lost loyalty.
10. Be honest with yourself throughout the training process. If you make a hiring mistake, don’t waste precious time and money hoping it will eventually turn out okay. It won’t. Let the candidate go immediately. It is better to have no help at all than to have the wrong help.

Recruiting the right team can seem daunting, but it is also extremely exciting. Taking the time to make the best hire rather than just any hire is a chance to expand your team’s competencies, grow your customer base, and take your company to a new level. Hopefully these 10 tricks will help you.

http://trendpersonnel.com/en/news/item/138-10-tips-to-help-you-hire-right

Recruiting for Those Critical, Hard-to-Fill Jobs

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application tips, applying for jobs in dallas, attract candidate, carrollton staffing, dallas staffing, Recruiting, rockwall jobs, staffing agency dallas, trend personnel dallas, trend personnel services

by Stephen Bruce| BLR

The issue of unfilled positions is a major problem that affects the entire economy.  It makes it difficult for small businesses to grow if they cannot adequately and quickly staff key positions. But what can employers do? Some of the solutions that organizations have turned to include:

• Evaluate your pay and benefits for positions that are hard to fill. Are you leading or lagging in the market? You may have to bite the bullet and offer more, especially if you have been relatively stagnant with your annual increases in rate ranges.
• Offer training programs to existing employees or candidates. Many employers are finding success by instituting their own training programs in order to get the skills they need when candidates don’t already have them. Pay will be lower than for fully trained individuals, and you get to train people in your specific systems and to your specific standards.
• Work with local education and/or training institutions. Perhaps they will be able to offer the type of training you need candidates to have.
• Send employees to school. Similarly, some employers are opting to pay for the education that their existing employees need in order to advance into new positions.
• Widen the recruiting parameters. Maybe you need to recruit from an expanded geographical area and commit to paying relocation expenses.
• Consider telecommuting. Many employers don’t like telecommuting but have found that that’s the only way they can attract the candidates they want.
• Change too-specific experience requirements to be broader. Sometimes industry-specific experience is a nice-to-have but not a must-have requirement to find a well-qualified candidate, and some employers have recognized this and revised their requirements accordingly.
• Provide customized assistance. When you run into a situation like a dual-career couple, or someone whose home is “underwater,” figure out what sort of package you can put together to solve the candidate’s problem—and yours.
• Consider outsourcing the function. Is this a task that can be performed by contracting it out?
• Work on building your employment brand. Employers that have a reputation as a “great place to work” have an easier time with recruiting.

http://trendpersonnel.com/en/news/item/137-recruiting-for-those-critical-hard-to-fill-jobs

It Pays to Recruit Passive Candidates

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by Bridget Miller | BLR

As the unemployment rate inches further downward and positions are taking longer to fill, many employers are looking for new and innovative ways to reach the best talent. One option that is increasing in popularity is searching for passive candidates—individuals who may not be directly looking for a new job, but who would be open to switching jobs if the right opportunity arises. 

It Pays to Recruit Passive Candidates

You may be wondering why an employer would go to the trouble of looking for someone who has not even applied for a job opening. There are actually several good reasons employers are using this tactic: 

• When a job is posted, employers sometimes find that the majority of applicants do not have the desired skills and experience for the role. By searching for individuals who have the necessary experience and contacting them directly, an employer can overcome this hurdle. 
• Getting high-talent individuals can be a competitive advantage; some companies find that seeking out the “superstars” in the industry is worth the extra effort. 
• Passive candidates represent an increasing percentage of the job market—in fact, they represent the majority of the available candidates. According to LinkedIn, passive candidates represent approximately 75 percent of the workforce. By opening up lines of recruiting and putting resources toward reaching out to passive candidates, employers significantly increase the potential talent pool. 

How Can You Find Passive Candidates?

Reaching out to passive candidates requires entirely different actions than getting the attention of active candidates. Active candidates are the ones that see a job posting on job boards and react. A passive candidate may or may not even be browsing job boards. Here are a few ways employers can begin finding and reaching out to passive candidates:

• Use your existing employees.  Some employers offer referral programs, for example.
• Be visible where your ideal candidate is already looking. While the passive candidate may not be looking at job boards, they are probably networking or otherwise involved in the industry. Be visible at industry functions, conventions, and other related events. 
• Cultivate your online presence. Once you get the attention of a passive candidate (or any candidate, for that matter), you’ll want to be sure that your online presence provides plenty of information about the organization, including the company culture. Prospective employees should be able to get a sense of what the organization is like. Be sure your organization is presenting a consistent image across online platforms such as the company website, social media accounts, and other online touch points. 
• Make it easy to contact you and to navigate the application process. In other words, don’t give potential employees a reason to run away before you’ve even brought them onboard. Review your process objectively and see if there are any hurdles or any gaps. 
• Consider using a specialized recruiting agency. Recruiting passive candidates takes a lot more time, effort, and energy than recruiting active candidates. Some employers find it’s more cost effective to turn the task over to a recruiting agency that specializes in this type of recruitment. 
• Analyze what you’re offering. By definition, a passive candidate is likely going to be tougher to bring onboard, so the job offer—including all of the associated responsibilities and benefits—has to live up to the hype. Consider whether your organizational culture and goals are such that your organization will be able to bring in and retain top talent, and if not, assess what needs to change. 
• Review your social networks. Social media followers are an existing network of individuals who have already expressed an interest in the organization. This can be a great place to start a search. Also consider browsing extended networks and using talent pools that are publicly available, such as LinkedIn. 
• Continually recruit. The perfect candidate is tough to come by, but can sometimes be found when you’re not even looking to fill a role. Have a mindset in which you’re always recruiting—even when there are no openings to fill. By doing so, you’ll be attuned to possibilities and may have a candidate in mind the moment a job is available. Build a pipeline of potential candidates to contact.

http://trendpersonnel.com/en/news/item/132-it-pays-to-recruit-passive-candidates