Recruiting the perfect candidate is not a one-size fits all task. Throughout the year, as seasons change, so do the strategies for hiring talent. Keeping your recruitment strategies modern and up to date with the time of year can make the whole hiring process feel more natural and inviting to students searching for jobs. Higher education has now completely embraced virtual recruitment. According to studies, 63% of institutions hold their career fairs and events online.
When it comes to employers, 97% of organisations have expressed their intent to develop an all-virtual or hybrid strategy. Here at CT Skills, we want to help our employers hire the best possible talent. So, in this blog, you will find our advice for seasonal and virtual recruitment processes.
Show Off Your Building
The spring months offer great recruitment opportunities. As the weather is slightly warmer than the previous seasons, it allows you to go out and take photos of your office or company building, alongside its different facilities and gardens if it has them. Show individuals how they can enjoy working for your business and enjoy the summer whilst being fully employed. You can focus on virtual tours and experiences. The weather should be great, so you can concentrate on publicising the most attractive virtual experiences possible. Having great online content, whether it’s interesting videos, engaging social media posts, or exciting virtual building tours and experiences, can grab attention in the spring and encourage applications for your job advertisements.
Meet Students on Popular Social Platforms
With so many different engagement options to choose from, a lot of students and potential hires are researching companies before applying for a role. Due to this, it is incredibly important for employers to engage with students on social media platforms. In recent studies, it has been suggested that the vast majority of students use social media in their day-to-day lives. With more than 75% of them reporting regularly using Instagram and YouTube, it could be a great strategy for businesses to reach out and socialise with them on each application.
Broaden Your Partner School Strategy
When employers use hiring strategies such as the Core Schools method – where companies invest time, money, and energy into recruiting talent from only a handful of colleges and universities – they limit themselves to individuals who might not be aware of their brand. As a result, businesses leave a wide range of qualified candidates on the sidelines. Employers should open be more open with their geographical location and level of university or college because even though students might be gaining more experience at certain institutions, doesn’t mean they will have the same ambition and drive as others. Companies can also use virtual platforms and lean on school recommendations to visualise which institutional partnerships have a large population of students that reach the job’s role requirements. With this, they will tap into a larger audience and receive more job applications as a result.
Partake in a Wider Variety of Events and Audiences
Employers are now finding success with new engagement platforms outside of traditional career fairs. Some of these events include quick screens, office hours, 1-to-1 information sessions and virtual tours. Each of these platforms is a low commitment for the students and can reach a wider variety of talent. Research has shown that quick screens – which are short 15-minute chats between the recruiter and candidate – have increased by 40% year on year. Companies have heightened their participation with 1-to-1 sessions by 20% year after year to connect with potential candidates on a more personal level.
To build your brand awareness, you will have to widen the variety of events you attend to ensure that you attract the attention of students. Less formal interactions such as quick screens, skills-based training, panels, and social events can encourage relationships with career job seekers.
Seasonal recruitment shouldn’t be solely focused on during one season, it should be an all-year-round focus. Talent pools can be developed and expanded year after year. Investing your time in online events, experimenting with new social media platforms, and improving your content by making it more personal to your business, will widen and define your candidate pools, ensuring that your job adverts are more successful after every post. Here at CT Skills, we offer recruitment amenities for employers, as well as provide free online courses and apprenticeships to those looking to enhance their careers or workforce. Contact us today if you are interested in partnering with us!