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If you are a recruiter, you may agree that the process is multifaceted. With the transformation of hiring to talent acquisition, many aspects are considered while selecting a candidate for your organization. Over time, recruiters have incorporated various methods to evaluate the skill and competency of a potential candidate as well as gauge personality traits and values for cultural alignment.
Candidates, on the other hand, have also stepped up to the challenge offered by recruiters. Common personal interview questions are aced by smart candidates through enough preparation and rehearsed answers.
Monotonous and favourite questions, asked by recruiters, are often unrelated to the evaluation process making it predictable and inefficient. This calls for the need of introducing newer and more creative ways of recruitment.
It is necessary to have out-of-the-box recruiting ideas for the following reasons:
Candidates are often intrigued by the uniqueness of your recruitment process. Their curiosity and experience help you create an employer brand that stands out.
Although organizations want their evaluation techniques to be repeatable, recruiters often take this literally by asking the same questions to every candidate (regardless of the role or skill). This makes the process monotonous and predictable for both the recruiter and the candidate.
Interview questions and techniques, that are new and creative, don’t give the candidate much time to prepare and elicit natural responses and test the actual aptitude and skill.
Creative interview questions keep the candidates involved by challenging them as well as create a great candidate experience through its uniqueness.
Highly-skilled candidates are often enticed by challenges. Through a creative recruitment process, you have better reach into a high potential talent pool.
Ensure that the creative activities elicit the expected skill, attribute or value for the role and the organization. The activities must be standardized and repeatable for a particular role. The tests must be challenging yet not complicated (especially, to evaluate!).
The scoring or evaluation must be clear and objective and must assist data-driven hiring. The usage of technology for creative recruitment will be an added advantage.
Abraham Maslow stated that human behaviour is motivated by several needs on physiological, safety, belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization needs. The employee value proposition (EVP) is aimed to showcase what the job can offer to a candidate. The simplest way to do this is to share employee testimonials. How existing employees feel about the organization is a great influencer for prospective candidates. Employee experiences also reflect the company culture, which is a great motivator for millennials and Generation Z.
Some companies which use employee experiences to attract candidates are:
They also have video testimonials depicting the career advancement of service technicians. There are also videos about the company’s support for military veterans, who are employed at John Deere. Other causes such as environmental sustainability and zero-emissions electric options.
All these testimonials and videos help create a strong employer brand and are very effective in attracting candidates.
Social media is a superb way and also a creative way of reaching out to a younger talent pool. Apart from accessibility, social media also helps in consistent engagement between recruiters and candidates.
Many companies are using social media platforms to post jobs, engage with candidates and conduct reference checks.
Some companies that used social media creatively in recruitment are:
Internships and part-time opportunities are a great way of identifying talent as well as the right cultural fit for your organization. Many companies invest a great deal in interns not only to identify potential but also to create a strong employer brand. Companies can also create a buddy system between interns and future leaders that helps both parties to learn and develop their skills.
Some companies which invest a great deal in internships are:
Many companies host contests that test the skills of participants. You may have heard of contests like hackathons and robotics that test competencies and attributes in an implicit way. Contests are also enticing for candidates who are interested in the field and willing to take on challenges.
Some companies which have hosted contests are:
Candidates are asked questions in interviews like ‘Where do you see yourself 2/3/5/10 years from now?’ or ‘What is your goal?’
These questions often elicit standard, pre-rehearsed responses when the candidates do not even know what they can aspire to within the organization. A candidate roadmap offers visibility of the hiring experience, providing transparency to the process.
Campus hiring or collaborating with educational institutions to find fresh talent is a common recruitment method for many companies (also because it is cost-effective). Instead of just turning up in colleges and universities for hiring, many companies associate themselves with institutions for long periods.
Some examples are:
One of the most creative methods (although expensive) to evaluate candidates is gamification. Gamification is a way of evaluating skills needed for the role as well as attributes such as quick thinking and decision-making.
Some companies that use gamification in hiring are:
Volunteers often exhibit desirable skills and attributes needed for a certain role. If your organization believes in and supports a noble cause, you could invite volunteers and engage with them to look for prospective hires.
According to the Social Purpose Institute, purpose-driven workers have 20% longer expected tenures, are 50% more likely to be in leadership positions, are 47% more likely to be promoters of their employers, and have 64% higher fulfilment levels in their work.
Some companies which invite volunteers are:
This is another way to reach out to the youth – especially Gen Z. Young people have redefined their work lives to be as comfortable as their personal lives with little need for jargon and rigid boundaries. This generation appreciates honesty, fluidity and transparency that can offer a good and comfortable work culture and a decent work-life balance.
Creative job titles and designations often catch their eye and encourage them to apply for jobs. Some examples are:
Employee referrals have always been a reliable source of recruitment. It is known that 74% employers use referrals in their hiring process. Many organizations provide incentives to existing employees to increase their interest in the activity. These are cash incentives that can be as high as $2500!
However, some other companies use creative ways to dish out incentives for employee referrals:
There are no boundaries to creativity. That said, you can get as creative as you like with your recruitment strategies, depending on your organization’s vision as well as scope. With careful planning and organized ‘trial-and-error’ with creative methods, you can easily create a seamless candidate experience and an employer brand image.
Like Dr Seuss said, “You’ll never be bored when you try something new. There’s really no limit to what you can do!”
While implementing any new out-of-the-box recruiting strategies, recruiters must keep the following points in mind:
1. The strategy must provide the right outcomes or results i.e., the desired skills and attributes needed for a role and the organization.
2. The methods must be repeatable for a particular role.
3. Creative techniques must be effective regarding cost, time, and effort.
4. The methods must be engaging and help in creating a positive candidate experience.
5. The recruiting team must be comfortable with adopting and implementing the methods.
Employee referrals are possibly the best source for talent acquisition. Statistics show that 82% of employees rated employee referrals above all other sourcing options to yield the best ROI.[1] 45% of employees sourced from employee referrals also seem to stay for longer than 4 years.
Referrals increase reliability and reduce cost-to-hire.
Internships and volunteering are simple and cost-effective ways of identifying and hiring talent. While many organizations offer paid internships but even if they do not, many candidates right out of college take up internships for the experience. The intern’s experience adds to the employer’s brand image and recruiters can identify high potential and the right fit with the role and the organization.
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