As technology changes, and business moves to keep up with the times, traditional recruiting and hiring practices are becoming less relevant, even obsolete.
Past methods for recruiting talent no longer ensure that you’ll find someone who is suited for both the job opening and your company’s culture.
The world of hiring is experiencing a role reversal, in fact, with companies pursuing and fighting for those who are talented and skilled, instead of the other way around.
So how do you make sure that you are utilizing the best avenues for finding and recruiting the top talent?
Try these tips on for size.
Twitter and Twitter Chats
In the digital field, we understand the difference a good online presence can make.
This counts for personal “brands” as well. Looking for potential talent on social media, especially Twitter, can offer you the chance to see who is already doing a good job at marketing themselves online, being engaged, keeping up with news, trends, and current events, and who is actively participating in intelligent and thoughtful discourse.
Look for Twitter chats about topics related to positions you intend to hire for.
Need a community manager? Keep an eye on #myCMGR twitter chat.
Need a content developer? Check out #CMWorld.
Social Media gurus lurk inside #BufferChat and #SproutChat.
You might find great people who are participating in these chats, who are looking for new opportunities, or are primed to be poached from their current companies.
Twitter is also like a big cocktail party. People travel within circles, and a lot of the same faces show up in chats, or end up conversing with certain people.
Watch who is connecting with who, and how many connections you have in common with someone.
By searching and following on social media, you can get a picture of a person’s insight, personality, experience and knowledge. And by participating in or following news and chats on Twitter yourself, you can allow potential candidates to get to know you a little better as well.
New tools like Opportunity, inbound.org, Cloud Peeps and Angel List.
While job boards aren’t necessarily a thing of the past, savvy job-seekers are beginning to look to sites where they can get more out of their job hunting experience.
Check out any of these advanced websites for finding great talent:
opportunity.com
inbound.org
cloudpeeps.com
angel.io
These websites are all about networking, community, skill share and experience building.
inbound.org was even created by Hubspot, and has a very community oriented approach to bring marketers together.
There are often opportunities for job postings and networking, in a way that is more personal and direct.
Cloud Peeps and Angel List are just a couple of many new job sites which allow job seekers to create more comprehensive profiles, with companies being able to contact and converse with candidates before even beginning a hiring process.
Because of this, you may be more able to find specific people who a) have the exact skills sets and talents you are looking for and b) might be more tech savvy go-getters with great interpersonal communications.
Either way, these sites give you the chance to see a person in action, rather than simply a one sheet with a list of their past accomplishments on it.
LinkedIn Groups
Similar to Twitter chats, keep an eye on specific LinkedIn groups to seek out potential candidates who may shine in those forums.
If you find people who are providing meaningful contributions, you can get a good picture of what they may add to your company.
Those who are spammy, begging for jobs, or aren’t adding anything of value to the conversations, you can steer clear of.
These forums also have the potential to show you new ideas for strategy, or a perspective on business that you and your team haven’t thought of yet. Track down the people with the good ideas; they can help your company to grow in a way that might be missing.
Looking in LinkedIn groups also gives you an easy opportunity to quickly see a person’s experience without having to contact them or ask for it first, saving time and hassle.
The more complete and filled-in a profile, the more the person may have to offer. Also look for written recommendations and endorsements of skills. These can tell more about what skills a potential candidate has than their actual previous experience listings.
Conferences
Conferences are a great way to network and for a number of reasons.
One of the most under-utilized aspects of a conference is to seek out potential employees in a face-to-face environment.
It’s like twitter chats in real life!
Go to events and happy hours hosted by the conference and be open and approachable.
Take note of people who strike up a conversation with you – they might be looking for a good opportunity for a business partnership, or a potential job.
Especially if you are looking to fill sales, community outreach, or content marketing positions, naturally confident and easy-to-talk-to people who make the most of conferences can be great assets for your company.
Watch out for the people whom you repeatedly see in the same lectures or classes. If they are interested in the same topics as you, they may have some experience in your field, or curiosity about what your company does.
Current Employee Referrals
Top talent wants to work with top talent.
Creating an environment that attracts top talent and allows them to thrive is the groundwork you need to score those superstar employees.
Part of this environment can include referral incentives for your top performing employees for recommending friends or former colleagues who might be of use to your company.
We’ve talked about using referral incentives as a marketing tactic to retain customers and promote customer loyalty; well, the same idea goes for employees. Listen to their recommendations, and give them a chance to make their case for an outstanding possible recruit for your company.
If they end up being right, offer them a reward for their recommendation.
Remember, before you try any of these new forums for recruiting, it’s important to establish a workplace environment that fosters the team of your dreams.
Be willing to compensate appropriately for strong talent!
Reward successes, and don’t berate failures. It won’t be long before your company gains a reputation for the place to work.