The best candidates don’t all come from one place. If you only recruit from one or two channels, you’re probably missing some of your ideal applicants. When you use a variety of techniques to source your candidates, you’ll find yourself with a more diverse range of candidates. Here’s where to source candidates for a more consistent (and more diverse) flow of applicants.
Job Boards
Posting on job boards is a tried-and-tested way of attracting candidates. You probably already use job boards in your hiring efforts. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be creative with your posts. What makes your organization stand out? Highlight those unique attributes in the job ad, and use the posting to link to social media or other platforms where candidates can learn more about your work culture.
Also, consider posting to healthcare-specific job boards, such as HireNurses, Health eCareers, and JAMA career center. Using these job boards can help you more easily target your ideal candidates.
Social Media
Social media has become one of the most powerful tools for recruitment. In fact, according to Glassdoor, 79% of job seekers use social media to aid their job search.
With social media, you have endless opportunities to be creative with your content. You can use social media platforms to develop a strong brand voice, which can make your calls for applications more appealing.
Read on to learn more about some of the best social media recruiting tools.
Facebook has a specific “Jobs on Facebook” page where employers can post their open roles. Unfortunately, as of February 2022, this feature is only available to candidates in the United States and Canada. Despite these new restrictions, Facebook is still a thriving market for employers and employees.
Anyone can make a Facebook page, so it’s important to build your legitimacy as an employer. Make sure you have a verified business page on Facebook before you build your recruiting efforts.
Did you know that 49 million people use LinkedIn to search for jobs every week? In fact, 75% of people who recently moved to a new job used LinkedIn to inform their career decisions. Of course, the massive volume of candidates and employers can make it difficult to stand out. You’ll need to build your overall LinkedIn profile to attract more candidates, as job seekers may not feel comfortable sending their information to a company with a blank profile. As an added bonus, you may find that you’re also attracting more clients as you build your presence on the platform.
A whopping quarter of Americans use Twitter, so it’s no surprise that that the social media platform would be a powerful tool for recruiting. On Twitter, brevity is key. Condense your job descriptions into the short character count, and use catchy images or links to shore up your tweet with additional information. Make use of popular recruitment hashtags to target active job seekers. #Jobsearch and #nowhiring are two widely used hashtags, though you may need additional research to nail down your niche (such as #healthcarejobs and #nursingjobs).
TikTok
TikTok is a powerful tool. It was the most downloaded app of 2021, with over 1 billion active monthly users. Since 43.7% of TikTok users are between the ages 18 and 24, this is where to source candidates in the Gen Z demographic. However, that doesn’t mean your TikTok recruitment efforts won’t reach people in a variety of age groups. After all, a smaller percentage of 1 billion is still tens of millions.
TikTok’s emphasis on short-form video gives you a chance to show your voice and brand with more casual and organic content. The algorithm can take time to master, but creative and consistent content is rewarded over time.
And More
Social media is diverse, and there’s always more to explore. Depending on the types of candidates you want to attract, and the roles you’re hiring for, you might find great applicants on Reddit, Snapchat, and Instagram.
In-house Training
If you’re wondering how to source candidates who are perfectly trained for your roles, an in-house training program might be the answer. In-house training programs can be an excellent way to find and prepare candidates, especially for high-turnover positions like CNAs. With in-house training, you can be in control of what your trainees learn, and be sure that your new hires are equipped to do their jobs.
Connecting With Local Talent
Many healthcare professionals are in high demand. It’s not uncommon for those with highly sought after qualifications (physical and occupational therapists, for example) to have jobs lined up before graduation.
Don’t fall behind. Connect with local schools and certification programs to speak to students before they become candidates. Attend local job fairs and networking events to build connections with people already in your community. Tell them about what makes your corner of the industry (as well as your specific organization) special. Get on students’ radar early, especially if you’re in an industry (like senior living) that’s struggling to attract new talent.
Employee Referrals
Employee referrals are a cost-effective way to find candidates. Candidates who come through these programs have already been pre-screened by the employee who referred them, so they’re likely a good cultural fit for your business. You can incentivize employees to refer their friends with employee recognition, rewards, and monetary bonuses.
Build a Strong Employee Brand
Within the global workforce, 70% is passive talent who aren’t actively job searching. But this 70% isn’t closed off to offers. In fact, 87% of active and passive candidates are open to new job opportunities.
This means that it’s as important to attract passive candidates as active ones. The best way to do this? Build your employee brand with a strong online presence and advertise values that you stick to throughout the hiring process.
Building a brand is easier said than done. If you’re interested in strengthening yours, check out our guide on the subject.
Conduct a Hiring Audit
Of course, no matter how comprehensive your candidate sourcing is, it can’t make up for friction during the hiring process itself. Sometimes, the question isn’t where to source candidates, but your hiring process itself.
Hiring audits can help you understand what you’re doing right—and what’s going wrong. They can also be a great place to start if you’re interested in diversifying your candidate sourcing, but have limited resources. With a hiring audit, you can figure out your pain points (maybe you’re not attracting your ideal number of passive candidates, for example) and decide where you need to concentrate your efforts.
Better Hiring With Apploi
When you have software that easily distributes your positions to job boards, you can spend more time engaging candidates in other unique ways. Apploi can help you control your time with easy job distribution and career page branding.
Interested in learning more about how you can recruit, hire, and onboard healthcare staff quickly? Contact us today for a free demo of our end-to-end talent management solution.
