Want to recruit exceptionally creative people?
Sick of the same old - CV-screening, followed by telephone interview, followed by face-to-face interview – monotony of your recruitment process?
Or are you just intrigued to find out what other people in your industry are up to?
You’ve come to the right place.
Behold; 8 slightly more creative ways to recruit – that have all (apparently) worked for other companies…
1. Try out Facebook ads!
Ever thought about using paid advertising to attract great candidates? You should do.
Think about it; there are millions of Facebook users in the UK alone; that’s an enormous database that you could (and should) be taking advantage of.
And the targeting functionality, which includes options like location, language and workplace will help you to get your ad in front of only the best people for your company.
(You could even target your competitor’s employees…)
Of course, you need to have some kind of idea of what you’re doing, so make sure you read up on Facebook ads, first. This Sprout Social article is a good place to start.
Recruiter Pro Tip Facebook is absolutely filled with articles, pictures, memes, posts and videos, so if you want your ads to work you’re going to have to make sure they stand out with…
- Great pictures.
- Great, compelling copy.
- A great landing page.
If you choose this route, you’re going to have think of yourself as more of a marketer than a recruiter, selling the opportunity with benefits, benefits, benefits. For more tips on writing better job adverts, click here.
You could even go so far as to try out Google’s Paid Advertising (PPC), but it does take time and effort and costs money so again, you’ve got to know what you’re doing.
2. Send out flyers.
I love the idea of handing out and/or sending flyers to attract great candidates.
They’re unique (most companies have “gone online” these days) cool & you can have a lot of fun with them.
Get your best staff out onto the streets, showing off their winning personalities and handing out or posting flyers through doors; whatever works best for your company.
Recruiter Pro Tip Again, it’s very important to think strategically when it comes to your flyers.
- Firstly, you need to make sure you’re targeting the right areas, where the “right people” live or hang out – this will take some research.
- Secondly you need to make sure your flyer is fun, impressive and stands out – this is especially important if you’re posting through doors as you’ll be competing with a variety of other spam.
- Thirdly, the copy needs to be great; it needs to show off your fabulous employer brand and the job role, but also be clear enough to stop inappropriate people from applying.
You don’t want to waste your money on a campaign that either doesn’t get seen by the right people or that doesn’t hit the mark when it does.
If you do it right; it’s bound to grab some attention.
For some more tips on creating great flyers – check out this blog.
3. Give them a gift.
Ok, so you’re going to need a slightly bigger budget and more time for this one; but if you can offer both, it’s definitely a great way to recruit.
First, do some research online – through social media, CV databases and job sites – and come up with a “dreamlist” of people you’d love to interview.
Then, send them a (creative) bespoke letter or email, selling the job role to them and inviting them to interview – including a little gift to seal the deal.
It could be a voucher, a book, a box of chocolates or (if you’re feeling extremely generous) you could even send an iPod, complete with personalised message from yourself – like Red 5 Studios did.
You’re bound to get at least a few call-backs in response to such a unique campaign.
4. Create a recruitment video.
Video marketing has gotten increasingly popular over the last few years, with the rise of Snapchat, Facebook Live etc. – people just like watching videos (especially fun ones).
Are you taking advantage of that?
Create a quirky recruitment video that WOWs potential employees, showing off your fantastic employer brand and making them genuinely want to work for your company could be a great way of attracting the top and most innovative people out there.
Not sure where to start? Check out these 5 Quirky Examples.
Once you’ve created your masterpiece, be sure to keep sharing it across social media, emailing it to potential candidates and get it up on your website.
You never know, it could even end up going viral…
5. Get candidates to create a video.
Inviting candidates to send across their own video CVs will give them an opportunity to show off their fun, creative side.
It will also quickly show you who’s willing to make the extra effort to land the job.
Recruiter Pro Tip This technique is great at whittling down huge numbers of job candidates – but may not be right for you, if you only ever receive a few anyway. The extra effort will definitely put some people off and let’s be honest, not everyone feels comfortable being on-screen.
Check out this blog post to see some great examples (so fun!!)
6. Host an “open day.”
Instead of just going straight in for the interview, why not invite people into your office to find out a little bit more about your company?
This will give you an opportunity to really sell the “experience” rather than just the job and it will also give you great insight into your candidates.
Do they bother showing up? Do they seem interested in the company? Can they get on with other people well? Are they shy? Do they fit in?
You could make it extra fun, by turning it into more of an event like…
- Brunch.
- An office party.
- Afternoon tea.
Your superstar candidates will soon shine through.
7. “Speed dating.”
If you’ve got a lot of candidates to interview and not that much time, you could try the “speed-dating” approach to first-round interviews.
Basically, you just invite your favourite candidates in and give them five minute slots with a variety of interviewers (complete with timer and bell of course)!
Each interviewer should be “in charge” of assessing a different thing; technical skills, soft skills, personality, commitment and knowledge of the company etc.
Just tot up the scores at the end of the process, inviting only the best of the best to a one-to-one interview.
Recruiter Pro Tip This is a fun idea, but it might put a couple of your candidates off. They may feel that it’s all a bit too stressful and even a little bit silly. Not everyone takes kindly to new and “unique” approaches to things.
Also, don’t forget that you’ll have to get a few more people involved (the same number of interviewers to interviewees) so more people will be wasting more time.
8. Go out and get ‘em.
Do you know where your perfect candidates hang out?
Get out there and start talking to them then!!!
Whether it’s a local event (it doesn’t have to be a job fair) or a certain area of town, a train station or the local Starbucks, get out there and start chatting to people you think would fit in with your company – in fact, take your flyers with you!
Ready to start recruiting?
So, most of the techniques we’ve talked about in this blog will require some extra effort on your part; but if you find the best, most innovative people for your business, is it worth it?
I think so.
If you’d like some more advice on recruitment, employer branding and employee engagement, please feel free to subscribe to this blog – and we’ll send across weekly update for you.
Good luck recruiting.
