How to Stand out as an Employer During the New Year Hiring Rush

As January is one of the busiest months in the recruitment calendar, now is the perfect time to start preparing and ensure that you stand out against the hundreds of thousands of other companies advertising their roles at this time.

You need to have a clear idea of what jobs you’re looking to fill, the types of candidates you’re after to fill them and the recruitment tools that you’re going to use to source your hires.

Not sure where to start? Here’s how to stand out as an employer during the New Year hiring rush.

Identify your challenges

A good place to start is to consider what your key recruitment challenges have been this year. Have you struggled with application numbers? Are you noticing a drop off in candidates during your application process? Perhaps there’s simply a lack of talent out there.

Once you’ve done this, you can then start to think about how you can overcome these challenges in the New Year. For example, do you need to grow your hiring team? Do you need to invest in new technology? Do you need to work on your employer brand?

Perfect your job descriptions

One key area that’s always worth revising is your job descriptions. You should constantly review how to write your job adverts and consider whether there’s any tweaks you can make that will help to drive applications to your roles.

For example, what sort of language do you use to talk about your company? Are you using your job adverts to sell the benefits of working there?

Remember, your job adverts are the first impression a candidate will have of your business so it’s important to capture their interest as early as possible.

Invest in the right tools

As mentioned above, having the right tools in place to help with your recruitment needs is extremely important. Whether you’re using a job board to advertise roles and search for CVs, or an ATS to manage applications, often a combination of different tools can help to make your process more efficient.

Consider what’s worked for you previously and ensure that you invest in these areas. In a candidate-short market, it’s important that you’re harnessing technology and using it to your advantage.

Showcase your brand

Whether you’re managing your recruitment in-house, or using an agency to showcase your roles, you need to ensure that your brand is being presented in the right way. Again, think about the tools you’re using. Could you benefit from more branding on your job adverts, or more proactive campaigns to boost your hiring efforts?

In addition, consider what your own website and social media profiles say about your company. If you were looking for work, would you be drawn to an employer like yourself?

Employer branding is hugely important right now and a priority for many hiring professionals.

Understand what candidates want

One of the main mistakes that employers make when hiring is not understanding what candidates actually want from the world of work. It’s all very well offering sky-high salaries (if you can afford it), but some employees favour other factors, such as flexible working or exciting career paths.

Keep on top of market trends and research that gives insights on candidate needs. You can then shape your offerings around this. What’s more, during your screening calls, find out what their current packages are and really consider whether you can match these.

After all, while some companies are passionate about their employees having a strong work-life balance, others may not view this as a priority. But, it might be important to your candidate!

Ready to stand out during the New Year hiring rush?

Over all, it’s important that you get ahead and start preparing for the New Year hiring rush as soon as possible. By focussing on the right tools, your employer brand and meeting candidates’ needs, you’ll stand a better chance of attracting, recruiting and retaining the very best workers.