The labor market is a complex landscape for employers right now. In 2023, labor demand has substantially exceeded worker supply, leaving a glut of job listings and nowhere near enough candidates to fill them. In this tight labor market, it's more important than ever for companies to practice smart hiring strategies and attract the right talent for the job. Consider these tactics for updating your hiring strategies in order to successfully attract good workers from the limited labor force.
Streamline your talent acquisition system
Evaluating job applicants, targeting key differentiators, and identifying candidate matches is a monumental task. Take some of the weight off your shoulders by updating your hiring strategy with a smart system that tackles much of the initial legwork for you. Step back and let AI and machine learning do their thing, uncovering ideal matches, reaching out to top candidates, and soliciting applications that are the right fit for the job.
CareerBuilder's recommendations are so spot on that they're responsible for a whopping 80% of the applications that companies receive. Using our platform streamlines the hiring process on both ends. Not only will you get up to 25 candidate matches every day, but you'll get new jobs posted five times faster. Best of all, you can take advantage of our partnership with Broadbean to distribute your job listings across a robust network of more than 7,000 job sites in over 180 countries. Talent acquisition never looked so easy.
Analyze labor market data
Collect detailed labor market data to inform your job posting strategies and make sure you're on the right track. If you don't know things like the median salary in your recruiting area, the demographic makeup of the local labor market, or the number of qualified candidates available for a particular position, you're going to come up short when attracting top talent. Data is power when it comes to hiring the right candidates.
Labor market insights will help you update your hiring strategy appropriately so you can stay competitive in your market. If professionals are regularly finding higher salaries or better benefits elsewhere, you simply won't get the workers that you need. Understanding the competition will help you climb to the top and achieve your hiring goals as efficiently and effectively as possible.
"It's entirely possible that an applicant with no college degree will outperform one with a doctorate when the two have vastly different career histories and life experiences."
Craft an engaging career page
Optimize your career page long before you start hiring. This is one of the most important tools at your disposal for connecting with potential applicants. If a job seeker can't find adequate information about your company — or worse, if they don't like what they see — they'll simply move on to the next job. With more than 10 million unfilled open positions in the economy, there are plenty of options for workers to choose from. Make sure yours stands out.
Your career page should ooze company culture. Make sure your branding, verbiage, photos, and imagery all paint a vivid picture of what your business stands for and what it's like to join the team. A page that's inspiring and accessible will present an appealing open door for potential candidates. Include details on your mission and vision as well as employee benefits and business perks. Use this page to celebrate success stories and shine a spotlight on the workers you appreciate most.
Broaden your thinking on job descriptions
Update your hiring strategy to reflect what your team needs more than what you believe it wants. Let go of certain preconceptions like the required educational background or experience for your new hires. It's entirely possible that an applicant with no college degree will outperform one with a doctorate when the two have vastly different career histories and life experiences.
You could miss out on some outstanding candidates if you're too rigid in your requirements. Make the job duties clear, but leave some room for interpretation when it comes to how your new employee will complete them. You may discover new processes and products that take productivity to the next level. Increasing employee diversity is an outstanding way to boost profits and performance, so don't hesitate to take on someone who's distinctly different from the last employee to hold that position.
Follow a first-round formula
Settle on a standard first-round formula to help you analyze your initial pool of candidates as equally as possible. Put together a limited list of questions and hit on these same key points for every interviewee. You can typically use a phone or video call for this first interview, saving everyone the time and hassle of making in-person appointments. Keep your initial interviews down to 15 or 30 minutes max. You should walk away with a solid idea of the individual's soft skills, experience, and interests, but you don't need to dive too deep at this interval.
A first-round formula standardizes your hiring process and helps you run through potential applicants more quickly and efficiently. After these interviews, you'll have a better understanding of what you need to ask to really identify the best applicant for the position and fill the role with top talent.
Updating your hiring strategies can help you stay afloat in a challenging labor market. Use these tips and our CareerBuilder tools to tackle the hiring process like a pro.
More tips for enhancing your hiring strategy:
Streamline your strategy for hiring events so you can capture better leads.
Consider connecting with former employees rather than focusing on new faces for your vacant positions.
Upgrade to higher-tech hiring processes and successfully incorporate video interviews.
Revisit your degree requirements and consider whether you're missing out on top talent because of arbitrary rules.
Try quiet hiring to fill essential positions without the hassle of full job listings, interviews, and onboarding.
