There's nothing wrong with trying to spice up your hiring by testing out unconventional recruiting methods, but the wild and outlandish could be enough to go two ways: You could scare off great talent, or attract the masses of unwanted, unfit candidates.
Are you using any of these techniques to find and engage people? You may have to reevaluate the team's approach.
Failing to clearly communicate the company’s mission and culture
Recruiting starts way before candidates actually step foot into the office. Your employer brand is a crucial component of the engagement process, and if candidates are unable to understand the problem the company is working to solve and the people behind the solution, the team risks having its identity branded for them.
Another component of establishing mission and culture is being able to convey the team’s vision for its product and people. This is especially important in the screening and interview stages where both the company and candidates are vetting each other’s fit. Before kicking off your recruiting efforts, hiring teams and managers should line up candidate expectations, responsibilities the role entails now and in the future, how employees in this position are anticipated to progress – all of which will make it easier to sell the role.
Using the bandwagon method to engage candidates.
Patronizing people for not already being part of your team is a desperate, lowball move to build your talent pipeline. Avoid presenting your open roles as a solution for what a candidate is looking for and validation for their skills and experiences. Another way candidates are guilty of the bandwagon recruiting method is taking advantage of their current team as the in crowd. "Don't you want to join some of the world's smartest people? Only 3% of applicants make it to the next round. Will it be you?" Pass.
Using salary as your hook, line, and sinker.
Besides being glaringly tacky, dangling the dollar as candidate bait can create unrealistic expectations, and illustrates the company as one that functions according to a rewards system, employees as tools, not people. Leading with salary perks also has the potential to reel in people unfit for the job. Paycheck companies (those who pay people doing enough to get by) attract paycheck employees (those who get paid by doing enough to get by). The talent funnel gets diluted with unfit talent. Selling candidates with the salary can also give the sense a company is trying to cover up a broken hiring process or workplace environment. Go back to the first point – attracting the right people for a role at a great company means leveraging the employer brand, and the company’s mission and team.
Berating candidates with the “Why” question
There’s nothing wrong with trying to get to the core of why a candidate wants to join your team, but tread lightly – there’s a difference between being inquisitive and accusing. Let’s say someone interested in a management role of a four person team at your small company, and their background is leading larger teams at bigger orgs. It’s fair to ask what interests this candidate in making the shift in team size. Find out how he or she would transfer those management skills to your smaller team. What will be challenging? What kinds of communication strategies will the candidate use to understand and connect with the team?
Avoid using remarks drawing attention to your doubts. For example, “So you’re making the move from healthcare to sales…kind of strange, don’t you think? Why the switch?” can come across as, “You’re not exactly ideal, but we decided to bring you in anyway. Now dance.” Undermining candidate’s intentions can steer the conversation toward an irrelevant, dead end direction, discredits and insults someone’s desired career growth and development, and puts the company’s reputation at risk as narrow-minded and inclusive.
The employer brand (once again) makes another appearance on the Entelo Blog, and if you’re intrigued, be sure to check out How to Improve the Candidate Experience through Your Employer Brand, our webinar with Officevibe’s Jacob Shriar.
