Recruiting on a time crunch
When you only have 1, 3, or 5 hours.
When you’ve only got 1 hour
Create a candidate profile
Creating profiles of the ideal candidate bring a laser sense of focus to the hiring process and make recruiting more efficient.
Select essential skills
Align with the hiring team on three to five integral skills an ideal candidate might have. Candidate profiles shouldn’t be static, but should evolve to reflect the realities of today’s talent market.
Establish nonessential traits and skills
Pick the traits, experiences, and skills that aren’t essential, but would bring additional value to the team.
Identify dealbreakers
Determine any red flags like short job tenures or a lack of online professionalism.
A well-written job post helps position your company as a great place to work, engages candidates, and encourages them to apply.
Use a clear title
Avoid gimmicky titles like “rockstar” or “ninja.” Jargon doesn’t give candidates a clear picture of the role and can hurt its discoverability.
Highlight the most important responsibilities
Prioritize four to six short points that communicate goals clearly and concisely, since most candidates skim through posts before deciding to apply.
Share perks and benefits
Give candidates a sense of company culture. Do you offer commuter benefits, a learning stipend, or flexible work hours? Entice candidates with key differentiators.
Don’t start from scratch
Writing job descriptions takes away time better spent attracting great candidates – save time and use job description templates.
When you’ve only got 3 hours
Establish your talent pipeline
Talent pipelining means identifying your upcoming hiring needs and proactively growing a list of people to reach out to when the timing is right.
Build your list of candidates
Search through networks, referrals, and current employees to identify potential candidates. Aim for volume, since most candidates won’t work due to timing or fit.
Bookmark candidates for future roles
Start the candidate search before a role is even open.
Get face time and make connections
Don’t underestimate the power of in-person connections – spend your out-of-office time recruiting. Remember that 85% of jobs are filled through networking.
Review candidates
Using your candidate profiles as a starting point, start to map prospective candidates’ fit back to the role and company.
Focus on top performers
Look to your strongest employees to understand the hiring bar. Have a holistic viewpoint of the ideal candidate’s experience, skill set, and background.
Look for signals of a high performer
High-performance indicators vary across companies. At LinkedIn, we look for data-driven results, career growth, and recommendations.
Learn to spot red flags
Be cognizant of discrepancies, short job tenure, vague language, mistakes and typos, and dishonesty on candidate profiles.
Reach out to candidates
Kick off your outreach to candidates to start interviewing. The average person gets 121 emails a day, so make your message count.
Send emails late-morning and mid-week
Increase the chances of your message being opened by sending it between 9:00 am and 10:00 am on a weekday.
Craft smart subject lines
Successful subject lines tap into a candidate’s personal interests listed on their profile. (ex: “Hello from a fellow scuba diver.”)
End with a call to action
Suggest times to connect with candidates to clearly communicate your interest and decrease back-and-forth. Remember that the average person gets 121 emails a day.
When you’ve only got 5 hours
Build your employer brand
Develop a narrative that humanizes your organization and gives candidates a preview of their future colleagues, manager, and company culture.
Build an unforgettable culture
Foster a sense of community in the workplace to engage new talent and increase retention. Happy employees attract great candidates.
Use social media
Showcase your company’s people, not just your products, with photos, videos, and employee testimonials.
Leverage brand ambassadors
Encourage employees to vocalize company culture in their network, but make sure to also take feedback as opportunities for improvement.
