A poor hiring process simply doesn’t cut it in today’s job market. The unemployment rate is low, and that means employers are fighting for top talent. If your recruitment process isn’t up to snuff, you’ll lose out on the talent war. The good news is that you can take steps now to improve your hiring process. Tip #1: Stop losing great candidates to the ATS black hole. Applicant tracking systems can help companies manage the hundreds – or even thousands – of job applications they receive. But if there are problems with these systems, the most qualified candidates could get lost in the process. Applicant tracking systems typically use keywords to compare resumes to job descriptions. This can help recruiters find the best match, but only if the keywords are accurate. Job seekers have been advised to optimize their resumes for key words. Job descriptions must be similarly optimized. An inaccurate or outdated job description will result in inaccurate and outdated matches. Problems can also arise when a job applicant is a perfect match – for a different position. Some applicant tracking systems are easier to manage than others and finding applications when you need them can sometimes prove more challenging than it should be. Choose a good applicant tracking system. It should be easy to use, and it should make searching and following up simple. Then make sure your job descriptions are accurate. Tip #2: Pay attention to your branding. Companies need strong brands to attract customers. Likewise, recruiters need to leverage their companies’ strong brands to attract talent. For recruiting purposes, your brand must communicate a positive workplace culture. Prospective candidates have access to social media and websites like Glassdoor, which can give them insight into what working for a company is really like. As an employer, you have to give candidates a reason to choose you – and a good salary and benefit package might not be enough. A Deloitte study found that 52 percent of millennials rank a positive work culture as “very important” when deciding which organization to work for. According to a study from BetterUp, more than 90 percent of people would accept a lower salary if it meant they could do more meaningful work. People spend a good chunk of their waking lives at work. They want that time to be well spent. To attract workers, position your company as a rewarding place to work. Tip #3: Enhance the candidate experience. If candidates dislike your company’s hiring process, it may negatively taint their perspective on what it’s like to work for your company. Although some employers use tactics like the stress interview – a purposefully stressful process designed to test applicants – this method can scare away your best applicants. The application process is your chance to create a good first impression. Remember, while you are interviewing the candidate, the candidate is also interviewing you.

• Be clear. Provide accurate job descriptions and transparent policies.
• Don’t waste the applicant’s time. Show them that your company values and respects talent.
• Be open and forthcoming. Allow the applicant to get to know your company.

Tip #4: Stay in touch. You think you’ve found the perfect candidate. You schedule an interview or even make an offer. Then … crickets. You don’t hear anything from the candidate ever again. This practice is sometimes called ghosting, and there’s been a lot of talk about it recently. Hiring managers are understandably frustrated when it happens to them. But here’s the thing – companies have been ghosting job candidates for decades. People apply for jobs. They go on interviews. They never hear back. Or maybe they do hear back, but it’s only after months have passed. Good communication has to go both ways. If you want candidates to stay engaged in the hiring process, make an effort. Let them know what to expect and provide a reasonable timeline. Then, stay in touch with them throughout the process. Need help attracting top talent? Contact Mulberry to take your recruiting and hiring strategies to the next level.

According to Forbes, personal branding is more important than ever. Don’t think you have a personal brand? Think again. Everything you do online is part of your personal brand. In many cases, your online presence is your potential employer’s first impression. How Branding Works As a job applicant, you’re trying to market your skills to an employer. In this way, you’re a lot like a company trying to sell its products and services to a consumer. Companies use branding to help them appeal to consumers. Likewise, your personal brand can help you build your career. Companies put a lot of work into developing a brand. It’s more than a name, a logo and slogan. A brand is a company’s unique personality. It tells people what they can expect from the company and its product. Ideally, every advertisement, social post and sponsorship works toward consistently developing this brand. With good branding, a soda company isn’t merely a purveyor of fizzy beverages. It’s an essential component of fun times with friends and family. A shoe company doesn’t just sell footwear. It’s a partner in your quest for victory. A brand helps companies differentiate themselves from the competition. There are a lot of companies that sell soda and – let’s be honest here – many of them taste pretty similar. Branding is part of what helps one company convince consumers to buy its soda instead of its competitor’s. When you’re looking for a job or fighting for a promotion, you’re also facing a lot of competition. Your skills and experience might not be that different from the skills and experience of other candidates. Your personal brand is what helps you stand out. How to Develop Your Personal Brand Your personal brand should clearly convey how you are different from other job applicants and what employers can expect from you. It should authentically represent your personality and values.

• Think about why an employer should hire you. What is it that you have to offer? What makes you a better choice than the other candidates?
• Focus on a few of your core skills and strengths. You may have many positive attributes but including too much in your brand will dilute it, so focus on your greatest points. For example, do you want to present yourself as a creative innovator? Or as a reliable team player?
• Use strong keywords that match what employers in your industry are looking for.
• Take advantage of every opportunity to develop your brand. In your resume and cover letter, develop your brand through word choice, style and emphasis. If you have a website or business card, these should also reflect your brand. Remember that employers may check out your online presence, too, so be sure to develop your brand in the social accounts or websites they may find. This is especially important for professional accounts, such as LinkedIn, but be careful that personal social accounts do not undermine the image you wish to portray.

Wondering how to optimize your personal brand? Mulberry Talent Partners can help.  Join us by clicking here.

Recruiting top talent can be a major drain on a company’s resources. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, it takes an average of 42 days to fill a position. Working with a recruiting agency like Mulberry Talent Partners is a great way to streamline the process. As with any partnership, however, a good relationship takes effort on both ends. To foster a successful agency partnership, keep these six tips in mind.

1. Be very specific. Set clear expectations up front so you get exactly what you need, when you need it. You should provide your recruiter with a written job description, as well as a profile of the specific backgrounds, experience levels and characteristics that work best in the role. As you develop the profile, think about your most successful current employees and what makes them so well-suited for the position. Share any specific deadlines and timelines that you have in mind.

• Help us paint a picture for the candidate. You want to know about the candidate, but the candidate also wants to know about you. To find a good match, both sides need information. Provide details that will help the candidate determine whether your position is a good fit, including information about your workplace culture, your benefits package and growth opportunities. Share videos, links to key website pages and any other materials available to set your company apart.

• Respond quickly. A highly skilled candidate may have many options, so time is of the essence. In this tight market, you can remain competitive as an employer by reviewing candidate profiles quickly and expediting candidate interviews whenever possible. It’s also important to provide timely feedback after interviews and throughout the process. Regular updates will help us keep your top candidates engaged.

• Keep an open mind. When it comes to finding the ideal candidate, both experience and potential matter. You have a list of skills that you’re looking for in a candidate but finding an exact match may not always be necessary. If a candidate seems like a good match overall and has most of the qualifications you’re looking for, one missing skill may not be a deal breaker. Be open to areas that could be trained.

• Consider the candidate’s career path. The candidate’s career will continue to progress after the hiring and onboarding processes are complete. Think about how the position fits into a longer path. Is the candidate so qualified that the role does not provide room for additional growth? Or is the candidate just reaching the skills needed, creating an opportunity for growth and giving the company a candidate who will be engaged for a long time?

• Be mindful of opportunity costs. The recruiting process is time-consuming. When managed internally, recruiting often takes the back burner behind other corporate objectives. Yet, if your open positions were filled, you could achieve your company’s goals faster. Why incur these expensive opportunity costs? Save team bandwidth and get double the work done by partnering with Mulberry Talent Partners.

Need help attracting top talent? Contact us for a productive and cost-effective recruiting agency partnership.