5 Creative ways to recruit new employees

Let’s face it. It’s very hard to find the right talent for your organization. A tight labor market also means fewer people looking for a job which usually results in fewer candidates per job offer. Even if you manage to get multiple qualified candidates for your job interview, it might be hard to find the one.  Back in the days, Elon Musk personally interviewed the first 1000 employees at Tesla just to be sure he hired the right ones.

Be creative

You probably heard stories about different recruitment and job interviewing methods. Heineken once introduced ‘The Candidate’ where three applicants went through an extraordinary job interview in order to get a job. LG once placed a television screen inside an office which showed a meteor falling from the sky while three candidates where having a job interview. Although this can be considered as marketing by LG and you probably shouldn’t recruit employees this way, the way of thinking is right. Think outside the box when it comes to recruiting employees.

We know that it is easy to say to you to be creative. That is why we want to give you some ideas that are pretty easy to follow and to carry out.

1. Analyze your current recruitment strategy

Which channels are you currently using to get in contact with possible candidates? Analyze your current strategy and consider if these methods are perfect for you. If your organization wants to attract large quantities of young jobseekers, a swift from traditional media to social media can be the right move for your organization. Recruitment is just like marketing: always look for the best possible way to approach your target group.

2. Set your target group

As mentioned in the first step, setting your target group is very important. Let’s say you are looking for a professional with knowledge of technology. You might want to avoid traditional media like newspapers or ads in magazines and focus on LinkedIn and Facebook. When setting a target group, it is important to look at similar interests of people of the same category. Millennials tend to choose for products/services/organizations with a story. What does your company do for a better world? Ask your marketing manager for assistance in setting the right target group in order to improve your results.

3. The basics

Just like other vacancies, it is important to place them on your regular channels since they still work. Feel free to post your vacancies on websites like Monster or Indeed since they still generate a lot of traffic from organic search.

4. Let’s get creative!

As soon as you set your target group and regular channels, it is time to expand your horizon. Here’s a list for you with creative ways to recruit new employees.

• Networking: attend as many as you can in order to expend your own network and to meet new people who might be fit for job offers at your organization. Think about new years receptions (from partner organizations), customer days hosted by organizations, seminars, business dinners, airport lounges and many more. Don’t forget to always have a business card on you!
• Job fairs: visit specific job fairs to get in contact with people looking for a new opportunity. Nowadays you can find numerous fairs that specialize in sectors like tech, marketing, HR, economics and more. Also, look for University programs to get in contact with young professionals who will be available for a job within the near future. Visit the website of your local university to find out you can help each other out.
• Virtual reality: It might seem a little futuristic for now, but the sky is the limit. Show your office, schedule a meeting with your CEO and give an impression of your parties. The British Army used virtual reality to show what a day inside a tank would look like. Virtual reality will be an essential part of digital communications in the coming years, so ask your photographer and marketing department if they can come up with something that looks great and connects with your target group.
• Online ads: Run online ads as you would usually do with your products/services. The great thing about Google Ads is that you can specifically show your ads to people who are interested in a new job based on their browsing activity. You can also get creative by showing ads on Spotify, Tinder or other apps from the App Store / Google Play Store. You can even set up your own career website to link to your online ads. Career websites like Microsoft or Booking.com are good examples since they show a humane and friendly side which helps to attract potential employees.
• Hidden messages: Usually never seen by most people, but definitely seen by experts. Try adding hidden messages to your communication channels. CoolBlue, a Dutch electronic store, added a specific message to one of their webpages that are meant to be read by search engines like Google and Yahoo. Online Marketers will often visit these pages as well, making it an ideal location for a so-called ‘easter egg’.

5. Interviews

As soon as the candidates start to apply, you can start with planning job interviews. The best way to conduct a job interview? We wrote it down here for you.