Culturally brand your job description. Does your workplace thrive on diversity? Share that with job seekers in your description by including your mission and values so candidates can see exactly what you’re about and who you’re looking for.
Reach out to desired candidates directly. Have some people in mind that you’d love for a position? Contact them with your opening directly instead of waiting for them to find you. You can start by utilizing:
- Employee referral programs (offer incentives or rewards)
- Targeted social recruiting tactics
- LinkedIn connections
- Talent community networks
Be aware of your biases and those related to your industry. Is your field mostly male-dominated? Female-dominated? Be aware of these biases (and your own personal ones) while recruiting for openings and try to align your efforts to avoid stereotypes.
Develop relationships with organizations and associations for underrepresented groups. Leverage these relationships by marketing openings directly to members to target your desired audience.
Examine feedback from exit surveys to determine how you can recruit differently. When your employees move on and fill out an exit survey, ask about your recruiting efforts and how they can be improved to find a wider range of qualified candidates. Because they’ve been on the opposite side of the fence at one time, they may have insight that can help you recruit smarter.
Clearly define your goals and objectives. While recruiting diverse candidates, measure your efforts and determine if you’re meeting your goals. If you aren’t, it may be time to change your tactics for a better result.
Focus on “selling” to the candidate. The difficulty of recruiting diverse or in-demand candidates is not finding them, but selling them on the opening or the company. Tell them why they should work for you: What’s in it for them? What are the benefits? What experiences will they get with you that they won’t get anywhere else? Identify their “pain points” and share how working with your company will alleviate those pains.
Does your recruiting program focus on diversity? How do you do it?
Author:
Heather R. Huhman is the Career & Recruiting Advisor for Cachinko. She is also the founder & president of career and workplace education and consulting firm Come Recommended, author of #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle (2010), national entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com, and blogs about career advice at HeatherHuhman.com.
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