Five secrets to winning over your chosen candidate

Regardless of the market, finding the perfect candidate for the role can be tough. To ensure you win the affections of your chosen star, stick to these five rules:

1. Become an employer of choice

Becoming an employer of choice is as much about branding as it is about simply being a fantastic company to work for. Increasingly, younger generations are seeking to work for a business that aligns with their personal beliefs and sense of moral purpose. In addition, they’re looking for employers who will nurture their talent and provide exciting opportunities for professional growth.

To be an employer of choice, you must first act like an employer of choice.

If you’re already doing it, congrats! Just ensure that you’re communicating these positive messages to prospective candidates too.

2. Keep them engaged in the hiring process

In-demand candidates will be able to choose exactly where they want to work, so it’s important to keep them engaged throughout the process. Little things, such as returning calls promptly, responding to emails, and providing feedback – both positive and negative – will go a long way to setting yourself apart from the crowd. Effective interview follow-up will keep them engaged and deter them from backing out because they received another offer.

Acting speedily will set you apart from your competitors. There will be times when the timeframes change, but a simple message or phone call to communicate those changes goes a long way toward keeping candidates engaged. It shows that you value their time, and also gives you the opportunity to find out how their job search is going. If you find out that your preferred candidate has another offer on the table, for example, you might expedite the interview process to get an offer out more quickly.

3. Close your best candidates

In addition to keeping your preferred candidates engaged along the way, effective interview follow-up can also help you close them. The best candidates will be in high demand and may receive multiple offers. Even if you’re not ready to offer, your positive follow-up could dissuade them from accepting an offer elsewhere.

Staying in regular contact also gives you the opportunity to continue to sell the business to them, as well as reiterate the ways in which your position would be a strong fit for them. When you present your offer, share specific interview feedback so that they know exactly why you chose them. A more personalised candidate experience is more likely to impress and will help them to become excited about accepting the position.

4. Maintain your talent pipeline with candidates who do not receive offers

For every candidate you hire, there are likely to be many more high-quality candidates who weren’t successful. Effective interview follow up with these candidates can help maintain their interest for future opportunities. At the very least, notify every rejected candidate that the position has been filled, and encourage them to apply for future opportunities. If you can, offer personalised feedback to rejected candidates. LinkedIn found that candidates were four times more likely to consider a job with a company in the future, if they were given constructive feedback, after being rejected from them the first time.

Gathering post-process insight from all your candidates will also inform any future improvements to your process next time.

5. Use a good recruiter

A good recruiter will work hard on your behalf to ensure your star candidates are engaged and more likely to accept an offer. A good recruiter that you have a long-standing relationship with will go the extra mile in proactively suggesting good candidates to you, making the recruitment process that much easier.

Get in touch with Tiger if you’d like a head start on finding your next great candidate. If you’re looking for more best practice advice about the hiring process, read our complete guide to interview and selection for employers

Author Jane Leese Tiger Recruitment Team