15 Recruitment Techniques you should apply in 2020

by Aqui Team

With the new year ahead of us, you are probably starting to think about various recruitment techniques that will help shift the dial for your company in 2020.

Looking back over the last few years, the importance of employer branding, intelligent inbound recruitment, improving the experience of candidates and using large amounts of data and AI to find the right candidate has shifted significantly.

As the technology needed to streamline these modern recruiting techniques becomes more sophisticated, it is expected that each of these trends will become more important this year.

But while modern and technology-based recruitment methods are definitely changing the game, you should never forget the proven traditional techniques of hiring candidates. Consider these modern recruitment techniques as a second level of your overall strategy.

Today's Human Resource and Recruitment Landscape

It should come as no surprise that we are in the middle of a massive demographic change in the world of work.

Here are just a few of the key trends in the world of work that recruiters will need to consider in the future:
  • More and more baby boomers are retiring, leaving a gap in skills and experience in management and leadership positions
  • Generation Z is now entering the workforce along with the Millennials
  • But there are still not enough Millennials and Gen Z employees to replace all the baby boomers who are retiring
  • It is an emerging gig economy in which more and more people will work as freelancers or on short-term contracts
  • An ongoing shift in many industries towards automation and remote working

As a result of these trends, recruiters can expect continued and increased competition for top talent - as well as a greater emphasis on talent management and succession planning - and their hiring strategies this year should reflect this reality.

Develop a corporate culture that attracts top talent

The first and perhaps most important traditional recruiting technique you should invest in is the creation and maintenance of a positive corporate culture that people want to participate in. Spending time and resources on recruiting the best talent means little if your culture falls short of your employees' expectations.

While corporate culture is not usually considered a "recruiting technique", a strong corporate identity is an important factor in making yourself popular with applicants. If you are a company fortunate enough to already have a strong corporate culture, then you should promote this fact throughout your hiring strategy.

If your corporate culture is a weak point, consider how you can work with people across your organization to improve this important business element.

Recruit and develop talent internally

Recruitment is usually seen as an external task, but perhaps the best way to find the right person for a job is to promote someone from your organization. Internal recruitment is a valuable recruitment strategy because it ensures that you fill vacancies with people who already understand your company, its culture and what is expected of them.

In addition, internal recruitment shows employees throughout your organization that you are committed to their development and growth. A strong talent management program that focuses on development, succession planning, and progression is a great way to show employees and candidates that there is a future for them in the company.

Start an employee referral program

Employee referral programs are a common recruiting technique in many companies and an effective way to leverage your colleagues' industry contacts. These programs encourage employees to help fill open positions in the company by recommending qualified candidates and vouching for their skills and experience.

This can dramatically speed up the open position selection process and allows you to access pools of candidates that you might not otherwise have had access to.

A referral program should provide incentives and recognition for successful hiring. Typically, the HR department prepares a short document, which is shared internally, that clearly explains how the referral program works, what employees get out of it and how to get started.

Reform your interview process

Interviewing candidates is perhaps the most widespread and often the worst-executed recruitment method. In fact, it is so widespread that many recruiters rarely rethink their list of canned interview questions.

However, as most modern recruiters know, reading a general list of questions about each individual candidate simply does not allow you to get a complete picture of your potential hire. It is also a terrible experience for your candidates.

If you haven't done so already, take a look at your interview process and ask yourself a few questions: Do you spend the necessary time getting to know your candidates? Do you ask the right questions to make your decision easier? Do you adapt your interview questions for each position?

If the answer to these questions is "no", it may be time to reform your interview process.

Hire a company that specializes in Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)

While best practice recruitment methods are obviously ideal, many companies simply do not have the resources to consistently perform them at a high level. If you work for a smaller company or do not have the resources to find, screen and hire the best possible talent, you may want to consider hiring a company that specializes in Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO).

RPOs are companies that you can hire on a monthly or annual basis to manage your overall recruitment strategy. While traditional recruitment agencies typically only hire their own candidates for your open position, RPOs work with you and your existing channels to find the best available prospects.

They manage the entire recruitment strategy and process, including writing job descriptions, screening candidates, working with hiring managers to find the right candidates, and improving your employer branding. RPOs are a far more cost-effective means of recruiting talent than agencies because they do not charge flat rates based on hiring salary, and you also have constant access to all prospects who contact you, even after your contract with the RPO is signed.

Data driven recruitment

As companies increasingly use a variety of technology platforms to streamline their hiring processes, data-driven recruitment will help develop smarter strategies for searching and screening candidates. These platforms allow recruiters to securely manage candidate data, advertising platforms, screening practices, onboarding and talent management.

In 2020, companies should delve deep into their recruitment data to help them gain insights into how to adapt, improve and streamline their recruitment strategy in the future. For teams that want to adapt and thrive in the future, this is a world-class recruitment methodology that you should embrace and incorporate and complement into your 2020 recruitment strategy plan.

Investing in artificial intelligence

As with data, an upswing in recruitment using artificial intelligence (AI) is expected from 2020 and beyond. Artificial intelligence can be used to increase the efficiency of your recruitment process by automating the most repetitive and tedious parts.

For example, AI scanners can be used to review letters of application and resumes to find the most suitable applicants. Or AI can be used to analyze old job descriptions to create the most effective ones in the future.

In addition, companies can use the AI in chat bots to contact applicants, set up interview times, etc.  As the AI becomes more firmly established in the world of work and large amounts of data are generated, its impact on recruitment methods will continue to evolve.

Mobile-first recruitment strategy

With the majority of the millennium already represented in the workforce and Gen Z rapidly catching up, a "Mobile First Recruitment" strategy should be at the top of your priority list in 2020. The newer generation of job applicants expects your application experience to be mobile friendly.

From the job advertisement to the application portal to the end of the selection process, you should ensure that candidates can complete each step easily on a mobile device. Fortunately, there are many websites and recruitment applications on the market that can help make this a reality.

Strong employer branding

With the increasing popularity of employer review websites such as Glassdoor and the tendency for applicants to review a company's reputation and culture before applying, employer branding is fast becoming a popular recruitment method. The goal is to clearly position your company as a great place to work.

This can be achieved through a customized career section, employee testimonials and profiles, an active Glassdoor or Instagram page that provides insights into the work environment, and any other technique you can think of to help you get the most out of your company.

Creating and managing your employer brand helps candidates show why they want to work for you before they even sit down for an interview.

Strategic recruitment marketing

Like employer branding, personnel marketing is a technique designed to strategically position your company and promote it in the most efficient way. Recruitment marketing refers to a variety of strategies that a company uses to find, attract and promote prospects before they apply for a job.

The most common recruitment marketing techniques include creating targeted audience profiles, customized content and marketing materials, a career website, job ads, social media, candidate lead capture and maintenance, and data collection.

Taken together, these recruitment techniques help create a measurable candidate funnel that you can use to fill your open positions.

Enhanced video interviewing and screening

Video interviews are an excellent recruitment technique to enhance your candidates' experience and eliminate geographical limitations. The old tradition of dragging every candidate to the office is a bit archaic when you consider the quality of video conferencing and interviewing platforms in today's market.

In addition to formal interviews via video chat, you can also invite candidates to submit video cover letters, resumes or pre-tests using a feature such as video responses. This is much more efficient than face-to-face interviews, allowing you to get a picture of the candidate's personality and interview candidates from around the world.

Invest in an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are an indispensable tool for any serious recruitment strategy plan, and this trend will continue in the future. An ATS provides recruiters with a wealth of easily accessible applicant information that can be used at every stage of the recruitment process.

Your ATS should act as a central platform that guides your broader recruitment strategy and talent management programs. By pooling all applicant data through an ATS, recruiters are able to not only quickly push candidates through the funnel, but also gain insight from past recruitment campaigns to guide future ones.

If you do not have an ATS, this should be your number one recruitment technique to use by 2020.

Focus on passive candidates and talent pipelines

As we have mentioned repeatedly in this article, finding and recruiting top talent will remain a topic this year and beyond, especially for highly sought-after technical positions. To counteract this, many recruiters are turning to passive candidates to fill future vacancies.

The idea behind this recruitment technique is to actively communicate with qualified professionals in your industry who may be interested in changing companies in the future.

This recruitment method requires you to constantly find and reach out to potential candidates in the hope that one day they will want to learn more about your company. Fortunately, platforms like an ATS can help you keep track of these passive candidates so that you can strike at the right time.

Develop targeted job descriptions

If you have recently been browsing job offers, you have probably noticed an increase in more abstract or open job descriptions. These are job ads that are less formally written and more likely to appeal to the type of person you are looking for rather than specific skills or experience.

This recruitment tactic encourages candidates to apply, even though they may not have the exact qualifications normally required for the job.

Often a candidate may have the perfect personality and ambition for a particular position, but will not apply because of the strict requirements set out in the job description. Writing open descriptions is a great way to ensure that these potential golden nuggets are not overlooked.

Test your own guerilla recruitment

The last recruitment technique whose application is being considered in 2020 is guerrilla recruitment. Or put on your guerrilla marketing hat and think about radical ways to get in touch with qualified candidates and beat the close competition. This may involve finding places in real life or on the Internet where your candidates congregate and marketing your roles directly to them in unexpected and creative ways.

Recruitment strategy plan for the future

Be creative and don't be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to changing your recruitment methods. Take a critical look at your selection strategies and recruitment processes. And look beyond your own environment; innovative recruitment methods could be right under your nose.

If you stand out from the rest of the crowd, you can secure the best talent in 2020!

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