Nowadays, the hiring and recruitment process doesn’t end when an applicant accepts a job offer or even when they first apply. It’s a fluid process that’s unclear, challenging to monitor, and even more challenging to comprehend how, why, and what draws job seekers to submit an application. Long before a position becomes open where they are qualified, recruiters must foster opportunities for candidate interaction, inquiry, and investigation. mostly because qualified individuals don’t just search for open positions. They seek more than merely a paycheck. They desire education, job advancement, and work experience that opens doors to new opportunities.

The hiring and recruiting process needs to be more proactive since job searchers are sick of being pestered, hounded, and inundated with instant messages by haphazard recruiters. Four crucial candidate engagement tactics are the first step in allowing candidates to take charge of their own careers.

Recruiting suspect to candidate conversion.

The hiring procedure has evolved, and the same is true for applicant applications. With more marketing and less selling, recruiters need to offer opportunities for discussion, research, and involvement. This entails targeting the candidate population through particular and distinctive channels. The channels you use will depend on who, where, why, and how you are targeting the prospect. Research, questioning, and understanding the ideal job seeker you’re trying to reach come first.

While increased marketing leads to more initial candidate interactions as job seekers learn more about your business, less actual application volume needs to be sorted and processed before hiring because candidates spend more time self-qualifying before they apply. A side advantage of the increased marketing and first interactions is the expansion of a group of devoted brand advocates and friends who will concurrently promote your company and the goods you sell.

Suspect to candidate conversion is tricky. It takes time and effort to understand what tips the scales and turns a suspect to a candidate prospect, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility especially with the most recent Candidate Experience Awards demonstrates that nearly 60% of candidates research and follow a company prior to establishing a pattern of buying commitment by applying for a job opening.

Taking a human capital & HR metrics driven approach.

It’s no secret that data and metrics are the key to great business decision making. Companies and recruiting teams must be focused on the metrics needed to mold, shape and support the success and failures of your recruiting efforts. How you measure your success and sources depends on your end recruiting game. Are you taking a proactive recruiting approach to building relationships and your talent network? If so you, what success looks like depends on your ultimate end game. Are you cultivating relationships and building a candidate pipeline for the long term or are you looking for a single candidate for your job opening today?

Leveraging the human touch cycle.

Conversations, engagement and messages should be deliberate starting with recruiting focus groups, research and information gathered in understanding your own candidate recruiting process. This means planning, plotting and building your candidate touches that are customized for each individual job title and position you are recruiting for. Instead of broadcasting the widest net using what I can spray and pray practices, establish relationships touches and engagements to reach your candidate audience. It’s the best long term strategy for successful recruiting.

The touch cycle can be a combination of automated, programmed and custom engagements that are focused and pre-programmed ensuring that your recruiting team isn’t stuck wading through the black hole soul sucking wasteland of social media.

Consistent messaging and your employment branding.

To establish a consistent, timely voice, I advise developing a list of frequently asked questions, or FAQs, with a series of frequently requested questions and pre-populated answers. Because not all recruiters enjoy email marketing or social media, it’s important to use it as one of the best engagement and human contact cycle practices because it unites your recruiters’ efforts and ensures optimum productivity. You cannot wait in the performing world of today.