Powerful online recruiting methods for optimal recruitment

There is no question that COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of online and virtual recruiting methods. Had during the pandemic 86% Companies have adopted virtual recruiting methods and the shift to online recruiting is expected to continue for a long time.

LinkedIn for example, reports that 81% of professionals believe virtual recruiting will continue post-COVID and 70% believe it will soon become the new standard.

So what online recruiting methods exist, what benefits do they offer, and what are the most popular and emerging online recruiting strategies used by companies today?

What is Online Recruitment?

Online recruiting, sometimes referred to as e-recruiting, describes any recruiting method that uses web-based technology to attract, evaluate, screen, select, hire and integrate new talent. Types of online recruiting include applicant tracking, web-based advertising, job boards, social media, and online candidate testing or screening.

Employers can choose to develop customized e-recruiting platforms themselves, invest in HR software, or work with agencies and recruiters to carry out their preferred online recruiting methods.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of online recruiting?

The benefits of online recruiting include:

• Improved Candidate Experience: Online recruiting enables a seamless, user-friendly, efficient and decentralized recruiting process that engages and informs candidates every step of the way. Technology-enabled recruiting is particularly important for Gen Z job seekers, who may not even apply to a company if they find their hiring practices slow and outdated.
• Effective onboarding: Employers’ onboarding processes are often cumbersome and inefficient. A bad first impression not only impacts employee retention, but it also prevents new employees from getting started right away.
• Increase brand awareness: Online recruiting allows employers to creatively communicate information about job openings to a large audience in real time. This allows them to collect data on many potential applicants and build a talent pool.
• Cost-effective: Some online recruiting methods, including job boards and social media, are free, but the efficiency of all online recruiting methods is to minimize labor costs. With the help of online recruiting tools, HR managers spend less time manually processing applications, training and onboarding new employees, calling candidates, or writing individual emails.
• Shortens the hiring process: Using automation speeds up many hiring processes, such as: B. pre-selection and background checks, planning interviews, communicating with applicants and processing documents.
• Reaches a Wider Audience: Online recruiting allows employers to attract and hire talent from any country, which is particularly beneficial these days given the recent shift to remote work. Not only does this result in more applications per position (and more choice for the employer), but it also increases the likelihood of finding applicants with highly specialized or specific skills.

Despite the many advantages of online recruiting, there are also some disadvantages to consider.

First, it is much more difficult to fill high-level positions through online recruiting than through traditional methods. Employers may draw from a smaller talent pool for these positions, requiring a more targeted and personalized approach.

Secondly, although employers are often spoiled for choice when faced with a large number of applications, a significant proportion of applicants are inevitably underqualified or unsuitable.

Finally, many online recruiting methods are clinical and impersonal, which means hiring managers and recruiters need to think about how they can humanize their hiring processes. If they don't, employers will lose their favorite candidates to other brands that market themselves and their open positions more effectively.

Want to learn more about recruiting people online? We've compiled a list of the best and latest online recruiting ideas to get you started.

List of the best online recruiting methods : The following online recruiting methods are tried and tested and may be the best place to start if you want to refresh your hiring processes.

1. Company website

An important part of the online hiring process is developing a company website that showcases your brand's unique personality and workplace culture. According to a recent LinkedIn survey, 61% of talent acquisition executives believe a company careers page is the best place for employer branding.

In a competitive and candidate-driven job market, you want to get people excited about the opportunities you offer and show that you are a values-driven, diverse and inclusive company.

Your website could have a dedicated hiring page, a thought leadership blog, details about your company's core values, a diversity, equity and inclusion statement, examples of the work you do to promote sustainability or support your local community, interviews with managers or reports from employees.

Think carefully about how you present this information to ensure it grabs attention and stays in mind. If you haven't updated or revamped your website in a while, you should invest in the appropriate resources because first impressions count.

2. Internet advertising campaigns

Pay-per-click ad campaigns are a simple but effective way to raise awareness of your company's open positions and direct potential applicants to your company website or hiring page.

Social media sites like LinkedIn and search engines like Google offer pay-per-click advertising options. They can be targeted at potential applicants from different industries or specific regions with specific qualifications. Research shows that paid Google ads can increase brand awareness by up to 80%.

You can decide how much you want to spend per day and whether your ad should take the form of a written ad, an infographic, or a promotional video. Make sure your written content is short and to the point, and think about how you can grab the attention of those idly scrolling through social media.

3. Social media

Aside from pay-per-click ads, social media sites play a crucial role in online recruiting - and many of the features are either cheap or free to use.

In 2018 has Glassdoor found that 79% of job seekers use social media for their job search. In the meantime they are already deciding 84 % of companies to recruit via social media as they see it as a useful way to connect with passive job seekers.

Depending on your applicants' typical audience or the seniority of the role you're recruiting for, sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook can be used to target applicants, market your business, and promote your brand.

Make sure the content you post on social media is tailored to your audience and consistent with the website you use. For example, the tone, format and length of posts on LinkedIn and Twitter should differ significantly.

4. Online job boards

There are many job boards where you can both search and hire applicants (via a database of resumes) and post open positions. Take a look at sites like CareerBuilder, Monster, Indeed, Glassdoor, Google for Jobs, Craigslist, Dice, Nexxt, JobsRadar, and Jobvertise. These websites provide easy access to thousands of applicants and can help simplify or speed up your hiring processes.

One of the disadvantages of using job boards is that you will likely receive many applications from unsuitable candidates. However, there are an increasing number of specialized and targeted job boards, and a quick Google search will help you find sites tailored to your specific industry and needs.

5. Implement pre-screening tools and competency assessments

A bad hire is one of the most costly mistakes a hiring manager or recruiter can make and can cost your company tens of thousands of dollars. According to Study from CareerBuilder, 74% of employers admit they have hired the wrong person for a job.

If your company is recruiting online, a good way to ensure you're hiring the right people is to implement pre-screening tools and skills tests that assess cultural fit, emotional intelligence (EQ), situational judgment, leadership skills, and more Assess candidates' key competencies to predict their future performance in your company.

Pre-screening tools are becoming more sophisticated and affordable, and in addition to reducing attrition rates, they can also help identify subtle differences between similar candidates and reduce unconscious bias.

The time to hire a new employee is also significantly reduced because hiring managers and hiring managers no longer have to manually screen or interview each individual applicant.

6.  Dedicated contact search

Certain job boards, websites, and channels dominate the recruiting industry. They give you access to the largest talent pool and are typically affordable and seamless to use. Therefore, it can be tempting to put all your eggs in one basket when recruiting online.

But since you never know when and where you will find the perfect candidate, it is much wiser to actively search for applicants and advertise vacancies through various channels to maximize exposure. By making the effort to find suitable candidates in your industry or targeting specialized job boards, you'll expand your talent pool and waste less time on uninterested or irrelevant candidates in the long run.

New methods of online recruiting: The following new online recruiting methods are becoming increasingly popular and will help you further optimize your processes.

7. Online recruiting software

Online recruiting software uses automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to take on a range of typically time-consuming and monotonous tasks, streamlining your processes and improving the overall candidate experience.

There are platforms that search resumes for keywords, send updates and status notifications to applicants, create reports and analyze applicant data, post open positions on your company's recruiting site, schedule interviews, and keep hiring managers informed throughout the recruiting process. By automating these processes, recruiters and HR managers can spend their time on more challenging and value-added tasks. In the meantime, your candidates will appreciate the regular communication, transparency and increased efficiency.

Before you invest, consider which elements of your existing hiring processes cause the most friction and determine your hiring priorities to determine which software best meets your needs.

8. Video advertising

One of the main disadvantages of online recruiting methods is that they are often impersonal, but the use of video content promises to humanize the process.

Consider incorporating videos into your job descriptions, social media posts and ads, and your website to give potential applicants a deeper look into your workplace culture. You could e.g. For example, include interviews with current employees, video tours of your workplace, or a video with your hiring managers explaining the job's responsibilities and requirements.

Additionally, candidates spend far less time reading or sharing long job descriptions, blog posts, or advertisements than they do watching engaging and engaging videos. Visual content can even 1200 % more sharing than pure text and images combined.

9. Video-Interviews

Video interviews require little effort, are cost-effective and extremely practical for both the employer and the applicant. They are also one of the few online recruiting methods that help you build a personal relationship with candidates.

It's best to reserve the video interviews for the shortlisted candidates so that you can focus your time and effort on the points that really matter. Also, always opt for structured video interviews, i.e. H. ask all applicants the same questions so you can easily compare candidates.

Another advantage of video interviews is that they can be easily recorded so that hiring managers or recruiters are present and engaged during the interview and can review the candidate's answers in more detail after the interview. This also enables collaboration during hiring as other team members can evaluate the recordings of the interview. Make sure you get the applicant's permission before recording the interview.

You may also consider integrating video content into other parts of your hiring process. For example, if you have pre-selected applicants, you can ask them to submit a video application instead of a cover letter. This way you can get a better impression of the applicant's personality and speed up the selection process.

Final Thoughts

There is a clear difference between online recruiting and traditional methods, but the basics of recruiting remain the same. Establish your priorities and long-term business goals, focus on humanizing the process wherever possible, commit to building brand awareness, and invest money and resources to streamline your processes and enhance the candidate experience improve.