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- Position open roles as more than just a paycheck
- Stand out with modern, mobile-friendly technology
- Elevate communication with automation
- Prioritize transparency at every hiring stage
- Convert more tech candidates with fast, transparent, and mobile-friendly background checks
In a hiring market saturated with qualified professionals, organizations need to up their game if they want to attract and retain the best of the best.
Let's dive into four actionable steps you can take to convert highly qualified knowledge workers faster in 2024. From positioning open roles as more than just a paycheck to prioritizing transparency at every hiring stage, these strategies can give you the edge you need to secure top talent and drive your business forward.
1. Position open roles as more than just a paycheck
Adopting a recruiting approach that highlights the company's values, culture, and unique selling points—in addition to financial compensation—could be the key to winning over discerning professional candidates.
Start by crafting compelling job descriptions that go beyond basic responsibilities and expected salaries. See listings as an opportunity to showcase your company's mission, team values, and the positive impact the role has on customers or public initiatives. Weave in stories and anecdotes that illustrate the company's culture and work environment, including how you support flexible work and employees' family commitments.
Additionally, consider highlighting professional development opportunities that demonstrate your commitment to employee growth up front. Gen Z workers in particular are about 35% more likely to value professional development and upskilling opportunities when searching for jobs, according to a recent LinkedIn report. Detail any training programs, mentorship initiatives, or tuition reimbursement programs that support career advancement early on in the hiring process.
By positioning open roles as meaningful opportunities for professional growth and impact, you can increase your chances of resonating with candidates seeking purpose and fulfillment in their careers.
2. Stand out with modern, mobile-friendly technology
To attract top talent, tech companies need to embrace modern, mobile-friendly hiring technology that streamlines the candidate experience. This means eliminating outdated, redundant, or tedious workflows that require accessing multiple platforms, filling out physical documents, or any excessive manual input.
Tech-savvy knowledge workers often have particularly high expectations for their employers to be on the cutting edge when it comes to digital workflows. Luckily, the best talent acquisition (TA) tech tools make it easy to integrate multiple hiring tasks into one simple, intuitive journey. For example, Checkr offers 100+ pre-built ATS/HRIS integrations and a flexible API that allows you to seamlessly add the background check process to mobile-optimized hiring processes.
Investing in advanced hiring tech that's compatible with any device does more than just improve your brand image; it helps you create a memorable—even enjoyable—candidate experience that could push the needle in your favor when offer letters go out.
Win more top talent with faster, smoother background checks
3. Elevate communication with automation
Reducing the manual work of basic candidate communication—like reminders, status notifications, and scheduling—not only saves valuable time for recruiters and hiring managers, but allows your team to focus on crafting personal touches where they matter most.
Knowledge workers are accustomed to timely alerts and reminders from their tech stacks. Using automated nudges to ask candidates to complete applications, schedule interviews, or input personal information for background checks likely won't be a turnoff or seem impersonal to tech workers. It's more probable that they'll appreciate the speed of communication and ease of completing tasks that move them down your funnel.
Once you've taken those manual tasks off your hiring team's plate, then the magic really happens: Your team can intentionally create personal touchpoints that draw top candidates in. Maybe this looks like a custom e-mail or voice message from a real human being, a recruiter who, without automations, may not have had time to reach out to candidates one-on-one.
The bottom line is, tech-savvy workers understand and appreciate the power of automations in getting things done. You can stand out by leveraging the time you get back from automated workflows to design personalized touches that build trust at key point during hiring.
4. Prioritize transparency at every hiring stage
Transparency has emerged as a cornerstone for attracting and retaining exceptional employees in recent years. Professional candidates are often wary of roles with hazy responsibilities, an unresponsive or opaque hiring process, or unclear timelines. You can help candidates feel confident about joining your team by demonstrating your commitment to transparency every step of the way.
A few key hiring stages and surfaces to evaluate when thinking about transparency are:
- Role description. Offer a crystal-clear description of the responsibilities, expectations, and potential growth opportunities associated with a position. This enables candidates to assess their fit for the role and envision their professional trajectory within your organization.
- Compensation and benefits. Provide a realistic picture of the salary range, bonuses, and other total rewards offered for a role. Ensure candidates understand your compensation structure and philosophy right away to help the offer and negotiation process go as smooth as possible.
- Your company website. Do you have a dedicated space where candidates can glean what it's like to work for you? Today's professional candidates want to fully understand the unique values, mission, and opportunities for personal and professional development that define your organization.
- Interviews and timelines. On your initial screening call or in your first e-mail with a candidate, describe the hiring process for this role. How many interviews or skills tests will there be? What is your timeline for extending an offer? When will they hear from you about next steps following each interview? This builds trust and confidence in your team.
- Background checks and final details. The worst place to lose a top candidate is when they're so close to the finish line. Once a candidate is assigned end-stage tasks like background checks and legal paperwork, prioritize timely updates and set expectations to keep them engaged.
Get top candidates to the finish line with modern background checks
Convert more tech candidates with fast, transparent, and mobile-friendly background checks
Highly-skilled tech workers are often some of the most discerning job candidates, likely to start sizing up your organization the moment the hiring process begins. Keeping your ideal prospective employees engaged means acting fast and leveraging smooth, modern hiring tools that improve the candidate experience.
Background checks often come at a crucial moment in the hiring process; your top talent has moved down your funnel and may be on the brink of accepting an offer or officially beginning work. Losing a promising worker at the eleventh hour due to slow, outdated, or inaccurate background checks can prevent you from hiring the best candidates, meeting strategic goals, and achieving a positive ROI for your TA team.
Checkr offers a simplified, modern background check workflow that elevates the candidate experience and reduces your team’s workload and level of risk. Candidates get access to our mobile-friendly candidate portal, making it easy to submit personal information, track the status of their check, and get notified about next steps. Plus, you can seamlessly incorporate Checkr background checks into your existing tech stack using our 100+ integrations and flexible API. Automated data retrieval and advanced adjudication tools help you improve accuracy and make informed hiring decisions. Get started with Checkr now.
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Disclaimer
The resources and information provided here are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult your own counsel for up-to-date legal advice and guidance related to your practices, needs, and compliance with applicable laws.
About the author
As Content Marketing Manager at Checkr, Kate is passionate about developing resources that educate employers and job candidates about background checks, hiring insights, and the opportunity to build a better future through fair chance hiring.