Five top tips to attract over 100 job seekers to your vacancy

Right now, over 80% of employers say they are struggling to recruit new employees. This struggle is across sectors and for different levels of roles. It’s the top thing we are asked about by people we work with. Many of the employers we talk to want to attract different types of people to their roles to create teams that are inclusive. A variety of candidates is important to them.

So, as we advise companies on these things, we tried out lots of our top tips when we advertised for a role ourselves. And it worked! We had over 100 people apply for our role. In fact, LinkedIn closed the role down for applications after just a few days as so many people applied. So, here are our top 5 tips for attracting job seekers:

1. Clear communications

Too many job adverts are complicated, using acronyms, jargon and overloading the communications with too many complicated things that put people off. To attract people to your vacancy, be clear, tell people about your organisation, and where this role fits in. Tell people a story they will want to be part of. And simplify all your communications. Aim for a reading age of around 14 with all your recruitment communications. And cut the complex words, phrases and lengthy paragraphs to describe the role.

2. Diversity and Inclusion

58% of job seekers look for a commitment to diversity and inclusion in employers. 39% will not apply for a role if they do not believe the organisation is inclusive. How do you show people your commitment though? A bland ‘copy and paste’ equalities statement is not enough. You need to stand out and show people your commitments are genuine.

Instead, think about how you can show you are inclusive by your actions. Offer adjustments, tell people about flexibility, the work you are doing on inclusion and more.

3. Engaging methods

A job vacancy is an opportunity to sell what you do to candidates, and engage people. So, treat it like that and think about how you can engage people. Are you using video? Which social media platforms will you use. Can people watch a video to hear you talking about the role and the application process? And who can they ask any questions to?

We set up a candidate portal with a video explaining the role and told people the story of the company and where the role fits in. And to engage a wide audience, think about the different places you can post the role to attract people. Look into social media groups, ask people to share the role and create a buzz around any social media posts.

4. Exciting adjustments

As well as ‘reasonable’ adjustments to help people with accessibility and other requirements, what else can you offer people? Can the role be done remotely? How far can people live from your place of work? We were not restricted on location at all which helped with our vacancy. Can you offer people different working patterns? And how do you feel about people working other roles and projects alongside the role too? And what about voluntary work, or extra holidays?

Think creatively about the things you can offer people to attract them to the role. What worked for us is that our vacancy is flexible, and remote working, we offer unlimited holiday and we are happy for people to work on other roles and projects alongside our role.

5. Un-bias Your Biases

There are several ways in which you can un-bias a recruitment process to help you select different types of people. We are all more drawn to people like ourselves, so think about how you can bring different perspectives into the process. Ensure there are different types of people reviewing the applications and you can remove names which helps people to be more objective. For us, we had three people assessing the applications, we used scoring criteria, we had a second round where candidates sent us answers to questions and we used scoring for the people who made it to the interviews stage. For the interviews, we asked the same questions to everyone, and shared them in advance with all candidates. And we did not discuss the people in between the stages. We also tried to remember that the best person for the role, is the person we don’t have. The person who brings different skills and experience, instead of someone who ‘fits in’ with us.

For us, all these things worked. We were overwhelmed to see the number of applications in just a few days. We had to close applications well before the date we had intended. And the standard of people who applied for the role was really high. And….we are excited to introduce Megan Wellman to Watch This Sp_ce as our new Community Lead. She has brilliant experience and ideas for the role. Welcome Megan!

Mo Kanjilal is Co-creator at diversity and inclusion consultancy Watch This Sp_ce.

If you want to know more about how to make your recruitment inclusive, engaging, and attractive to candidates, email hello@watchthisspace.uk

Photo credit to Cultura Creative.

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk