Think about the work of engineers. They need a blueprint plan before they can start constructing a building. Similarly, in talent acquisition efforts, a recruitment team needs a clear strategy for an efficient hiring process. This means identifying the right candidates and crafting a structured approach to start building a pool of applicants.
Focusing on effective strategies and leveraging the right recruitment tools will create a diverse and dynamic applicant to increase time-to-hire and streamline onboarding. The applicant pool will act as a strong foundation for current and future hiring campaigns so you can spend less time and resources when you need to quickly fill an open requisition. Follow these five steps to grow an applicant pool in no time!
What Is Applicant Pooling?
Applicant pooling is the recruitment practice that involves collecting and maintaining applications and resumes of possible candidates to draw from for future open requisitions. You can create different talent pools from your main applicant pool based on candidate status or skill sets.
For example, you can separate candidates into two talent pools based on whether they are active or passive candidates. Divide other candidates into diverse talent pools based on their skill sets that qualify them for one or more specific positions throughout the company.
Applicant pool management is more than just collecting and storing applications and resumes. The most important feature of the practice is engaging with candidates and nurturing relationships with them to future-proof upcoming hiring campaigns.
1. Define Your Ideal Candidate Profile
The first step for applicant pool building is to decipher what type of candidate you are looking to hire. What type of past job experience do they have? What skill sets are under their belt? Note what type of extended education and credentials they should have whether it’s a college degree, license, or certification. Not every candidate will fit this ideal profile your recruitment team eventually creates, but you want applicants to tick off the checkboxes as best as possible.
Having a clear candidate profile can ensure higher-quality hires are onboarded with the company and refine retention rates because fewer bad hires are entering the organization.
2. Utilize Multiple Sourcing Channels
Building a candidate pipeline should always involve leveraging multiple sourcing channels for the utmost effectiveness in the hiring campaign. Posting open requisitions on job boards and social media platforms, as well as spreading the word about the organization during job fairs and networking events, help achieve the right balance of virtual and in-person talent acquisition solutions. Even investing in niche sourcing channels can help broaden your applicant pool with candidates of various skill sets and technical and educational backgrounds.
Job Boards
Posting on general job boards like Indeed and ZipRecruiter is usually a great starting point for leveraging multiple sourcing channels for building a pool of applicants. Candidates across many industries come to these general job boards to search for new opportunities. However, it’s best to diversify your job board postings by finding more niche websites based on your company’s industry. Hence, you may want to post on healthcare job boards or IT job boards to find more specialized candidates.
Social Media Platforms
LinkedIn is a prime social media platform to not only post open requisitions but also engage with potential candidates. These applicants have their past job experience already posted on their LinkedIn profiles in almost a resume format.
Put up a post with a link to your open requisition. Ensure to answer candidate questions that may come up on the posting. To make this social media sourcing channel approach more strategic, search hashtags in your industry to find potential candidates working at different companies to see if they’d be interested in onboarding with yours. The search hashtags activity can even be done on Facebook and Instagram to find qualified candidates locally for brick-and-mortar jobs or nationwide to fill remote positions.
Employee Referral Programs
Employee referral programs are highly successful across various industries. Current employees recommend potential candidates from their professional or personal networks. Both the referred individual and the current employee could receive a monetary incentive as long as the new hire remains with the company for at least 90 days. The popularity of companies implementing employee referral programs is soaring with 84% of businesses already having instituted them.
Networking Events
Attending networking events can maintain great relationships with passive candidates. By attending an industry-based networking event, you could connect with other professionals across competitor companies. This strategic approach allows you to upsell your organizations and talk about open requisitions and their pay and benefits in case passive candidates are in attendance keeping other opportunities open in their arsenal.
Job Fairs
Expand your talent pools by attending local job fairs within a 25 to 50-mile radius of your company headquarters. Some candidates do not mind a little bit of an extra drive during their daily commute if it means they can receive great benefits and compensation for their position. Conduct a Google search to find job fairs within that mileage radius so you can sign up as a vendor for them and gain access to hundreds or even thousands of candidates who could attend.
3. Build Relationships With Passive Candidates
Building relationships with passive candidates helps to refine your applicant pool along the way. While engaging with active candidates can solve your current hiring issues, communicating with passive candidates can future-proof upcoming hiring campaigns in case they see an opportunity at your company they want to embark upon.
Whether you find passive candidates at a networking event or during a social media search, note their names, current professions, and the unique value they could bring to your company! Ensure to take their business cards if you are at a networking event or connect on social media so they can be placed into the passive candidate pool.
4. Engage With Your Talent Network
Talent network engagement keeps candidates interested in your company, whether they are waiting to hear an application status from you or if they’re passive candidates. Send newsletters to their emails about company news. Submit job alerts when new positions open up so interested candidates can apply as soon as possible. Even if they do not need a job at the moment, they may recommend your company to other job seekers in their network because of how well you are developing a strong employer brand with these talent network engagement efforts.
5. Streamline the Application Process
An applicant pool for recruitment should always include streamlining the application process. Optimized recruitment procedures will ensure the applicant pool continues growing without any bottlenecks along the way. Leveraging recruitment tools like applicant tracking technology can screen applicants quicker because of AI-driven resume parsing that divides candidates into different talent pools based on their skill sets.
Review the application to ensure there are no redundancies or complexities with filling it out. Shortening applications to just basic requirements can increase candidate engagement and reduce drop-off rates. Take it a step further by instituting mobile-friendly application forms as many candidates prefer a quick application experience from the convenience of their mobile devices rather than applying on a desktop or laptop.
