With all the layoffs going around, it should be easier than ever to scoop up the right talent, at least in theory. Yet after talking to several founders and high-level executives over the last few days, it's clear to me that finding and recruiting the best people is still one of the biggest challenges companies are facing this year.
The hiring market is brutal right now. Here are three steps you need to follow to recruit the best talent before others do:
1. Find Something You Admire and Look for Talent
Given everything that's going on in the world, recruiters must redirect their hiring approach. Instead of searching for talents that fit a certain expectation, look for the result you need and trace back the talent behind it.
For example, let's assume you're looking for a social media marketer. Instead of skimming through job boards and Slack channels, create a list of recent social media campaigns that made you go, "I wish we had something like this for our socials".
Apart from personal experience, you can also look for case studies of remarkable social media campaigns and try to find the people behind them. Go on LinkedIn, research the company and try to find the social media marketer who made it happen.
You can rinse and repeat the same process for a marketer. Research the best marketing campaigns that caught your eye and look for the people on LinkedIn.
Similarly, if your company needs a developer, ask team members about their favorite apps and the products they use every day. Make a list of relevant products and search for the developers behind these products.
2. Reach Out to Recruits With a Personalized Pitch
Finding the right talent is just step one. You also need a super personalized pitch to get their attention.
The first thing I do is check if there's a mutual connection who can introduce me. Intros are great in general. They help you raise funds, meet co-founders, and get talent referrals from industry experts. I like to use LinkedIn to keep it informal and organic.
But if there's no mutual connection, I try to find the talent's contact info, which is super easy once you know where to look.
I find that in most cases LinkedIn or Twitter profiles have contact info listed in the bio or at the top, but it's important to remember that many people remove their personal information from public domains. This is often to protect their identity and stay safe, so don't take it as a bad sign.
If you cannot find their contact information on their social media profile, you can try finding their portfolio or personal website. A lot of designers, developers, writers and marketers have side projects going on and keep an updated portfolio online, so you can reach out to them via website forms.
If you cannot find their contact information on social media or their personal website, try checking out some other resources to help.
But here's what I suggest before you do that – research. When you're skimming through multiple social media profiles to find an email address, you're bound to come across some information you can use as an icebreaker.
It can be a professional achievement, a recent comment thread they were part of or even a hobby. Find jumping points that show you're not an automated bot and actually made efforts to get to know the talent behind the work.
This is how you personalize your pitch and this is how you stand out in a sea of sameness.
3. Screen and Filter During an Interview
Let's assume you've got the candidate's attention and all that's left now is the interview. Screening talent is a duel that can tilt in any direction. Employers look to filter candidates and candidates search for employer red flags, such as a long-winded hiring process and vain statements such as "we're a family."
What you should do is look for potential over aptitude. You're unlikely to find natural talents for each role, but skills can be learned over time. One of my favorite anecdotes is Sebastián Ramírez's misfortune of coming across a job that required four years of experience in FastAPI.
Ramírez couldn't apply because FastAPI was created only 1.5 years before that – and by Ramírez himself. If the employer had been more open to potential instead of rigid skills, they would have attracted great minds.
To evaluate a candidate's potential, you need to create a list of tasks you want them to do. It could be tasks they've done before or tasks they might have to do in the new position. For example, if you're onboarding a writer, you can ask about their experience with these:
- Reviewing email drips and pop-up optimizations
- Creating lead magnets and content upgrades
- Reviewing and updating social media posts
- Updating older articles
- Repurposing and distributing content
- Writing guest posts
Next, you can set up specific tasks to gauge how they'd perform on a day-to-day basis. It could be creating a mock landing page, writing a welcome email sequence or editing a content piece bombarded with negative feedback. Remember to keep it as a test and not stretch it to a day's worth of work.
Maintain control of the conversation in the interview and jot down everything – you may think you'll remember everything, but trust me, you won't. Despite your best efforts, an interview can shift either way. Candidates will take away how you made them feel, so remember to ask follow-up questions and connect with them on a personal level.
Final Word
Gen Z and millennial employees are firm when prioritizing work-life balance and most recruiters fail to meet them halfway.
If you want the best talent for your business, trace back the results you want, look for potential and create a human connection. It's simple, but difficult to pull off. If you can do that, you have the edge over your competitors.
Inc
