The #1 Recruiting Mistake You’re Probably Making Right Now

The secret to snagging top talent in the new year? Don't wait until the new year.
The #1 Recruiting Mistake You’re Probably Making Right Now

2022 has been quite the year. We saw one of the biggest tech booms, we’re experiencing talent shortages and we’re navigating a tricky economic environment.

With everything going on, business leaders have had to shift their priorities. They’ve become even more strategic with their teams and will be even more intentional with their hires in 2023.

That means there’s a war for great talent.

So if you’re looking to hire the top candidates in the new year, here’s the biggest secret to success: You need to get your hiring wheels rolling ASAP.

Here’s why:


January is "New Year, New Me... Here's My CV."

If you’re anything like us, we’re a sucker for setting out fruitful new year’s resolutions. And for many employees, looking for a new job has historically been at the top of that list. Here’s what we see in January:

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Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was a great hiring plan.

We get it — businesses tend to drop down a gear over the winter months, and it might feel like everyone else is gradually pushing to-dos until the new year. But it can take weeks to get your hiring strategies sorted.

So if you wait to get started until you’re back after the holidays, January may be pretty much done by the time you’re ready to start hiring. By then, it’ll be too late to snap up the most ambitious candidates.


3 things you need to do before January 2023

With only a handful of weeks left before Christmas, it’s incredibly important to get all your hiring ducks in a row ASAP. Here are 3 quick wins to elevate your hiring plans:

1. Get your hiring tech stack up to scratch

With a lot of technology noise, recruiters have to be smart about which platforms to trust with their hiring. First, identify a key pain point that your team faces. Then evaluate a solution by looking at three key areas: speed, quality, and cost.

For example, if bringing quality talent through the door is a pain point — is your team spending too much time sourcing? Are they struggling to build a pipeline of quality candidates? Is it worth investing in tools that unlock quality candidates?

Otta provides the opportunity to unlock stronger inbound applications, giving you the opportunity to build a pipeline of potential candidates ASAP. By evaluating and upgrading your tech stack in Q4, you’ll have the chance to train your team over several weeks, and your team can hit the ground running in January.

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2. Level Up Your Job Postings

Your job description might be a candidate’s first peek into life at your company, so your content can make or break your recruitment.

🍰 Keep it Short and Sweet: A never-ending list of requirements is overwhelming. And it can also put off less confident (but perfectly qualified) candidates, narrowing your application pool. In particular, women and other minority groups tend to apply to “safe bets” — jobs where they know they meet all the criteria.

Instead, distinguish between essential and desirable requirements, and urge candidates to apply even if they don’t tick all the boxes.

✨ Prioritise Clarity Over Trendiness: Avoid those painful corporate buzzwords like “gurus” and “rockstars”. Unless you’re running VLOOKUPs for the Kung-Fu Panda, you don’t need a “data ninja”.

Instead, focus on providing an engaging overview of the company and the role, hook your readers on what makes your company unique, and outline the responsibilities clearly.

🔦 Shine The Spotlight on Salary: The most talented candidates are usually the most selective when applying for jobs. And one of the first things they’ll look for is the salary range.

They need to know that applying to your job is worth their while, with a salary that’s in line with their expectations. Publish your salary bands and reap the rewards of more and more qualified applicants.

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3. Reinforce Your Reputation

Candidates care about flexibility & well-being, working with great people, and development & progression when hunting for a new job.

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And they’ll go full Sherlock Holmes to make sure your mission, values, benefits, employee satisfaction, and opportunities for progression are to their liking before they even apply.

So make it easy for candidates to see what you stand for.

On Otta, this is a piece of cake 🍰

You can use your company profile to scream and shout about your employer brand.

Flexibility & Well-Being: List your benefits on your profile to show that you care deeply about flexibility and well-being, too.

Company Benefits Preview

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Working with Great People: The people who know your company best are the ones that work there. With “Endorsements”, spotlight your employee’s voices and let candidates hear from real people inside your company.

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Development & Progression: Demonstrate how people have grown and developed by sharing the progression paths of actual employees. Clear examples show that you not only talk the talk, but you also walk the walk when it comes to building careers.

Employee Progressions Preview

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Add Otta to your hiring mix before January


There’s a whole world of talent out there, and lots of them will be looking for something new on Otta in 2023. Meet them where they’re searching, attract high-quality applications, and land the most qualified candidates before your competition.

Don’t wait until January’s in full swing to get started. If you do, you’ll wish your new year’s resolution was “introduce Otta earlier.” Book a 15-minute call with a Product Expert to learn how easy it is to get you up and running.