There is no official definition of candidate engagement: no Wikipedia page to scour or analyst missive to ponder. Most of the search results you will find point to a series of vendors throwing around ideas that all ultimately tie back to their products. Read enough of what’s out there, and you’ll realize that everyone is saying the same thing: candidate engagement is about building and maintaining relationships. Candidate engagement rates seek to quantify those relationships by measuring how responsive candidates are, how quickly they follow up, and, ultimately, how they feel they were treated throughout the process. Candidate engagement varies from person to person and organization to organization. It is subjective and corresponds directly with another critical concept, candidate experience.  

So, where does the gap come into play? Earlier than you might expect. 

Finding the Source

Candidate engagement can take many different forms depending on the job type, organization, recruiting strategy, and so on. Just like digital marketers have worked to identify categories of customer engagement, sourcers have taken a similar approach to reach prospective candidates because they know that hiring hinges on engagement. Industry analyst Madeline Laurano shared a slide recently that detailed four sourcing tactics – speed, research, batch and tailored – and the associated causes and success of each. With regard to engagement, this helps to illustrate that from the get-go, there are any number of ways candidate interactions can go off the rails – and fast. Even with tools that provide contact data and automate follow-ups, it doesn’t matter which tactic we use; if the candidates you want to hire don’t engage at the outset, the process stalls. 

And stalled engagement isn’t limited to any one source. In fact, it isn’t even limited to just passive candidates. Even active, seemingly interested candidates might ignore an InMail or avoid their personal email, and I’m sure they have their reasons. But without interaction, without the opportunity to forge a relationship, the recruiting process will move on to someone else, someone who may be less suited for the role or organization, leaving those in-demand candidates behind. 

Minding the Gap 

Knowing that the gap can start with sourcing (and spread from there), we have the opportunity to rethink how we engage candidates. You’ve likely heard people say that you have to meet candidates where they are, which, while solid advice, is easier said than done. With thousands of potential sources spread across the physical world and the online one, how do you determine which platforms your candidates are most interested in? How do you know when they will be available? How do you craft a message that will capture their attention? These are big questions that most of the conversations about candidate engagement seem to overlook in favor of talking around the problem – and any potential solutions. 

One such answer is social media, but even that isn’t limited to only one source or strategy. If you are keen to find Gen Z talent, you might want to consider TikTok. For Millennials, maybe Instagram, and for Gen X, try LinkedIn. You get the picture. Narrowing the focus is a step in the right direction, though it still doesn’t guarantee that candidates will engage. Instead, we need to drill down further and identify which platform, when to reach out, and what to say, which is no easy feat without the help of technology. 

Problem Meet Solution 

Going back to digital marketers for a moment, these folks are pros at maximizing engagement. They work to understand customer emotions, behaviors, ethics, and actions to deliver content that will hit at just the right moment. Digital marketers know that each of these categories requires different tactics to trigger engagement. They are consistent, compelling and contextual at every turn. In this example, an engagement could be as simple as interacting with an ad or conversion to a sale. Likewise, for recruiting, by taking a digital marketing-driven approach, we can look to improve targeting to encourage connection, closing the candidate engagement gap by improving the process. And it all begins with who, how, and when we source. 

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For starters, we know that seemingly everything has changed. A small comfort, sure, though it represents our ability to shift the narrative in our favor – to one that we can make sense of and master even as circumstances continue to evolve. Let’s consider.

The Market

To echo the sentiment from the top of this article, today’s job market is … intense. The monthly jobs reports seem to show growth and increased wages, while economists scratch their heads and issue warnings. At the same time, some companies are experiencing massive layoffs while others are hiring like crazy. This “will we, won’t we” recession dance adds exhaustion on top of frustration and makes it much harder to figure out what’s going on. Sadly, I do not own a crystal ball, nor do I pretend to possess some seer ability. Rather, when it comes to figuring out the market, I tend to abide by the following advice: 

1. Don’t look back. This is not 2008. What’s happening now has nothing to do with toxic mortgages. Do not use the Great Recession or Dot-com Bubble as a touchstone. 
2. Don’t panic. As the saying goes, this too shall pass. There may be some turbulence, but nothing you can’t weather. 
3. Do look ahead. Even without a map, you can still plot a course. Assess the tools and resources at your disposal and create actionable strategies to get through the coming weeks and months. 
4. Do stay grounded. Even during periods of prolonged instability, there is still work to do. Focus on enhancing and improving what you’ve got now.  

The Candidates

Now that we have the markets out of the way, it’s time to talk talent, and this is where we’ve seen the most significant shift as of late. Candidates are more critical of potential employers than ever before. They are the prize, and they know it. The impact of the pandemic and the ensuing Great Resignation brought about a power shift that crosses vertical markets, generations, and other distinguishing characteristics. Today’s candidates hold all the cards, especially in sectors like healthcare and light industrial. 

Even in the face of a slowdown, candidate expectations have changed, and they aren’t willing to settle for any ol’ job. As such, navigating the candidate engagement gap means understanding that engaging with a candidate is no longer a chance for them to impress you; it’s a chance for your organization to impress them. So, what does that look like? An emphasis on values, culture, team, and opportunity are all strong openers. Competitive compensation and benefits, flexible work environments, and an open, transparent hiring process will also help. But at the end of the day, each candidate is different and recruiting and retaining the right ones for your organization will require high-touch relationships. 

The Process

Despite the need to emphasize relationships, in the eyes of most organizations, successful recruiting is about three factors: speed, cost and quality. Still, when you operate in a world where talent is the prize, scarce even in an unpredictable market, your recruiting processes must reflect this shift in mindset from end to end, pre-hire to post-hire. That’s not to say that speed, cost and quality don’t matter anymore. Always have and always will, but you need to balance the quantitative against the qualitative. 

A recent CNN segment looked at how this plays out on both sides of the process, with candidates hoping for quicker response times and recruiters still relying on tactics like evergreen job ads to create pipelines. Ultimately, this is the type of gap we need to close, adapting current processes to current candidates versus trying to replicate what worked in the previous markets. Technology helps, particularly with the metrics, but at its foundation, recruiting is really about connecting with others, which means meeting candidates where they are today, not yesterday or the day before. 

The post Today’s Talent Mindset: What’s Changed & What’s Changing  appeared first on RecruitingDaily.

First, there’s the proven lineage of social recruiting. Once seen as a passing trend, social media has become deeply entrenched in all aspects of our culture. LinkedIn is coming up on 20 years, with Facebook and Twitter approaching 18 and 16, respectively. The concept has moved from nascent to mature, and TikTok is the latest in a series of networks that’s managed to capture the world’s collective attention. But more than that, it’s what TikTok represents to recruiters, and that’s opportunity. Let’s dive in. 

Community. The TikTok user base is massive, expected to surpass 1.5 billion by the end of the year. You read that right. Billion. According to HootSuite, eight new users join every second, amounting to 650,000 a day, or roughly the entire population of Helsinki. If you’ve never been to Helsinki, know that it is the capital of an entire country.

With an audience of that size, you might think the experience would be overwhelming, but it’s quite the opposite. Given TikTok’s format, it lends itself nicely to the creation of communities centered on shared interests, ranging from BookTok to sustainability to something called cottagecore. So, it is no surprise to find CareerTok in the mix, with nearly 800 million views under the associated hashtag.

Authenticity. As Elon Musk might tell you, should the Twitter acquisition close, numbers only tell part of the story (especially if there are too many bots!). What users do and how they interact is ultimately more important – and when it comes to TikTok, authenticity is one of the keys to its success. Users feel at home because of its perceived authenticity, a quality that is hard to manufacture yet easy to convey in a visual medium.

Maybe it was all the people filming themself dancing during the early days of the app, but globally, an average of 64% of users say they can “be their true selves” on the platform. That last bit is crucial since it corresponds directly with the job seeker’s journey and the information they’re looking for. 

Engagement. In addition, to being one’s authentic self, TikTok also does an excellent job of drawing its users back, with 90 percent accessing the platform daily. Once there, users spend an average of 52 minutes a day, with each session lasting almost 11 minutes, making it the most engaging social network out there.

Come for the content and stay as long as the algorithm keeps you interested. This works to reinforce the community piece, with users becoming active members of the spaces they watch. Like celebrities, popular TikTokers have developed fandoms with punny names and branded merchandise. That sort of notoriety probably isn’t the end goal for most recruiters, but it’s good to know that type of reach and adoration is possible. 

Usage. At the beginning of this piece, I said that TikTok represents opportunity, and it does because beyond what we’ve already discussed, there’s the matter of usage. For years, decades even, Google has held a tight fist around the world’s search behaviors – until now.

That’s right. Research shows that 40% of Gen Z prefer using TikTok for search over Google across the board. Anything they want to search, from local restaurants to recipes, Gen Z turns to TikTok, and this holds enormous implications for recruiting in a few ways. For one, sourcing. Hiring for a luxury brand? Head on over to FashionTok or BeautyTok. Want these candidates to find you? Learn about how they use the app and upload a video or two. The choice is yours. 

While I can’t say you’ll find me on TikTok anytime soon, I firmly believe there’s value in breaking the recruiting mold. Channels like TikTok aren’t just for kids anymore. Remember, social networks grow up and attract candidates of different backgrounds, experience levels and skill sets, all looking for something interesting to catch their eye. Maybe it’s that open req you’re working on. 

The post Silly Rabbit, TikTok Is for Kids! But What About TikTok for Recruiting? appeared first on RecruitingDaily.