The Top 6 Tricks to Fill Hard-to-Fill Positions

Every employer wants the most qualified talent available out there. Sometimes, this process can be excruciatingly challenging. Hiring for specialised or hard to fill positions needs a fresh strategy and a unique approach. Sometimes, you may have to look inwards to find the solutions. Traditional methods of recruitment may not always be enough and you might need to dish out some really unique strategies or target a unique set of audience.

Here are six tips to help fill hard to fill positions:

1. Create a social media network

One of the best ways to fill difficult positions is to increase your outreach activity. And the best way to do this is by creating your presence on different social media platforms. Create your company page on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Create youtube videos about your accompany and publish a series of blog posts to reach and network with your candidates. Your interaction on social media will boost your engagement with candidates while your blog posts will help them find answers to their queries.

This way, you can create a recall value among the job seekers. This will be especially helpful to fill the usually difficult positions. With the help of social media, you can reach your target audience and pitch them your vacant job positions. You could even reach a closed network of professionals specific to your industry. This will allow you to seek passive candidates and pursue them for your job positions. While you are active on social media, monitor your performance on the network. Find out which platform is giving the highest traction and focus your attention on that platform.

2. Employee referral program

Employee referrals are considered the most efficient method of recruitment. They are highly effective in recruiting for hard to fill positions. So, tap into this huge resource and find the best candidates for your open job positions.

You should never underestimate the collective power of your existing employees. After all, they are your biggest marketers. A happy employee will certainly share their experiences in their social circle. This will help create a positive brand image for the company. Not just that, this will also attract many passive candidates to be a part of your organization.

By creating an elaborate employee referral program, you can channelize this huge resource into a team of verbal marketers in order to find the right candidate. Also, referred employees usually stay for the long term as they are already convinced about the company and are mentally prepared to remain with the company for a lengthy duration. Hence, because of the trust and credibility of this kind of recruitment, employee referrals are a great way to fill difficult positions.

3. Content marketing

Traditional methods of marketing and advertising are passé. They no longer attract the kind of attention they should. This is the era of content marketing. With increasing online activity, content marketing holds more prominence than any other forms of marketing.

Today, audiences do not just accept anything; they seek content that serves some purpose; which provides solutions to their unique requirements. Therefore, if you constantly create interesting and unique content for your candidates, you could engage with active and passive job seekers alike. Through such interactions and activities, you are sure to gain active followers online, who will be eager to receive more content from you in the future.

This way, you can boost the interest of the candidates towards your company, which could result in potentially filling open positions.

4. Review your job description

Review, revise and rewrite our job description to make it look attractive and appealing. Highlight the positives in the job description as well as the rewards and benefits associated with the job position. This will help you gain more traction for talented candidates.

If you show them what they will benefit from joining your company, they will surely want to join your firm. This is better than listing 15 must-have features, which candidates are unlikely to read and entertain. If you have a robust career development opportunity, highlight how the candidates will benefit from your program. List the perks, such as free gym memberships, free lunches, free coupons and paid vacations.

The focus of your job description should be to explain the job roles and highlight the perks of joining the company. It must inform the candidates about the job as well as sell the company. After all, the job description is what will convince the candidates to apply for your company. Identify what sets you apart from your competitors and highlight this in the job description.

5. Focus on fresh hires

If you want to create long term impact, target fresh graduates looking for job opportunities. Be open-minded about investing in new graduates and interns. They bring a new perspective to the job. Plus, they do not come with experience, hence, are moldable. You can provide them with the right training to help them develop as per your requirement.

To identify such energetic individuals for entry-level job positions, you must know how and where to search. Almost 71% millennials say that they come to know about companies and job opportunities through online job portals, social media and friends. Find out where your target audience spends much of their time. Identify the following:

• • What is their social circle?
  • Which social media platform do they access the most?
  • What is the best time to engage them?

Accordingly, create your job posts and design the marketing activity with the intention of building engagement. Create your brand awareness and attract good candidates for your company.

6. Competitive salaries

Sometimes, some of your job roles may be difficult to fill because the salary you are offering may be below the standard market practise. It is important to regularly compare the salaries you offer with the market. This will help you match industry salary packages and attract the right talent.

While advertising or marketing for the job role, make sure the salary package is as per the market standards. You cannot afford to turn a blind eye to this aspect or you may lose the best candidates to your competitors. Conduct market research and check out what your competitors are offering; try to match the remuneration and additional perks and benefits.

Additionally, you can use an attractive salary structure to create some buzz in order to attract passive candidates into your company.

Finding qualified candidates for hard to fill positions may not be an easy task these tips are effective in arriving at the right conclusion. Compare it with similar positions with your competitors. Find out why you lag and take action to curb this. A focused and structured recruitment approach will help you find the right candidates for the job.