5 Uncommon Recruiting Ideas to Attract Great Candidates Fast

When you’re searching for recruiting ideas to attract top talent, it can kind of feel like you’re in the middle of the NBA or NFL draft. 

You know…picking the right player can make or break the team, level up the skills of your current employees, and lead you to a championship year.

Sounds pretty good, right? There’s nothing wrong with traditional recruiting strategies. But what if you deploy some uncommon recruiting ideas? Your reach to find the perfect fit for the position you need to fill gets a little bigger.

Ready to get started? Here are some out-of-the-box recruiting ideas to help you find the perfect hire.

1. Make Employees Part of the Recruiting Process with Incentives

You probably already have a massive network you can tap when you’re trying to fill a position.

But what if your network was even bigger…a lot bigger?

Let your employees know you’re hiring. Send out the job description and qualifications, and invite employees to become an arm of your recruiting team. 

Then put a little more skin in the game and offer an incentive. If an employee sends a referral your way that turns into a hire, they’ll be compensated. Pick something that works for you like: VIP parking, cash rewards, free lunch, or bonus vacation hours. 

2. Participate in Virtual Networking Meetings

So the typical in-person networking meetings where business professionals get together aren’t really happening right now…thanks a lot COVID-19.

But many of these meetings have transitioned to a virtual format. Here’s a couple places where you’ll find virtual networking meetings:

• Chamber of Commerce
• Industry groups and associations
• Business networking groups

Here’s what happens in a typical virtual networking meeting:

• You hop on a virtual call with other business owners, HR professionals, and hiring managers.
• There’s usually a keynote speaker or presenter (this could be you)
• You get time to introduce yourself and talk about your business, which is a great time to let people know you’re hiring.

This is another one of those recruiting ideas that expands your network fast to help you find top candidates. 

3. Go Where Job Seekers Hang Out: Social Media

There’s nothing new about posting job descriptions online or even in a social media post... “We’re hiring.” That’s where candidates hang out, sift through job listings, and apply.

But instead of waiting for the perfect hire to find you, reach out directly. LinkedIn is the most business-focused social media platform out there with 706 million users. Try this:

• Go to LinkedIn
• Click the Search field at the top of the page
• Type in the name of position you’re hiring for (e.g. marketing manager, sales rep, software engineer)
• Click the People tab

This curates a list of people who already have experience with the position you need to fill. Maybe they’re not interested in leaving their current position (you never know). This list can also be an incredible resource to get referrals for top candidates.

All you do now…Connect on LinkedIn  and include a brief message:

• “Hi (First name), I’m the hiring manager for (name of your company). We’re looking for a (name of position). Anyone in your network you’d recommend? 

FYI. You can also sort your LinkedIn search results by location and many other variables, to narrow down the list.

4. Be a Guest on a Podcast About Your Industry 

Chances are pretty good you’ve heard of podcasts now. Maybe you even have a few favorites. 

But did you know there are more than 850,000 podcasts with more than 30 million episodes? And they cover every topic, niche, and industry you can think of.

Google this: your industry + podcast

You’ll get a big list of podcasts that cover the topics, trends, issues, and challenges in your industry.

And guess what? Potential candidates are listening.

So reach out to the podcast host/creator via email. Ask about being a guest on the show to share your perspective on industry trends. You’ll talk shop, and you’ll get an opportunity to tell their audience: “We’re hiring.” 

5. Participate in Online Industry Forums 

Here’s another one of those uncommon recruiting ideas you may not have thought about…participating in online forums in your industry.

For example, Quora has 300 million users and Reddit has 430 million users.

And while there’s a lot of unrelated chatter on these sites, you can also niche down and search for questions and conversations about your industry or the position you need to fill. 

Answer questions and provide helpful advice. Ask questions. Participate in discussions. It’s another way to get in front of potential candidates that you wouldn’t with traditional recruiting ideas.

Attract Great Candidates with Uncommon Recruiting Ideas

Traditional recruiting ideas still work. But with some uncommon and out-of-the-box strategies, you can get more candidates to take notice. And you’ll be one step closer to adding the perfect hire to your team.