5 tips to increase the range of candidates in your recruitment

Optimize your job ad 

The job ad is your first contact with potential candidates. Think of it as a promotion of the role and spend time writing a job ad that attracts attention. It should not be too long, a maximum of three “scrolls” on the mobile. Feel free to include pictures and video clips. It gives the candidate a more comprehensive picture of the company. 

Advertise roles on the right platform 

Have a well-thought-out plan for where the job ad should appear. Think about which platforms candidates for the specific position most often use normally. Advertising on the “wrong” platforms is often a waste of resources. In social media, it is even more important that the message is short and concise. An effective way is, for example, to advertise with a short video clip where the recruiter speaks about what they are looking for in that specific role and attach a link to the job ad in connection with the video clip. Chances are this will capture interest faster. It can also attract interest from people who are not actively looking for a job. 

Career page  

Make sure you have an updated career page. The visual is very important – it must look inviting. It should be easy to apply for jobs. An unnecessarily complicated application process can mean that you lose good candidates. 

CV-free recruitment 

Don’t focus too much on the CV – it can cause you to miss the right candidate. Be aware that “writing a good CV” is a talent/skill in itself – a skill that is not necessarily linked to one’s suitability for the role you are applying for. Today, in addition, there are online services that automatically build a CV, which contributes to the dilution of the CV as a measure of value. Sometimes you as a recruiter can get impressed just because a CV has a “nice design” – beware of those kinds of pitfalls. 

The CV basically reflects “the past”. What does the candidate want now and in the future? Focus on current commitment and drive rather than placing too much emphasis on the candidate’s background and previous accomplishments. 

Open-minded recruitment 

Have an open mind. Don’t lock yourself into a stereotypical image in advance of a person you think fits the role. That image may not at all match the candidate best suited for the job. 

Be careful not to, knowingly or unknowingly, exclude candidates from the selection – for example by, directly or indirectly, specifying, for example, desired age, gender, or background. Formulations of the type: “We would like you to have x, y and z” in an advertisement should be avoided unless there are obvious and strong reasons to include them. Be aware that such wording runs the risk of weeding out candidates who would, in fact, perform excellently in the role. 

One pitfall is trying to replace the colleague who held the position before with an “exactly the same candidate”. See a new recruitment as a chance for the company to bring in other perspectives. Maybe a new character takes the business in a fruitful direction you didn’t imagine from the beginning? 

Read more about how you should think in your recruitment process here.

What will recruitment look like going forward? What can we expect to see more of in the future? Read more about this topic here Rekryteringsguide: Framtidens rekrytering

Author: Nicklas Wikblad

Reviewer: Moa Jacobsson