Like so many other aspects of our social and economic life, recruiting is shifting more and more into the digital world in times of digital change. In this article, you will find out what needs to be considered when looking for personnel online.
Personnel search online vs. shortage of skilled workers
A shortage of skilled workers has been a problem in Germany for years. In many sectors, there are not enough qualified employees for the positions to be filled. Companies are finding it increasingly difficult to find suitable employees and there are numerous competitors for specialists. The perfect candidate is usually rare and highly sought after. The corona pandemic has further exacerbated this problem. Although some industries had to lay off workers, tech and IT experts are more in demand than ever due to the digitization push.
The search for personnel has also shifted further and further from the analog to the online area. While job vacancies used to be published in newspapers, recruitment is now mainly done online. We present seven tips that will make your online search for employees a success.
#1 Online personnel search via your own company website
The easiest and cheapest way to recruit employees online is to post job ads on your company’s website. Ideally on a dedicated careers page that addresses applicants directly and provides extensive information on the respective job profile. You are welcome to get creative here and describe the job offer with photos or even videos, for example. The more personal a company appears, the more attractive the workplace appears. Another advantage of the online personnel search on your own website is that applicants can get a direct impression of the company and its values.
#2 Personnel search online via job portals
Job portals on the Internet are probably one of the most frequently used options when looking for personnel. Anyone who types in a job title in a search engine will see portals such as Stepstone, Indeed, or Monster first. Thousands of users access such platforms every day in search of exciting job offers. But the search also works the other way around: employees post job ads there and present themselves and their skills in order to be found by clients. Companies can either publish their own job advertisements on job portals or look directly for potential applicants.
#3 Headhunter – Personnel search for top positions and key positions
It is difficult to find highly qualified employees, especially in the IT and tech sectors. The only thing that often helps here is to hire an IT headhunter, who specializes in recruiting in this industry. The resource of highly qualified employees is increasingly becoming a competitive factor in upper management and in top positions. In this case, a headhunter with subject-specific expertise and a large network is required. A qualified and specialized personnel consultant knows how to arouse the interest of candidates through direct contact and active sourcing on an equal footing. In addition, he conducts targeted preliminary interviews with candidates on the basis of his high level of technical and methodological competence. Specialists are expensive and the induction process is lengthy – a recruiter reduces the risk of wrong appointments. TechMinds, for example, quickly and efficiently recruits managers and professionals in the IT and tech sectors.
#4 Recruitment online via social media
More and more companies are using social networks such as Facebook or Twitter to spread their job offers on the Internet. Although Facebook is still more suitable for private users, there are now many groups and business pages that enable a precise target group to be addressed and promote dialogue with customers and employees. Career platforms such as Xing and LinkedIn offer their own recruiting tools and a job exchange where companies can place their job advertisements. There the employee can apply directly with his documents. This simplifies the recruiting process considerably for both sides and addresses the respective target group directly.
#5 Recruitment via blogs and podcasts
Media such as blogs and podcasts also contribute to the success of online recruitment. Especially in interviews with influential industry magazines, companies can present themselves in an authentic and employee-friendly way and, depending on the reach of the medium, can reach a large target group. In podcast interviews, a company seems even more approachable. A personal, informal conversation in a relaxed atmosphere between two interviewees reveals a lot about company values, goals, and corporate culture to potential applicants. Of course, this also works with an in-house blog or podcast. If companies present job advertisements, activities, or colleagues there in a personal way, they give the applicant an even more detailed profile of the job and the employer.
#6 employer review portals for recruiting online
If an applicant is interested in the advertised position in your company, they often take a look at evaluation portals to find out something about the working atmosphere in the company. Platforms like Kununu promote the transparency of companies and employers. It is advisable for listed companies to take a regular look at their own profile in order to be able to react quickly to positive or negative employee reviews. If the company’s rating is very positive, the company profile should at best be linked and quoted as a reference on your own website.
#7 Personnel search online: “Google for jobs”
In May 2019, Google launched its new service “Google for Jobs” in Germany. It lists job postings from around the web, whether they’re from small business sites or giant job boards. When companies post job vacancies, they should make sure that Google can index the ad. Individual pages must be in HTML format for this. Several job advertisements that are listed on a single page can be read poorly or not at all by Google. The same applies to job advertisements such as PDFs or images.
A local job posting is easier to find on Google. Since most jobs are tied to a city or region anyway, this feature can help you. It is important to mention the location on a detail page as often as possible, for example in the page title, in the meta description, and in the text of the job offer. Especially in smaller regions and towns, it makes sense to refer to the next larger city in order to address as many potential applicants as possible.
Conclusion
The success of your company stands and falls with good employees. Not only are the application processes and induction phases lengthy, but the pre-selection also costs time and money. On the internet, companies can now advertise for specialists on countless job exchanges, portals, and career sites. The competition from competitors is fierce, and the chances of success in some sectors are not always promising. Especially in the IT and tech sector, it is often worth hiring an IT recruitment agency in order to save time when looking for personnel and to avoid expensive wrong appointments. In this way, companies can concentrate on the essentials, while recruiting experts such as TechMinds to fill vacancies with top executives in a timely manner.
