5 Tips from World Class Teams for Recruiting Military
As the days of summer begin to wane, leaves will soon drop from the trees in the fall and the seasons will change. A sure sign of the new hiring season is the competitiveness around employment offers and the increase of employers seeking hiring assistance. The war for talent is
heating up. If you are not yet seeing it rest assured it is coming. If you are truly committed to hiring top talent, it is time to play to win. Here are 5 tips from world class teams for recruiting military.
1). Bring your hiring manager into the interview process early. “A”-players are ready to get down to business and are not going to have an “A”-impression if facing a cumbersome process of multi-level interviews stretching over weeks. Quickly define the challenges of the position, match skills and get the hiring manager into the conversation quickly as part of the initial interview. Some hiring managers get this intuitively, and they have an advantage over HR recruiters who need to convince their decision maker to invest in some talk time up front.
2). Define a career plan for your top performers. “A”-players understand that any deal is pending on their delivering top performance once in the job. We are coming out of a “season” of under promising. It is time to let your top talent know where they are needed long term. Most companies are in a serious need of middle-managers and are sitting on an average of 25% upcoming retirement. Have a plan to verbalize a career ladder for your top recruits or risk losing them to another organization that does.
3). WOO (Win Over Others) involved in their decision. “A”-players are decisive, but it never hurts to win over the entire family. Especially if they are relocating to your area. Have them all out for a tour. While the candidate is interviewing, have a local realtor show the family around town. Have dinner with spouses. It helps you learn a lot about them as well as build a stronger bond. And it helps to have the entire family onboard with the decision.
4). Be decisive on offers. If the interview went well have an offer ready to go before your targeted job seeker leaves, even if it’s a verbal offer with a hand shake. One of my favorite clients has the candidates meet with the CEO at the end of their interview day. If they made it to this meeting, the job seeker is getting an offer. As you might expect, the CEO’s close ratio is through the roof.
5). Tap your talent network. Since 2001, I have nurtured a network of exceptional military-experienced talent that I have been fortunate enough to place in Corporate America. In addition to the great friendships and their insights into military-to-civilian transition, these men and women are my go-to resource for referrals. They deliver countless “A”-players to Bradley-Morris.
The season is changing and some would argue that we are already in an employee’s market. Unemployment numbers are going down and job postings are on the rise. Candidates are getting multiple offers, and the salaries and perks are increasing. Offers declined are also up. Are you and your team ready for the new hiring season?
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