Ask the Rep: How does my regional company compete with Fortune 500s to hire talent?
“How does my regional company compete with Fortune 500s to hire talent?” was the question asked from a young hiring manager who attended a recent Bradley-Morris ConferenceHire military hiring event. I love this stuff. I blogged on David versus Goliath previously. All in all though, I take great satisfaction in helping employers of any size get a win and the below tips are applicable to most competitive recruiting situations.
“Speed Kills the Competition” is a long-established BMI Client Best Practice. And that was my first recommendation; that he reach out to the preferred candidates quickly with open dates for follow-up interviews.
My next recommendation was have them “meet the family”. This particular regional business has great camaraderie. Their president blogs on leadership. They bond through team-building projects and put a team car in the “24 hours of LeMONS” race. They have a good time working together and this is a major selling point for recruiting military candidates. Camaraderie is a part of military culture and is typically well-received by military-experienced job seekers.
Finally, later in the process, I encouraged the hiring manager to keep up the momentum. After an early site visit and great feedback showing off the team-orientation of the business, the last thing they would want to do is let these excited and bought-in job seekers wither on the vine. Military job seekers, especially those transitioning from the military, have a hard separation date and their clock is ticking. And probably more than civilian candidates, military job seekers view corporate indecisiveness with a wary eye.
The hiring manager in question avoided this trap, however, and within two days of the site visit extended an offer to their top choice – and the candidate accepted the same day! This syncs with our historical experience – offers extended within two weeks of the initial interview at our ConferenceHire events have a 90% rate of being accepted.
Ask the Rep is a new series and I would like to hear your recruiting or hiring questions! Please send me a message on LinkedIn or email. I look forward to hearing them.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbywhitehouse
Images courtesy nick fullerton, Phil Whitehouse and Dennis Hill