The Candidate Bible: Nurture Your Existing Database for More Hires.

By Ella Andrews

If you’re struggling to place candidates, we’re going to give you some tips on how to nurture your database to start placing more candidates, more frequently using inbound recruitment.

Your existing database is full of ample opportunities to nurture your candidates. So what are you doing to nurture these candidates?

We’re going to presume you’ve already taken the vital step to segment your database into candidates and clients.

Hats off to you, but have you segmented your database into the micro-segments?

If you have, have you segmented this further into candidate stages? If you haven’t, you better read this

Each candidate in your database will typically require a slightly different approach and varying levels of support and nurturing from you. Do your segments represent that?

We’re going to talk you through the different types of candidates and how you can nurture and delight them at every stage of the recruitment process, to place more candidates with more clients, more often.

Segmenting the database looks like:

• What is Inbound Recruitment?
• Candidates who are happy in an existing role
• Recently placed candidates
• Actively looking candidates
• Inactive candidates
• Are you using a CRM tool?

 

What is Inbound Recruitment?

 

Applying for a job is a big decision, so nurturing relationships with candidates who have shown interest in your company is important.

Inbound recruiting creates a remarkable candidate experience through employer brand content and marketing strategies that help companies build relationships with top talent.

By taking an inbound marketing approach to recruiting, companies can connect with passive and active job seekers, engage with their network, and delight candidates throughout the application process.

Emailing your leads helpful content about your culture and application process, inviting them to recruiting events, or giving them the opportunity to talk to someone at your company through live chat are all ways to provide value in the decision-making process.

The diagram below is from the experts in Inbound Recruitment, HubSpot. It explains how to apply these nurturing methods to inbound recruiting through attracting, converting, closing and delighting.

The way people find, research, and apply for jobs has changed. Companies used to be in control of the recruiting process, but now, over 75% of job seekers start their search on Google!

Using a multi-channel process and the power of your existing database, you can place candidates quicker, fill client positions sooner and free up your recruitment consultants time!

Depending on the stage in the recruiting methodology, your candidates will require different types of content. A blanket message approach just won’t work when nurturing your existing database.

Your message needs to be relevant and targeted to your candidate. Sending your candidate the wrong message at the wrong time could result in them feeling let down by you, meaning they’re unlikely to come to you when looking to change roles.

Even worse, they could even unsubscribe from your list?!

Let’s take a look at those different types of candidates and the different messages you should be sending to each.

 

Candidates who are happy in an existing role

 

These are your passive candidates; they are already happy in their role and are usually the top talent candidates.

After all, they are in their existing role for a good reason- they’re good at what they do.

Unfortunately for you, this means happy candidates are the hardest to break away from their current roles.

To nurture these candidates into considering changing their role, your content should be thought-provoking and encouraging. They may feel happy in their role, but that's usually because they are unaware of better opportunities elsewhere.

These candidates are likely to require the following types of content:

• Salary Surveys
• How to manage your work/life balance.
• How to manage your skill set developments
• Current industry trends
• How to make CV alterations
• Upcoming networking and industry events

 

A recently placed candidate

 

These will be your favourite type of candidates. You know they are strong candidates because you’ve recently placed them and you will already have an existing relationship with them.

Your objective here is to nurture them with content to help them settle into their new job, ensuring that they stay in their new role.

You want to make them feel like they’re being looked after with an interest to maintain an on-going relationship. When they’re ready to look for a new role, you are the only person they trust.

And when you’re ready to place them in a new role, you already have that existing relationship.

To nurture recently placed candidates, the will require the following content:

• Set your workstation up for success
• Integrating into your new team
• How to make CV alterations
• Upcoming networking events
• Managing the notice period

Sending the right types of content to your recently placed candidates isn’t just the end of your nurturing.

Candidates have become increasingly savvier to how recruiters operate and are therefore often aware that recruiters can have personal earnings resting on the success of the placement.

For recruiters this means having genuine care for your candidates, to exceed their expectations and provide exceptional customer service. There are a few things you can do that will show your candidate some TLC:

• Call them 1-3 days before their first day to check they have everything they need.
• Send them a good luck message before an interview and remind them that you’re there to answer any questions.
• Add them as a contact on LinkedIn so you can stay engaged with them across multi-channel platforms.

 

A candidate actively looking to a new role

 

You would think an actively looking candidate would be a recruiters dream to place.

Actually, these candidates are difficult to truly know when they’re looking for a new role or not.

The first thing to understand is your existing database. Show of hands who knows how many candidates are currently in their database?  

You should be able to identify how your active candidates through how they engage with you, or not.

A great thing about these candidates is they are likely to be the most proactive, easiest to talk to and most likely to engage with you- giving you ample opportunities to communicate with them!

Worst-case scenario, you just introduce your referral scheme.

Candidates looking to change jobs are going to be looking for and digesting content to help them find a new role.

Applying for a new role is very much a full-time job in itself- at this stage; the candidates are looking for digestible information which makes the process as quick and easy as possible.

The types of content to send to your actively looking candidates:

• A CV building tool, on your website.
• The chance to have their CV reviewed.
• Interview tips
• How to understand a job role
• Ways to work with your recruiter
• How to write a covering letter
• Salary survey

 

Are you using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tool?

 

So now we’ve established what kinds of content to send to your different types of candidates, but how are you going to manage all your client relationships to build better relationships and nurture them effectively?

We may have got ahead of ourselves; we have been speaking as if you have a fully automated CRM system integrated internally.

A CRM tool.

For every recruitment company, your most valuable and important asset is your database.

Think of all those hours you spend finding new candidates and clients.

It’s common in recruitment companies for these details about those candidates; who they are, how they’ve interacted with your organization, to be spread out in many different places.

Your candidates will feel the pain when your team isn’t on the same page.

From their perspective, they have a relationship with one company, not a collection of different people and departments.

Everyone on your team from your sales department to your marketing, need context about every candidate's needs, wants, and current state - they can pick up the conversation where it left off.

An automated CRM is a tool that makes it easy as pie to build better relationships, nurture your leads and candidates and in turn place more candidates in more roles.

 

 

Ella-Rose Andrews

Inbound Recruitment Specialist

Catch the Cat Marketing

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