In a time when recruiters desperately compete for talented candidates’ attention, building communities could be a way to stay ahead. 

The job advertising market has ballooned into a multi-billion dollar industry, which has, perhaps unsurprisingly, drawn the attention of tech giants Google and Facebook towards technologies that make it easier for people to find jobs, as well as build massive, on-demand databases of skills.

Meanwhile, many companies are finding it increasingly difficult to market their open requisitions to the right audience. Too often, hundreds of under-qualified candidates flood recruiter inboxes with applications, or worse, job postings are left open for weeks, failing to yield promising applicants. In both cases, the amount of resources thrown at finding the best candidates only continues to increase.

However, successful hiring teams are combating these challenges by proactively building communities of people with common interests and skillsets ahead of demand. This expedites the hiring process and nurtures relationships with talented professionals for future job opportunities. The question is…where do you start?

To answer this question, we spoke with Hung Lee on our Hiring Success podcast. Hung is a recruiter and influencer in the Talent Acquisition (TA) space and—as the creator of the Recruiting Brainfood newsletter—knows a thing or two about building communities. After all, his TA bulletin circulates to over 14,000 subscribers every week. Find out how Hung’s newsletter found success and why candidate community building is a must for the modern-day recruiter. 

Listen to the full episode—featuring a thought-provoking conversation with Anita Grantham of Pluralsight—over on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

How did Recruiting Brainfood start?

In the beginning, there was no strategy behind it. It was a vague idea inspired by the fact that the internet got so noisy and so big that it was very difficult for me personally to find the great bits of recruiting content as a consumer. I knew there was great stuff out there, but it was swamped by everything surrounding it. I started bookmarking articles and eventually, I realized that I had collected a bunch of great content. I was getting value from this and thought if I were to share it with others, maybe they could get value out of it as well. The Internet got too big and Recruiting Brainfood was my attempt to make it smaller.

Was there ever a moment where you doubted the newsletter would find success?

Not a single person read the first newsletter. I had no subscribers, so no one actually received it when I sent it out. I was a bit worried, but I went back to the drawing board, did more promotion, and when I pushed out the second one a few hundred people were reading it. I would gain around one subscriber per week and it would be the most exciting moment ever. At the same time, growth wasn’t the primary objective. The foundation was built on providing interesting and useful content for recruiters, and I think that is what made the newsletter a success. If I was looking for immediate wins or immediate audience then I would have bailed a long time ago. It did take about half a year before people started to pay attention, but then large numbers of people began signing up, reading it, and talking about it. 

Why do you think that it takes six months of consistency before people are really willing to give you the time?

When you are promoting content, the goal is to create an audience. You are asking people to spare their time for you, which—for them—is very precious. The first thing is to clearly signal that the content is around to stay. A newsletter or any type of series isn’t a one-time event; anything that is subscription-based is not a single purchase or transaction. 

This is why consistency is crucial, which then directly translates into trust. The same is true of human behavior. If you had a friend where you couldn’t predict their mood or behaviors between Monday and Friday, it is quite difficult to imagine a long-term relationship with that person. A good friend is someone who is going to be solid and predictable in some respect that you can rely on. This builds the foundation of that relationship and that is the key to audience building—they need to trust that you are going to be there.

A quote you often use in conferences or presentations is “Attention is the currency of the digital age.” How does it relate to recruiting?

It refers back to this idea that we are all in a permanently distracted state. The folks listening to this podcast right now, I guarantee you, are also looking at least one, maybe two different screens at the same time. When attention becomes scarce, it becomes valuable. Right now there is real competition for candidates’ attention. If you manage to get someone’s attention then that is the opportunity. That is when you can have a solo conversation or communicate—opportunities emerge from that. 

Without that attention, you can’t start a sales process, a relationship, or a plan. As a result, there is substantial competition between recruiters for candidates’ interest. Companies utilize ad notifications and other marketing tricks but it creates chaos, this huge noise. It is actually much more powerful if people step towards you rather than if you interrupt them. 

How do you think you can reach out without adding to the noise? 

Recruiters who need to interact with candidates can employ two broad techniques. The first technique is what I call the ‘stand out from the crowd’ technique. This is when you send personalized emails and make sure you follow up. Other strategies include sending a rich media message instead of a text-based email, which is the predominant way in which today’s recruiters try to interact with candidates. My view of it is that these things might be incrementally effective, but overall they contribute to the noise. At some point, every time you reach out you add to the cacophony, which ultimately pushes that technique towards the end of its effectiveness. 

The other broad technique is to create a type of community or audience where people willingly seek you out. Once you have that, then you realize that you don’t really need to rely on marketing tricks to have a conversation. A good example was when you wanted me as a guest on this podcast. There was no need to send me a long email with arguments as to why I should be here. A short email or text was all that was necessary because we already had built a relationship and already had some social capital.

The future of recruiting is going to rely on recruiters who are able to build strong relationships with large numbers of candidates before the need to hire. One of the major problems we have in recruitment is that it is a very transactional relationship. Recruiters have a role they need to fill in that exact moment and that is the only reason why they are interested in speaking with the candidate. 

This relationship is not reciprocal because recruiters are not there when candidates need them. However, I do believe we’re heading towards more equitable relationships between recruiters and candidates. The expectations of recruiters are beginning to change with the increased use of recruitment marketing and candidate relationship management tools, but there still needs to be changes in how recruiters are compensated and measured in terms of performance. In the future, we will see skilled recruiters who are judged on their ability to build communities of talented people interested in working at a particular company or a specific position.

Learn more from leaders like Hung lee in the next part of the podcast series where we find out how to master talent attraction with Celinda Appleby, the Global Talent Attraction Director of Visa

Nowhere are the stakes higher for recruiters than in the military. Find out how these TA pros hit 70 thousand hires in a year, and why your team should start practicing drills.

Though they may not be actively engaged in combat, Army recruiters have one of the toughest jobs in the military. In 2018, US Army recruiters were tasked with enlisting 70k new recruits by the end of the fiscal year. With the Pentagon working to boost the number of active service personnel to 500k by 2024—a five percent increase over current numbers—these quotas are will only increase in the coming years.

With unemployment at record lows, the US Army has revamped many of its traditional recruiting practices in order to hit these ambitious goals. Many of these same strategies can also be useful to recruiters hiring in the private sector, as the current talent shortage affecting industries from tech to healthcare present similar challenges. Here are four Army recruiting strategies that civilian recruiters can learn from.

1. Proactively Recruit through Community Engagement

Sergeant First Class Duggan Myron has a saying: “First contact, first contract.” It’s no secret that high schools are one of the top sourcing-channels for military recruiters, but Myron takes a more proactive approach to finding potential recruits. He contacts faculty, teachers, and guidance counselors ahead of the school year to build rapport, creating channels of communication so that students who have questions about joining the service, or perhaps need career advice, are directed to recruiters for more information.

An effective method for recruiters—military or otherwise—to reach the people they want to hire is by being actively involved in their communities. For Army recruiters, this means participating in community events, sports games, and school functions to demonstrate they aren’t simply robots looking to fill quotas. Perhaps your company would consider sponsoring a youth sports team, or throwing a block party.

Communities aren’t always geographical; it’s about identifying the places where your ideal hires come together—online forums or networks, colleges, professional groups—and nurturing them. CRM solutions top the list of 2019’s best recruiting tools for enhancing sourcing so that recruiters can attract and hire great talent ahead of demand.

2. Sell Your Organization’s Purpose

After the US Army switched over to a volunteer model in the wake of the Project VOLAR during the 1970s, they began promoting careers within the military. They currently offer 150 different career paths in fields like engineering, law, and medical, as well as unique roles like band officer or culinary specialist. For many, enlisting in the Army is a way to learn vocational skills, travel, and earn a steady income not available elsewhere.

When talking with potential recruits, Army recruiters spend time figuring out what motivates them, and how to tailor their message to best suit that. “You can’t just tell a recruit everything he or she wants to hear,” said Myron. “You’re more of a life coach.”

According to research from CECP, a coalition that promotes greater corporate social responsibility, organizations that care about social good retain employees 23 percent more than organizations who don’t. Greater employee retention means happier, more engaged, and more productive employees, with fewer open positions.

Get to know your candidates and find out what they want in their career path in order to best sell your organization’s benefits and purpose.

3. Be Honest and Upfront

“The best message to get through to somebody is harsh reality,” said Sergeant First Class Joshua Morrison, and with thousands of US troops currently deployed in conflict areas like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, the Army doesn’t want disillusioned soldiers or early washouts to find out after they enlist that this isn’t the right career path for them.

Managing expectations is a daily routine for recruiters, and is hugely important when speaking to candidates. Today’s workers have fewer qualms about leaving a job if they feel the responsibilities or culture was misrepresented. In fact, 17 percent of employees quit within their first three months of starting a new job, eating up company time, resources, and creating a poor company image.

4. Focus on Recruitment Marketing that Truly Resonates

Gone are the days of patriotic Army posters featuring a sincere Uncle Sam pointing at the reader. At the time, the call to serve one’s country in times of war were enough to drive new enlistment, but that strategy doesn’t work with today’s recruits.

In 2015, the Army Marketing and Research Group partnered with McCann Worldgroup to roll out “the Army team” campaign. These 60-second, black-and-white commercials focused on the many aspects of service and sacrifice, while highlighting the virtues of enlisting. No longer focused on the individual, the language used in these ads is more inclusive and pluralistic, and has since established a major presence on social media through hashtag and veteran outreach efforts.

“Research has shown that Gen Z is all about making a difference,” said James Ortiz, director of marketing at the Army Marketing and Research Group, “a difference for family, for community, for their country, for the world.”

Today, the US Army is heavily invested in employer branding, and its efforts to reach recruits goes beyond simply pointing a finger. Modern companies who want to attract and hire the best talent need to find ways of presenting compelling messaging accompanied by a candidate-facing brand that showcases why their organization is where today’s candidates want to work.

We talk to the woman behind one of the most successful localized TA communities, and it turns out being social in 2018 means straddling the online and offline worlds.

Online groups are no longer the domain of trolls and haters, there’s a whole world of cyber communities centered around skill/profession/interest that are galvanizing members to follow these passions, and even taking it IRL with meetups.

The localization of internet groups is an interesting turn for the technology synonymous with globalization and anonymity, but it could be a great one. People who once lamented the disappearance of in-person interaction may now dry their tears and logon, or at least that’s what one social recruiter predicts.

Kasia Borowicz started on the localization trend three years ago and is now seeing great returns in the network of Polish recruiters she built from scratch out of a UK basement. We sat down with Kasia ahead of her session at Hiring Success 18 EU to understand what this new trend means for recruiters and what businesses need to do offline to stay relevant online.

Is there a secret to building online communities?

My guiding principle of social media is to think: would I do this on my personal channel? A personal channel is usually about conversations and multi-level interactions where you like, comment, tag, crowdsource, and stay in touch, whereas business channels almost exclusively broadcast their own needs and send mass messages.

To steer away from the latter, I always suggest starting groups. Groups give you the opportunity to share your content, but more importantly, they provide a space for your community to be social together.

What are you into right now?

Something that has caught my eye recently are local online communities. I started a Facebook group for Polish recruiters three years ago, just me in a basement hoping for one or two likes, now it’s 2,300 active people.

Groups like mine are springing up all over. I’ve seen recruiter groups pop up in Germany, Spain, Israel, Estonia, and more. I think it’s really positive that a global phenomenon like the internet is helping people connect locally and learn in their native languages.

However, even though these groups are local, they welcome recruiters from wherever. So someone who wanted to ask about recruiting norms of a particular area could learn from practitioners who work there.

How does recruiting vary by region?

When I first got into sourcing it was in the British market. To be honest, my English wasn’t so good. I’m from Poland originally, and it was, shall we say, obvious. Not just in my accent, but in how I held conversations. In Poland, we don’t do small talk. If you ask someone how they are doing, you better be ready for a 30-minute answer, because you’re about to hear about their whole life.

Once I moved to London and became accustomed to British norms, the cultural mishaps began happening, funnily enough, when I talked to candidates back in Poland. One of the main differences I noticed was salary discussions. For British candidates, the money talk happens before the offer, whereas Polish candidates expect compensation negotiations to start post-offer.

Some people look at these differences and want to say one is wrong and one is right, but when you look at these particulars as a product of culture, each method makes sense in context.

Do you have any networking tips for the wallflowers out there?

I don’t think of myself as a natural networker. I often get really nervous, but what helps me is preparation, not just memorizing LinkedIn profiles – which I do as well – but thinking about what I want to learn at a particular conference or event. Once I know my objective, I start posting about it on my social media and see if anyone else is having similar conversations, and then I reach out to those people. There may still be moments where I’m standing alone, or feel a little awkward, but I find that making those online connections pre-conference helps a lot.

What’s the number one way people mess up social recruiting?

I think it’s a misconception that social recruiting is tied to the online world and social media in particular. A job advert doesn’t become “social” just because it’s posted on Twitter or Instagram; there has to be an enjoyable human interaction that earns the label “social recruiting.”

To make your recruiting truly social, you have to turn away from the expectation of tangible results and put time into building relationships. Social media is one avenue for building your community, but for me, true social recruiting happens when we shut down the computer and go talk to candidates.