6 Unconventional Hiring Strategies to attract and hire top talent

Introduction

In this changing economy and job market, you’ll have to do things differently if you always want best employees for your organization or startup.

Social recruiting, video interviewing and gamification are some of the newest hiring strategies in the war for talent.

They change the way we communicate, free us from old school telephone and paper processes, cutting through the time-sucking traditional hiring strategies and cost savings in a changing economy and job market.

Introduction There are too many strategies but one thing companies need to

keep in mind is they have to make themselves attractive to the candidates.

Put your creative challenges where your ideal candidates will see them, including job ads, billboards, websites, wrap on company cars or whatever – then enjoy the flow of quality qualified candidates they generate.

Let’s take a look at some other out-of-box hiring strategies that are showing up in the war for talent.

It all starts with the Job AdsCreative and catchy ads can be a game changer for the hiring companies.

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It all starts with the Job Ads

Make the imagery fun and catchy job ads which can draw people’s attention.

They get the more attention than classic job ads and get shared across

social media because of the emotions they cause.

Looking at these job ads, candidates think that the interview will be

interesting and enjoyable.

Creative job ads also build your employer brand, making your companies cooler places to work for.

See this job ad by Microsoft; they know how to target the high demand group.

And this one is way challenging.Sure, bar work is a challenge.

Mass AuditionsInvite candidates for mass auditions. 2

Mass Auditions

Invite candidates for mass auditions. Ask them to mimic the company’s operation.

Set them to work on a task and ask your existing employees to observe and takes notes on each candidate.

Look for collaboration, confidence, and skills. After the candidates have gone, discuss with entire staff what they have seen.

 The good thing about mass auditions is the team makes all the decision and it is fast. 

Pose Puzzles & BrainteasersDoes your company uses puzzles and brainteasers?3

Pose Puzzles & Brainteasers

Puzzles Start by giving basic puzzles to the candidates that you’re

pretty sure the candidate can solve.

Discuss why the solution works, how the candidate found the solution and what other approaches might have been worth try.

Watching an interviewee solve a puzzle gives the employer a chance to see how an interviewee approaches problem-solving.

Then try giving difficult puzzles to the candidates and see if the

candidate understands the constraints.

Pose Puzzles & Brainteasers contd..

Brainteasers Brain teasers don’t measure just intelligence but other

attributes as well, like how people behave under pressure, what kinds of assumptions they make and how well they apply judgment.

Although brain teaser questions are now being phased out by some companies, some organizations still use them as a way to test your skills and to throw something unexpected into the interview process.

Often used as a method of filtering candidates, brain teaser questions can take a number of different forms, from riddles to those which are based on a story or situation.

Pose Puzzles & Brainteasers contd..

Case studies Apart from puzzles and brainteasers, a better approach is to

describe a situation that resembles the one you might encounter in your business.

You can propose strange twists and ask the candidate what might go wrong under different circumstances to see how creatively he or she handles unexpected problems.

Evaluate how the candidates would think and perform in a real-life situation similar to the kind that they would face on the job if you hired them.

Pose Puzzles & Brainteasers contd..

Pre-Employment assessments Pre-employment assessments tests help companies by

identifying the candidates most likely to perform well on the job.

Pre-employment skill testing can lead to additional benefits, such as saving time and cost in the selection process, cutting off the irrelevant candidates and even decreasing turnover.

Moreover, pre-employment testing helps companies to increase their productivity.

Does your company use pre-employment assessments?

Date with CandidatesSpend time with Candidates4

Date with Candidates

Of course, not literally! Ask the candidate to spend a short amount of time with four or more hiring managers and potential supervisors or coworkers.

The hiring manager can ask the candidate to perform a task.

How the candidates perform, behaves when asked to bounce from one short interview or task to another can give you the advantage of gathering a greater number of opinions from the people who will be most involved with the hire.

Attend Meetups & EventsSearch for forums, meetups and group events 

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Attend Meetups & Events

Forget Job fairs and try looking great talent at other events that aren’t traditionally recruiting-related. 

It also gives you a chance to informally meet lots of different types of designers and developers that will give you a better idea of what you are looking for regardless of a CV.

Search forums such as Meetup for group events that are likely to be attended by people qualified for your open position.

You’ll already know they’re passionate about what they do, and you’ll be able to get a feel for what they’re like in person.

Referral RewardsAsk for referrals from employees and non-employees6

Referral Rewards

Hubspot is offering $10,000 to anyone that refers an ‘awesome’ developer that they go on to hire. Yes, $10,000.

All those organizations and startups that are looking for an extraordinary developer or designer put in place a similar scheme to encourage referrals.

Create a ‘Refer a friend’ page on your website using two examples above for inspiration. It is easy to set up.

For startups, you can either pay to who recommends a friend or just offer them a one day treat in a five-star hotel.

Final Thoughts

These days, finding the right talent requires a little creativity. Invite applicants for a contest in your organization, or in a golf course to know more about them or maybe just call them to play games in your organization.

What could be more important than attracting and retaining the talent you need to keep your company going? Nothing, right!

If you are feeling the burn of competition, have openings that are going unfilled, and are running out of places to look for the candidates you need, it’s time for innovative hiring strategies. 

About Interview Mocha

Interview Mocha is a leading provider of online assessment software for pre-employment skill testing. Interview Mocha offers a pre-employment testing solution to recruit quality candidates and reduce administrative hassles in recruitment.

You can get in touch with us at support@interviewmocha.com

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