Human resource (HR) professionals must take on a more active and consistent form of recruitment by working on their personal branding, according to an executive in the field.  

The first step is to create meaningful and valuable content. Recruiters can provide job hunting tips, share allowable industry secrets that will pique the curiosity of potential applicants, give honest and valuable opinions about recruiters and candidates, and express their care for the candidate market.

Content can take the form of a simple post, an image, or even a video, depending on the message and objective. If an HR professional wants to discuss a job that is not well-known in the industry, for instance, a video can clearly paint a picture of its tasks and expectations.

Danica Octa, president and CEO of career development and empowerment platform Metamorphosis Group, said traditional recruiters post rigidly formatted content only when there is a job opening, getting minimal engagement. On the other hand, socially engaged recruiters regularly share interesting and thought-provoking content. As a result, they get wide engagement and are kept top-of-mind among candidates because of the good impression that they make.

The second step is to host career events that provide value to potential applicants. Aside from the usual job fairs, this includes career tips webinars, mock interviews, resumé workshops, and networking events.

Ms. Octa cited “Rebuild your working world,” a public Facebook group by professional services network Ernst & Young (EY), which conducts workshops on topics such as resumé writing and networking. UnionBank, meanwhile, hosts the Virtual Career Conversation webinar series, which helps fresh graduates find work amid the pandemic.

“It will make them feel like you really want to help them get a job, which is very friendly, which is very approachable. Chances are, you will get the leads that you need,” said Ms. Octa.

The third and final step is to provide applicants with candidate success kits. These are documents that prepare them before an interview and give them an idea of what it is like to work at one’s company. These can include snapshots of the employee benefits packages, photos of the office, and tips on how to deal with different interview methods such as Situation-Task-Action-Resolve (STAR).

This kind of preparation benefits not only the candidates but also the recruiter and the company. “If you don’t teach your candidates how to talk properly during an interview, you yourself will have a hard time understanding if they’re the right fit. The problem with that is, just because of their bad communication skills, you’ll reject them. What if they’re a really good candidate? That’s a waste of opportunity for you. You would have to spend some time finding another person,” said Ms. Octa.

By employing these strategies, recruiters can help candidates feel valued. Candidates will always remember this feeling, which will influence whether they would want to work for a company or not. “The problem for some practices is that candidates don’t feel very important, they feel disposable, and you don’t want them to feel that, or else you will never get their trust once you do that,” said Ms. Octa.

 “Building a Strong Digital Recruitment Strategy” was a webinar hosted by KMC Solutions, a flexible workspace solutions provider, on November 3. — Mariel Alison L. Aguinaldo

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