Top 3 Underutilised Sources You Must Exploit Today to Find the Best Candidates

Beyond the major job boards, there are currently alternative websites and job apps where businesses can publish employment opportunities. These sources or platforms can be adjusted according to your desired job seeker demographics, business sector (industry), or the geographic area.

Because such alternative sources don’t necessarily have the volume or scale that major job boards provide, several small- and medium-sized businesses fail to engage them, even when they produce a greater quality of applications.

It’s worthwhile to invest resources, especially time and effort, according to experts and HR professionals, to establish a hiring process that doesn’t entirely concentrate on renowned job boards. Some experts even speculate that when it’s the question of strategically recruiting quality prospects, alternatives to job boards could be your trump card. 

Let’s see below what are some of these “alternatives” and what each brings to the table.

Option #1 Job Boards by Educational Institutes

Colleges and universities can be a good place to start your headhunting, as long as there are any in your vicinity. If your organisation is always on the lookout for part-time employees or interns then you can target students who often seek out flexible employment opportunities that helps them gain experience or income.

If hiring part-timers isn’t your agenda then you can go after full-time candidates who have recently graduated and are chasing job opportunities. To get the ball rolling, you can get in touch with the institutes’ alumni associations, career and placement cells. Send an email from your official ID, enquiring about the process to pitch your vacancies to candidates. 

Option #2 Job Portals Built for Specific Industries

It’s no secret that those desperate for employment apply to jobs across major job boards without putting thought into their suitability, interest, experience, and skills. And like such candidates who throng job boards for maximum job opportunities, employers too follow suit to get the most number of applications for their vacancies.

The issue with this approach is the time it takes to uncover a candidate, one who is fit for the role. But it’s a completely different story when it comes to industry-specific job portals and job search apps — organisatons are able to rope in candidates much faster. For instance, a candidate who wants to work as an air steward will most definitely scan airlines’ job boards. Similarly, a sous chef who wants to work for Taj Group of Hotels will scour their career pages and job boards first before moving onto generic job boards.

In other words, candidates who really know what they want will look beyond job boards that have all an assortment of job opportunities. They’ll be familiar with the industry they want to be affiliated with and will not opt for alternative careers.

Check industry-specific job boards on the world wide web on your own. If you run a search for a specific job, say Chef Jobs, you will come across the major job boards first which will turn up at the top of the search results. However, if you scroll down a a bit or move to other search results’ pages, there will be job boards specific to an industry; in this case, a specific job board for those who want to get into hospitality or culinary arts.

Option #3 Referral Programs for Existing Employes

Employee referral programs have always been effective. In fact, studies estimate that a candidate who is sourced via an employee referral program is atleast 15 times more likely to be hired as opposed to a candidate who applies on job boards.

The power of referral programs lies in its value of endorsement. An applicant who has been referred by an existing employee is a welcome sign for the employer. Their endorsement of the candidate is a statement that they’re right for the job — no risk, skilled, perfect match.

Employees are already your brand ambassadors. They have a reputation that they want to protect. Under no circumstances do they want to refer to a bad hire which can ultimately come back to bite their rep. In other words, a referred candidate is almost always a great one.

The Final Word

To uncover the best candidates, you must utilise everything at your disposal. These 3 alternatives helps to change your approach if you’ve haven’t been lucky finding high-quality candidates. Having said that, you must never discount other sources, such as job boards, social media platforms, and networking portals like LinkedIn. The farther your reach, the better are your chances of getting noticed by candidates.