When hiring niche Talent or skillsets which are in high demand, you are faced with several challenges. The competition to attract this talent pool is extremely fierce. There is also the frustration of matching the perfect candidate to a role only to discover that person is no longer available or interested. Finding niche talent can feel challenging, however, it does not have to be that way. Sourcing such talent may mean you are dipping into a small talent pool, but that should not stop you from thinking big.
The first step is to create a highly effective recruitment strategy. This would help you identify & hire niche talent & at the same time reduce the scope of error.
The Following tips below will help you in Hiring Niche Talent :
- Be Clear with the Job role, responsibilities, and description:
When you decide on the job for a niche positions, make sure you post the specific job description. List the necessary qualifications, required skills, and experience that the job applicant must possess. Since the job would be for niche skillsets, you can use skill specific jargons that are suitable for the role and that would help the candidate to understand the lingo.
- Attend online Networking Events specific to the technology and skillset
If you are hiring someone with a highly in demand and specific skill set, there is a high probability that they are members of some professional group related to the skillset. They likely gather at online webinars, events, meetups and basecamps, and if you attend those events, you can get a chance to network with them. It would be a good idea to attend these webinars and networking events even if you are not actively looking for talent. This way, when some position comes up soon, you would know who to approach rather than relying on just the applications that come in.
- Offer Flexible Working Hours or Remote working / WFH (work from Home) Options
If you are looking to hire the best niche talent, the offer needs to be exciting and attractive. One of the most attractive benefits you can offer is the flexibility in working hours. When you give the applicants the flexibility to work in their preferred hours or allow remote working & work from home then you will attract a lot of talent. There are other benefits of flexible working hours – it improves employee health & productivity, reduces stress, work life balance and saves you money.
- Increase your organisations Social Media Presence
The acquisition of niche talent is driven by increased social media presence & candidate experience. One way to attract or interact with niche talent is by leveraging your social media presence. Make sure you have an engaging & consistent digital presence which will help you build connections with candidates. Use techniques that help you to profile the online behaviour of niche candidates. You can use these observations to engage with them through targeted and relevant content. Understand the type of content that candidates engage with and various social mediums they use.
- Improve Employer branding
Bring in a wow factor to your hiring process. Employer branding always helps a candidate understand your organisation better. A strong employer brand is one of the best ways to attract great applicants. It is also the most difficult one, as it requires significant investment in time and money to make it a success.
- Treat candidates like your best customers.
Treat your niche recruitment strategy the similar way you do with your marketing and sales funnel. If you receive a high-quality lead, would you wait 3 days to call that lead? Then do not do that to a high-quality nice skillset candidate. You should move heaven and earth to accommodate that candidate, impress them & make sure they have a great candidate experience in the hiring process.
- Use niche job boards
When it comes to recruitment you need to go to the right places to find your ideal candidates. Niche job boards are job boards specializing in a certain field. For example, there are remote job boards, job boards for developers, graphic designer, writers, etc. They see less traffic than big websites but you may find exactly the kind of niche talent you want. In other words, you will find a talent pool of fewer candidates, but they will be better quality candidates.
- Reward Creative Applications
Look for creative job applications & resumes. Lookout for candidates who use video resumes or a creative Resume. Look for out of box thinkers. You would greatly benefit from having a creative problem-solver & passionate candidate in your team.
- Use Video as a key part of your hiring process.
According to some estimates, video content will make up 80 percent of internet traffic. Which means video format needs to become part of an effective recruitment strategy. You can start by creating a company culture, Video applications or having video interviews as part of your recruitment process.
- Use a Recruitment Specialist
Recruitment agencies save your company time and effort by sourcing and shortlisting candidates for your open roles. Recruiting agencies are efficient and shoulder some of your hiring burdens. Hire a recruiting agency to augment your niche hiring.it is a good idea to measure the number of niche hires that the agency brings in. This way, you can find a hiring partner who understands your needs and recruits the kind of employees you want.
The world of recruitment & HR is quickly evolving, while these strategies will work in 2020, they may not be successful in the years to come. With a growing number of IT roles, the expansion of Work from home, there is an increase in focus on skills vs. resumes. The job market of the future could be different from where it is right now and it’s best to be up to date with current recruitment trends.