Josh TolanRecruiters are lazy. At least that’s what Michael Goldberg, an 18-year recruitment veteran, revealed in a March ERE post. The No. 1 reason Goldberg believes standards in the recruiting world continue to fall is the ongoing use of “posting and praying.”
In other words, they’re sharing a job description on as many job sites as possible and hoping quality candidates will land in their inbox. To understand more about why posting and praying remains a popular recruitment method, Goldberg reached out to experts in the field. The top two responses he received were:
- I don’t have time
- I don’t have the funds for sourcing technology
These are common issues in the recruitment industry. Still, the lack of time and budget excuse the fact that posting and praying is outdated and, quite simply, ineffective.
We reached out to expert recruiters for their tips on overcoming the post and pray trap. Here’s what they had to say:
Do the legwork
One reason recruiters fall back on the “post and pray” strategy is because they’re not adapting to the changing landscape of hiring. You have to do the legwork. There are so many new avenues people use to look for jobs now, and you need to make sure that you’re posting in the right places to be seen by the people you want to attract.
You don’t catch fish by throwing your line in any old water you come across. You have to look at the environment; are you going where the fish are? Are you using the right bait?
Posting and praying is a fallback for recruiters who haven’t invested the time in getting to know where people are, what they want, and how to get them interested. These kinds of market-building strategies cost nothing, but they’ll pay off enormously in the long-run.
Patrick Navarro, Executive Vice President of Jefferson Frank
Get vulnerable on LinkedIn
Copy/paste is easy, right? Some recruiters rely on AI to score candidates, and don’t mind an immense amount of quantity in hopes that a little quality will shine through.
Post on LinkedIn, instead. It might feel vulnerable, but your network will be all too happy to refer top quality candidates. This takes the same amount of time to post, but the volume will be significantly lower, and referrals come pre-vetted — to a certain extent.
Alex Azoury, Founder and CEO of Home Grounds
Use relevant platforms
I believe recruiters are used to posting an ad on job boards and waiting for applications to start flowing in. Well, the times have changed, and with today’s job seekers’ market the tables have turned on employers. It’s getting harder to source good candidates, and recruiters need to start thinking outside the box.
Instead of posting your ads on popular job boards, search for places that gather specific professionals.
Let me give you an example. If you are looking for developers, use relevant platforms that gather dev professionals (like Codility or Devskiller), browse through dedicated Facebook or LinkedIn groups, or organize an in-house or online hackathon. This way you will reach
the right candidates quicker and save time on looking through hundreds of irrelevant applications.
Pete Sosnowski, VP People and Co-Founder at Zety
Build a continuous pipeline with passive recruiting
The “post and pray” method is an easy way to gather a candidate pool. Unfortunately, oftentimes, recruiters are forced to pick from the best of the worst, especially if their career brand and outreach isn’t huge or well-known.
Passive recruiting is one of the best ways to keep a continuous pipeline of qualified candidates. Of course, time can definitely play a part. It’s quicker, though, to source a qualified candidate than it is to wait for the right one to apply.
Sourcing is possible in so many different avenues. Almost all companies utilize an ATS, and most ATS tools come with free posting options that send out to multiple job boards with one click of a button, completely free of charge.
Camden Parks, Talent Acquisition Manager at The 20
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