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      How to Recruit in a Recession — From Someone Who Knows

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      As some industries make headlines for layoffs or hiring freezes over fears of a slowing economy (and potential recession), talent acquisition teams feeling market shifts firsthand may think their only option is to slow down with it.
      Many may even be looking positively at the opportunity for rest after the frenzied, white-knuckle pace of hiring over the last year has had recruiters burning the candle at both ends. While the space to take a momentary breather is much deserved, waiting out macroeconomic trends is not a safe strategy — for business or for job security as a TA pro.
      Hiring teams that have become too comfortable with a reactive, offer-letter-after-one-interview environment should be wary of waiting for the next shoe to drop. If you drift for too long, you risk being too far behind to catch up when it does.
      In short: The threat of a recession is not a reason to pause executing your talent strategy. Instead, think of it as permission to reset it, by resetting your mindset — from one that is reactive to one that is proactive.
      First, take that long weekend or vacation you’ve been putting off. When you’re back and refreshed, let’s look at what a proactive recruiting mindset can look like.
      10,000-foot view
      There are two important truths that come with a recession and its impact on hiring. Those of us who were here in 2008 can attest:

      No matter what, some companies will panic and eliminate headcount — this is normal.
      Because the market is more vulnerable, candidates will be more hesitant to switch jobs.

      By embracing these two truths, we can determine how a strategy may need to shift. For example, If your organization has removed all job posts, it’s time to refocus energy on bolstering your talent pipeline.
      And knowing that talent is going to be less laissez-faire about making a job switch, recruiters must prioritize creating and nurturing relationships — with confidence and trust — over dangling shiny objects.
      At a high level, this means recruiters will need to kick the habit of endless sourcing and get outside of their comfort zone to stay relevant with candidates. That’s a big change for at least 55% of recruiters, who say they spend the majority of their time sourcing, according to the recent State of Outbound Recruiting in 2022 report by hireEZ.
      3,000-foot view
      Change is tough, and easier said than done. As a former recruiter, I know how busy each day is. When you’re busy, you tend to stick to what you know: LinkedIn, job boards, copying and pasting the same email outreach that worked that one time. It’s hard to be productive when you’re buried under requisitions.
      Fortunately, a slowdown in hiring will provide the opportunity to make some changes — to become more proactive. To make it easier, here are a few ways to get started:
      Be more selective
      You likely now have more time to identify the best candidate — so take it. It will be key to look for opportunities to maximize the value brought to the job level as well as to broader business goals.
      At the job level, work with hiring managers to become familiar with the minutiae of any given role. What are the skills within the skills that are required? What kinds of tasks will the individual need to complete each day, each week, each month, each quarter? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current team dynamic? What capabilities or traits are desired outside of skills and knowledge? Are there any organizational changes coming that would impact whoever is in the role?
      At the business level, understanding how the best candidate fits can forward strategic objectives. Is the company focused on creating more leaders? Are there goals to improve company diversity by hiring more talent from underrepresented communities? Is the company interested in expanding its global footprint? What benefits or perks do you see competitors offering for similar roles?
      When you are ingrained in the needs for the role, beyond the job description, you can bring a much more nuanced set of requirements to the table when looking for the perfect match. And when you understand how the role will impact the business strategy deeply, you can ensure that the match will help drive the company forward.
      These proactive steps will help you choose candidates with such an increased level of detail that you’ll naturally improve engagement and retention for every hire.
      Nurture with more meaning
      In a recession, recruiters need to keep all candidates engaged so that they are always thinking about their company. Now is the time to get creative with how you nurture.
      Take the time to work on your craft and research your talent: Test new message styles, their length, and timing, and work at making your outreach personal. Ask yourself, what are they into? How do they like to communicate? Try to develop a message that is so customized for that individual that it wouldn’t work for anyone else. Think about how you can stand out from the other recruiters blowing them up.
      Consider adopting new technology that can help you maximize your existing databases. For example, test recruiting software that can clean up and enrich profiles in your ATS, so you can regain attention and interest from previous candidates and build a pipeline that’s prepared for the next busy season.
      Look for recruiting platforms that have engagement features built in, such as email sequencing and scheduling, so that you can reach highly qualified candidates directly, and plan your hyper-personalized outreach in advance.
      Scientists test hypotheses so that they can proactively set up an experiment to succeed. Be a scientist — test and experiment to set yourself up for success.
      Understand what works
      Sometimes data tells a very different story than what we tell ourselves. But it can be hard to find the time to take a look back at the information we have. Now’s the time for recruiters to look at what worked, what didn’t, and what questions you don’t have good answers for.
      Take a deep database dive to review past hires; see what trends surface that can help you reevaluate candidates for the future, and reassess KPIs. Did time to hire improve with candidates who had to go through fewer interviews? What changes to the hiring process impacted retention? Do you have an easier time getting responses when recruiting for more senior roles? What commonalities can you find about candidates who ghosted you?
      A solid talent strategy should also take into account what broader industry and competitive trends can reveal. Certain recruiting platforms now provide the ability to compare your company’s performance against competitors. Having insight into data like average salaries by functional area, popular geos for specific roles, or at what time talent might be more willing to make a change, can help you proactively optimize your approach for the future.
      1,000-foot view
      Breaking habits can be hard, but what better time to make changes in your approach to recruiting — to improve your game — than when the market is changing.
      When it comes to adopting a proactive mindset, the worst-case scenario is you increase your expertise and expand your capabilities. The best-case scenario is you have people ready to join your organization even before you’ve even sent out offer letters. Take it from someone who recruited in the last recession.
      Shannon Pritchett is Head of Community at both hireEZ and Evry1 (which she co-founded in 2021). Prior to joining hireEZ, she served in a variety of recruiting roles and later leveraged her industry experience and expertise to hold leadership positions at Moxy, SourceCon, CareerXroads, and beyond. As a talent acquisition leader, she remains passionate about connecting companies with their most valuable asset — people.
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      Mind the Gap: How Recruiters Can Help to Close the Gender Pay Divide

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      Current headlines are littered with debates on pay in a post-pandemic hybrid world. Strikes in the UK amongst barristers are gaining momentum, professional services sectors are fighting a salary war and eye-watering C-suite bonuses are coming into question. Yet, there is still an audible silence surrounding the UK’s ever-widening gender pay gap.
      According to Major, Lindsey & Africa’s latest In-House Compensation Survey, the UK is falling behind internationally when it comes to remunerating its General Counsel equitably, with a staggering $81,610 difference between base rate salaries for men and women.
      This is just one example of the pay discrepancies that still exist amongst the top talent, but these findings exemplify that there is still a long way to go to bridge the divide. A major overhaul and culture of change in the workplace seems daunting, but small changes at the very start of the hiring process would make a world of difference.
      The affordability gap
      With a talent war raging, hiring women can no longer be seen as a diversity initiative if they are not being paid fairly. Female candidates are increasingly being hired because they are equally good for the job as their male counterparts. At the same time, they are often still considered the more affordable option. Masked by the guise of a diversity initiative, this conversely widens the pay gap. Progress will be limited if we only succeed in having more women in the boardroom but do not equitably remunerate them.
      Lessons from across the pond
      A clear-cut difference in culture is also emerging between the UK and the US when it comes to transparency surrounding pay. It is still true that In American businesses, candidates and employers alike are more willing to talk about money. This more transparent approach in the states has a huge influence on power dynamics, making conversations about salaries and bonuses more of an open discussion than a taboo to shy away from. For instance, we found that last year the difference between male and female GCs and CLOs’ bonuses in the UK stood at $179,825.
      How can candidates expect to negotiate a pay lift if they are not willing to discuss it? Fostering a culture of transparency within a company will not only bring to the fore any glaring inequalities but also encourage women to speak up about their current packages or ask for more money when joining a new company. If we dance around the matter of pay, the stigma will only continue to propagate the pay gap.
      Reversing expectations
      A simple change recruiters and HR departments alike can make when hiring new talent, is to ask a candidate what their salary expectations are, rather than their current package. Valuing the position to be filled rather than the individual conversely may result in more than the standard 10-15% uplift when moving role, but this is exactly what is necessary to close the gap. If women are to truly stand shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts in the workplace, they must first be considered as such and we need to be ambitious about expectations. When hiring a new candidate, the discussion on salary should focus on the expertise, experience, and skills they can offer.
      If the UK is to truly champion women’s equality in the workplace, systemic and deep-rooted bias and taboo will need to be broken down. The best way to do this? Start from the beginning. Recruiters’ negotiations for a candidate’s new role are the first step to breaking a cycle that has allowed the gender pay gap to become so entrenched and in opening up conversation, the stigma reinforcing the glass ceiling will start to be broken down.
      By Tanja Albers, Partner, In House Counsel Group, Major, Lindsey & Africa.
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      10 Things You Can Do to Reach DEI Goals

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      What You’ll Learn

      The first thing you must do to make meaningful progress on DEI goalsWhich talent pools many companies continue to overlookWhy culture “fit” is outdated and what’s important nowYou can make progress in many areas by testing a new tool, changing a policy, or saying “yes,” to a new idea

      About this eBook:

      After the #MeToo, #FoundersForChange, and #BLM movements, more companies prioritized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Executives and hiring managers took a closer look at their current hiring models and recruitment practices. Employers created new positions and KPIs focused on DEI.And yet undertaking changes to improve DEI within your company can feel like an uphill task. Many of these issues are systemic, and not a quick fix. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and not know where to begin. It’s especially tough for one person or a single team to push against a long-standing system and cultural norms.This eBook gives DEI officers, tech leaders, hiring managers, and talent acquisition teams insights into small but mighty tactics and strategies to improve the diversity of their teams and level up DEI hiring across organizations. More

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      “Buckle Up and Ride the Economic Storm” Says Veteran Recruiter 

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      As the UK heads towards yet another recession, the common mistakes business leaders make are the knee-jerk reactions of lowering headcount, freezing hiring, and sticking our heads in the sand when it comes to finances. All of which are a sure way to hinder future business growth and undermine overarching business goals. Of course, human beings’ fight or flight mode exists for survival reasons, but these tactics are a very temporary fix to a very long-term problem.
      While we are all guilty of receding to our safe place in times of trouble, business leaders should be buckling up to ride the economic storm to the best of their abilities, with the ultimate aim of coming out the other side ahead of competitors.
      Protect your assets
      While it may be tempting to knee-jerk into headcount reduction during tough economic times – especially with inflation hitting a 40-year high at 9.1 percent – this may end up being more damaging to businesses in the long run.
      Now more than ever, employers should be doing all they can to protect their most valuable assets – their staff. History has taught us time and time again that those who recognize this will be the ones who benefit later down the line. As the market recovered from the 2008 crash, reports showed employees felt their employers had ‘lost sight’ of the support they needed and subsequently, left en masse once things improved.
      Don’t let your talent pipelines dry out
      Staff retention should be a priority during rocky times but hiring managers should be seizing the opportunity to look for talent while the rest of the competition’s heads are down. Ensure that your job adverts are appealing to the correct audience, put some money behind LinkedIn advertising or use the services of a recruitment partner.
      Anything that you can do to raise the profile of your business, communicate your messages with your networks and demonstrate yourselves as an attractive employment prospect, will be crucial to future-proofing your business. It may seem counterintuitive now, but when your competitors are clutching at straws on the rebound, you’ll be thriving.
      Mind out for salary inflation
      The cost-of-living crisis’ grip is tightening, and as such, it may be tempting to raise pay for your staff to offset costs. Triggering a ‘wage-price spiral’ should be approached with caution, as inflationary pay rises are inflationary in itself – and companies will only raise consumer prices further – becoming a vicious cycle we may never venture out of.
      The recent news of management consultant giant PwC announcing a 9 percent pay rise for thousands of staff to offset the costs of living is setting a dangerous precedent. A popular move with staff, of course, but once other businesses follow suit there’s no sight at the end of the tunnel. PwC may well have the best intentions at heart (although remember they are also fighting in the war for talent), but it is a major player, and where it leads, others are sure to follow.
      Understand your finances
      Ensuring that you fully understand your income and expenditure is crucial to remaining in control. In a recession, remember that cash is king. Watch costs like a hawk and ensure that your business has sufficient liquidity to operate for longer than you would expect in normal times.
      The challenge during a recession is always to balance your costs and revenue to ensure that you can still generate profit as well as nurture and protect your valued clients and staff. This may require looking at different outlets for your products or services or mining existing relationships more intelligently (more likely a combination of both).
      What’s next?
      While it’s difficult to predict what the next six months have in store for us, especially with the ever-unstable government, there are already signs in the US that inflationary pressures are beginning to ease. One might expect a leveling off or even the beginning of a decline in inflation in the last quarter of this year.
      Of course, nothing about this economy and the job market is easy. The financial challenges are completely new to some, and ‘yet another hurdle’ for others, but the strategy remains the same. Be cautious but buckle up for the long term. The last thing you want is to emerge from your bunker in six months’ time to find your business landscape decimated.
      If the last two years have taught us anything it’s that we can be agile in the face of uncertainty but also that risks may be well worth taking. After all, it should be a walk in the park compared to navigating through the uncertainties of the pandemic.
      By: Dominic Wade, co-founder of specialist HR and Finance & Accountancy recruitment firm, Wade Macdonald. He founded the firm in the early 90s and since has weathered three financial crises and a pandemic. 
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      What Happens When TA & Hiring Managers Unite? Best Practices from Walmart, One Medical & More

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      Strategies for SMB, MM & Enterprise

      Key Takeaways

      Traditional hiring practices of SMBs, MM, and Enterprise level employersHired’s recommendations for each business sizeSpecific examples of tactics and strategies from talent leaders

      About the eBook:

      A common thread we’ve seen with some of our top employers on Hired is engagement with candidates from both TA and hiring management teams. In this piece, we’ll show how some companies are achieving new heights by inviting both groups to collaborate on the platform and in the process.

      In this robust ebook, we’ll also take a detailed look at how enterprise, mid-market, and SMB employers approach hiring talent, share our best practices for each, and how companies such as Walmart Global Tech, Smartsheet, One Medical, Tanium, NBCUniversal, Gem, Mercari, and more increased acceptance rates and sped up time to hire. In some cases, 11 days faster than the benchmark! More

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      How to Support Internal Candidates When They Don’t Get the Job

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      Internal Mobility and Professional Growth are Key Retention Tools

      Good companies strive to support internal candidates and employee growth. But when push comes to shove, many organizations fall short in seeing this mission through. 

      In a recent Deloitte survey, almost 60% of employees polled said it’s easier to find a new role at another company than it is to change roles at their current employer. 

      According to Randstad’s 2021 career mobility report, “Employees aren’t optimistic about getting promoted within their company, with 43.2% saying they don’t have enough opportunities for internal mobility.” 

      Even when there are opportunities for internal mobility, talent teams still face inevitable challenges. A few of the hardest questions for HR leaders to grapple with are: 

      How should we respond when internal candidates are turned down for another role within our organization? Is there any chance of retaining them after that—and if so, what does that process look like?What’s the experience like for employees? Do they feel they’ve broadcast their desire to leave their current role? 

      To answer these questions, Hired’s Rob Stevenson sat down with Comcast’s Director of Talent Acquisition, Keith Friant, on the Talk Talent to Me podcast. Read on to learn the top insights from their conversation. Finally, we’ll explore an innovative approach to retention and internal mobility that went viral on LinkedIn.

      How Comcast Supports Engagement in Internal Candidates

      Expert: Comcast Director of Talent Acquisition, Keith Friant

      Focus on providing clear feedback

      A cookie-cutter rejection email is the last thing internal candidates want to see after applying for an open role. 

      Rather, they want clear and actionable feedback that sets them on a path of continuous improvement.

      “What’s the next step in your process, outside of candidates just getting a standard disposition email?” asked Friant. “It can really feel a little deflating if that’s the only type of communication they’re getting after investing time into the interview process.” 

      That’s why Comcast prioritizes providing internal candidates with personalized feedback when they aren’t chosen for a job. 

      “Feedback is really valuable,” said Friant. “That population is looking to grow and move into something different. We all clearly want to care for them, which is why it’s so important that they get timely and meaningful feedback.”

      Offer learning and development opportunities

      As a next step, Friant suggests asking questions like:

      What were the candidate’s skill gaps?How can we help them grow in these key areas? Can we put them on any stretch assignments?

      Stretch assignments have been especially instrumental to driving employee growth and engagement at Comcast. 

      “We’ve adopted this gig concept where employees participate in short-term or longer-term projects when another team needs help, someone is going out on paternity leave, or anything along those lines,” explained Friant. 

      Actions like this go a long way in making employees feel seen and supported. By offering learning and development opportunities, companies can encourage ongoing employee growth—and keep engagement high even after someone isn’t selected for the job they wanted. 

      Related: Survey data from the 2022 State of Software Engineers report revealed the number one reason software developers enter the field is for the opportunity to continuously learn and tackle new challenges. More than half said it’s important to them that their employer provide professional development opportunities. 

      In the 2021 State of Tech Salaries, tech talent listed benefits such as tuition reimbursement in their top 10 of compelling company benefits. Younger, more junior employees ranked this higher than senior talent. 

      Manage employee expectations

      Picture this: your company posts an open marketing manager role. Someone on the sales team sees the job post and submits an application, excited by the prospect of pursuing horizontal growth within your organization. 

      However, the job post disappears only days later—and the role goes to a marketing associate who had already been on a promotion track. The interested internal candidate never even got a chance to interview for the role, and got their hopes up for nothing.

      Disappointing, right?

      To avoid scenarios like this, Comcast takes a careful approach to sharing job posts. “We really only try to post jobs that are viable and open,” said Friant. 

      “If someone left the team and we know we just want to inline promote another team member into that role, we can do that without having to post the job and put everyone else through a process that wastes a lot of people’s time and energy.” 

      Listen to the full episode

      Why Transparency is Important to Support Internal Candidates

      Does your process call for roles to be posted internally or externally for a certain period of time? If a manager intends to hire or promote a specific candidate, is the rule still applied? 

      If candidates see a non-viable role, or worse, go through the interview process for the sake of checkboxes, it often leads to distrust in the organization. This ultimately damages the employer brand. 

      What If We Did Something Completely Off the Wall?

      It’s often jarring to lose employees with only the standard two weeks notice. It can take weeks or months to fill the role and onboard new hires. According to SHRM, the cost of a vacancy is reportedly three to four times the position’s salary.

      In the spring of 2022, a member of the recruiting team at Zapier had an epiphany after losing several teammates. Her LinkedIn post about it drew more than 16K reactions. 

      Bonnie Dilber asked the question, what if “we normalized letting our managers know we wanted to explore new roles? What if managers helped team members with resumes and interview prep, beside them, helping land the next role? It’s a win-win,” Dilber wrote. “The employee has a better experience, is more set up for success, and the manager and company have a better opportunity to prepare for departures.”

      Dilber originally posed her question internally in a Slack group. Then a few weeks later, she commented in a public forum that she wanted the recruiting team to provide this support for anyone needing it for internal or external opportunities. 

      What Happened Next to Support Internal Candidates

      A few people stepped forward. 

      Employee A was considering leaving, but the recruiting team identified roles opening in a few months that would be perfect. Instead of working on a resume for an external search, Employee A and the recruiting team collaborated on colleagues to speak to and experiences to gain to be competitive for the role when it opened. 

      Dissatisfied, Employee B worked with the recruiting team to identify why and map out a strategy to resolve their issues. Employee B is now on a path to greater contentment with their current role.

      Employee C worked with the team to upgrade their resume with clear metrics displaying their impact. “I don’t know if or when they’ll start looking,” said Dilber. “But I’m glad they felt supported even though it might take them away in the future.”

      Dilber goes on to extol the virtues of retention and professional growth. “Recruiting teams shouldn’t be used solely to fill roles. We can and should be true partners in retaining and growing our talent.” 

      After formally launching the program, Dilber admits, this may mean they help people plan an exit strategy but is okay with that.

      “I think it:

      makes our recruiting team better partners to the departments we support. will help us to retain our people in the long-run. opens the door to more honest conversations across teams to plan for attrition and support our people to go farther faster. makes Zapier a better place to work.” 

      Historically, dissatisfied employees lived a “double life,” working on resumes at night, checking personal emails or LinkedIn messages on the sly. What would it mean to retention efforts to have the psychologically safe environment to explore new roles – internally or externally? 

      Internal Mobility is a Smart Retention Tool

      More companies are exploring Web 3.0 initiatives but finding there are few engineers with specific Web 3.0 experience. Hired CTO Dave Walters offers this advice for companies planning these or any emerging technology projects: 

      “Rather than exclusively looking for candidates with Web 3.0 experience [for example], why not support internal candidates and potential new hires with the requisite foundational skills to make the transition.” 

      “Invest in a strong training and mentorship program. Find engineers with transferable skills such as security principles, peer-to-peer networks/distributed systems, and understanding of smart contracts. Source engineers with these Web 3.0 relevant skills for a significant competitive advantage.”

      Upskilling and new projects are great ways to retain talent, support internal candidates, inspire loyalty, and provide professional growth. 

      Related: Help current employees upskill with Hired partners like General Assembly, Educative, Blockchain Training Alliance, 2U, Sales Impact Academy, and more.

      What Would Greater Transparency Mean for Your Employer Brand?

      In Hired’s 2021 List of Top Employers Winning Tech Talent, takeaways included ‘strengthening the post-employee experience.’

      In summary, when an employee is ready to leave, or recently departed, don’t write them off. Invest in your employer brand and:

      Coach managers and teams to support them and respond positively. You helped them grow and they’re graduating to something new. They may even be taking a position of influence to use your product or service. Build and engage an active employee alumni network.Turn former employees into brand ambassadors by celebrating their wins and supporting them. They’ll tell others about their amazing experiences, share your open positions, and recommend your company as a great place to work. 

      Want More Talent Insights to Support Internal Candidates and other Topics?

      Tune into Hired’s podcast, Talk Talent to Me, to learn about the strategies, techniques, and trends shaping the recruitment industry—straight from top experts themselves.

      Need Help with Employer Branding? 

      We cover several examples of how to do this in recent eBooks for enterprise-level businesses and for SMBs and Mid-market companies. 

      One way is to host an event, virtual or in-person. Hired helps companies with a variety of events designed to help recruit talent with specific skills, like coding challenges. 

      Panel or “fireside chat” type events showcase members of your team discussing a certain industry topic or simply what it’s like to work for your company. These foster general brand awareness, of course, as well as boost recruitment marketing efforts.  More

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      What Should Your Facebook Budget Be When Targeting Your Next Candidate?

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      As one of the ‘original’ social media platforms, Facebook broke the mold when it came to market in 2004. Initially, a place for friends and family to connect – while that’s still the case – many businesses are noticing how effective it can be when engaging a relevant audience.
      And for organizations and HR teams that are wanting to attract candidates and grow their teams, social media is proving to be a highly proactive, and cost-effective talent acquisition tool.
      While many employers might head straight to Indeed or LinkedIn to set their job ad live and wait for responses, that’s fine – and several brands will see success via this route – however, they also shouldn’t write off Facebook completely.
      Nearly two decades since the platform went live, today it’s the third most-visited website in the world. Millions of business owners still swear by it when raising their brand credibility and selling their products and services successfully. And many are doing it all extremely efficiently without bursting their marketing budget in the process.
      So, for the organizations that have a recruitment drive being managed from start to finish by the HR team – and there’s some cash to spend in order to engage and nurture the right candidate through to the application stage – how much should be set aside for promoted posts on social media that ensure their latest vacancy is being seen by the right person, at the right time?
      In truth, it comes back to how much the organization can afford. And while that might sound a bit, ‘how long is a piece of string?’, here’s the good part – brands can get a better message out via social media compared to using a costly third-party platform.
      Saying more via social media
      For example, an organization can roll out a Facebook Ads campaign that’s focused purely on recruitment – including ads that cover more detail about their company culture, information on what the vacancy entails, and Corporate Social Responsibility commitments that set the business apart from competitors, and exactly how a talented individual can positively impact their growth ambitions.
      And none of this has to cost a fortune.
      If HR teams are still unsure as to how much they should spend, firstly compare the rate that it’d cost to engage a recruitment firm and divide it by half. So say, for example, there’s $2,500 to spend in total – firstly, that’s a lot of money which will go very far with Facebook Ads.
      Of course, it’s dependent on the industry and also who is managing the engagement throughout the campaign roll-out.
      But, sticking with the example of a $2,500 budget to play with, HR teams can break this down even further. By putting in $550 per month, the daily spend can be around $40 to not only create a top-of-the-funnel ad to draw people in but also leave enough room to interact with candidates without worrying it’ll go over budget.
      For example, from the $40 a-day spend, $25 of it could be specifically used to target a relevant demographic of jobseekers. The remaining £15 may then be purely dedicated to nurturing those individuals who have engaged with the ad – perhaps asking them to input their details or upload their CV.
      Quick tips – dos and don’ts
      Do…
      Use image-led ads, as well as some other content formats such as:

      Videos: these could cover existing employees talking about the company culture or showcasing a ‘day in the life’ of a specific role.
      Carousels: maximizing as much content about the vacancy as possible in a digestible way – from testimonials to client logos showing who the employer works with, the employee perks, and salary. Different CTA links per slide should encourage applications – such as ‘Apply Now’, ‘See Job Description’, ‘Find Out About Our Culture’, and so on.

      If the company’s tone of voice is quite quirky or chatty, think about newsjacking opportunities – everyone’s seen the Lionel Richie (‘Hello, is it me you’re recruiting for?’) meme for example.
      Could this creative be in keeping with the brand as the main image and therefore be more engaging for the target audience?
      Finally, make sure the copy used is accessible and to the point:

      Join Our Team
      We’re Hiring
      Could This Be You?

      If employers are beginning their Facebook Ads journey and need something straightforward and quick – tap into the platform’s simple-to-use form.
      Don’t…
      Use a landing page. While that might be the first choice for many organizations when requesting candidate information, unfortunately when users are sent ‘away’ from Facebook, the platform can’t see the analytics and so it’s difficult for recruiters and HR teams to understand engagement rates.
      Another benefit of the Facebook form is that it’s pre-populated, so when a candidate clicks on an ad, that information is far quicker to retrieve than someone manually sending a CV or covering letter.
      And a quick note for recruiters when using Facebook Ads during talent acquisition too is to make the content relatable. Use real people who can tell a story to the audience, build brand credibility through testimonials, and create a sense of authenticity with the comms that are designed to make job seekers ‘stop the scroll’.
      Overall, the advice is to almost work out the budget by reverse engineering what the organization wants to achieve and where they want to be seen. Facebook has many benefits compared to third-party platforms and can often be a more cost-effective option, so don’t write it off when the next recruitment campaign is ready to be rolled out.
      By James Urquhart, Managing Director and Co-founder of Let’s Run Marketing
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      Diversity Isn’t Optional: How 3 Talent Leaders Made DEI an Organizational Imperative

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      All too often, organizations treat DEI initiatives as optional—but this approach couldn’t be worse for business.  

      According to McKinsey, gender-diverse companies are 15% more likely to have financial returns above their national industry median and ethnically diverse companies typically experience a 35% increase in performance compared to homogenous competitors. Similarly, a Boston Consulting Group report found diverse management teams generate 19 times more revenue than non-diverse teams.

      The statistics speak for themselves: diversity is key to business success. But how many companies treat DEI initiatives as a true organizational imperative?

      The unfortunate answer: not enough. “Prominent tech companies have made little progress in their stated goal of hiring more minorities,” notes one CNBC article. 

      For example, many enterprises saw only “low single-digit increases in their percentage of Black employees” from 2014 to 2020. And while the gender and race wage gap is narrowing, access to opportunity and discrepancies in salaries persist for underrepresented tech talent. 

      DEI data

      For example, in our recent State of Wage Inequality in the Tech Industry report, our platform data showed: 

      36.7% of roles only sent interview requests to menThe percentage of positions only sending interview requests to white or asian men continue to drop, but is still a hefty 49%Black women continue to see the widest gap among the demographics analyzed.

      “There is still work to be done in ensuring equitable hiring processes to narrow wage and expectation gaps, and companies must prioritize this effort,” says Hired CEO Josh Brenner. 

      “Post-Great Resignation, companies successful in identifying non-traditional talent, while also ensuring diversity and representation in their candidate pipelines, will be better positioned to drive their businesses forward in a time of increased volatility.” 

      To see what steps business leaders across the country are taking to drive impactful DEI efforts, we’ve compiled actionable insights from Hired’s Talk Talent to Me podcast. Read on to learn how Match Group, Capital One, and Tech Can [Do] Better work to enact positive change—and how your organization can do the same.

      How Match Group attracts underrepresented candidates

      Expert: Match Group Vice President of Talent Acquisition, Craig Campbell

      Examine your entire hiring process

      To build a pipeline of diverse talent, Campbell suggests baking DEI into every part of your hiring process: from branding to sourcing to interviewing. “Think about what you’re doing to attract the right talent,” he says. “Can you stand on your approach and say it’s end-to-end fair, objective, and inclusive?” 

      Revisit value propositions

      In a crowded marketplace, corporate branding can make or break your recruiting efforts. 

      As Campbell puts it, “Do you present an attractive value proposition to start with, and then are you ensuring that you’re not doing things to diminish your opportunity to convert as much talent as possible? 

      That’s something you can apply in general, and then even more specifically when you start to think about segments like Black or African-American, Latinx, women, and the LGBTQ community. 

      For each underrepresented segment in your organization, you have to take an inside-out approach to determine: Do I have the right value proposition to attract that audience?” 

      Many businesses already use market segmentation for customer acquisition—and the same strategies can be used to attract diverse candidates. “I don’t think it’s a far reach to apply some of that expertise to talent segmentation,” says Campbell.  

      Take a stance on social issues

      Candidates will notice what your company does—and doesn’t—say. 

      As Campbell puts it, “Another part of your value proposition is your position as it relates to social causes. I think that’s a new and emerging component of the value proposition, with candidates asking companies what they stand for and how that shows up in how they do business and support employees.” 

      According to Edelman’s 2022 Trust Barometer, 60% of respondents said they will choose a place to work based on their beliefs and values. 

      Organizations with clear answers and concrete evidence will stand out for their commitment to taking action. “Whether you have a story to tell—or more importantly, a track record—could be the difference between you being more or less competitive,” says Campbell.

      Listen to the whole episode

      How Capital One nurtures an inclusive culture

      Expert: Capital One Senior Director of Diversity Talent Acquisition, Kanika Raney

      Prioritize DEI initiatives in onboarding

      At Capital One, Raney is proud to have helped shape a successful onboarding program that sets the tone for company culture and employee experience. 

      “Everyone goes through a day-long training to learn more about our culture and values,” she says. “For us, it’s essential they feel included from day one.” 

      Part of that mission means emphasizing DEI initiatives through the onboarding process—and encouraging new employees to get involved with relevant business resource groups and activities. 

      Onboarding isn’t something that occurs only when someone starts a new job, though. Rather, it happens any time there is a transition—and DEI should be emphasized at each milestone. 

      “That can be when you transfer to a new role, when you get a new manager, if there’s a reorganization, or if you’re returning from an extended leave,” explains Raney. “And companies should have an onboarding strategy for each of these defining moments in an employee’s career.”

      Unburden minority employees

      Far too often, the burden falls on minority groups to cultivate inclusivity within an organization. “More often than not, if you’re the only female or the only Latinx employee at a senior level, you’re going to be tapped on the shoulder every single time,” says Raney. “And that becomes a lot for one person representing one demographic.” 

      Tokenism [to-ken-ism] /ˈtōkəˌnizəm/ noun

      “The practice of doing something, such as hiring a person from a minority group, just to appear to be treating people fairly and to avoid criticism.” 

      To prevent tokenism,  business leaders should own this responsibility themselves rather than relying exclusively on employee groups. 

      For example, Capital One hosted a speaker series to advance authentic dialogue, grow DEI awareness, and promote allyship. 

      “It’s about creating the space for open dialogue and allowing people to join in on a voluntary basis versus putting employees on the spot and making them feel like, ‘I’m the one that has to step up and answer this question,’” explains Raney. 

      Related: Panel discussion: “Close the Gap with Advocacy & Allyship”

      Forget about “culture fits” 

      Rather than hiring candidates who are culture fits, Raney suggests rewriting the script and seeking culture adds. 

      “Why are we trying to force people into a fit?” she asks. “It should be less about, ‘Can you fit into this culture?’ and more about, ‘What are you adding to this culture?’” 

      To that end, Raney emphasizes the importance of training staff to think differently during the recruitment process. 

      For instance, hiring teams might ask: 

      Can this candidate bring an alternative perspective to the organization? In what ways will their original insights benefit our business? If someone is missing a credential, can they learn relevant skills on the job? Are they growth-minded? Do they offer something we didn’t even know we needed? 

      Listen to the whole episode

      How Tech Can [Do] Better leverages critical diversity data

      Expert: Tech Can [Do] Better founder & CEO, Lawrence Humphrey

      Partner with outside organizations 

      Humphrey’s nonprofit, Tech Can [Do] Better, was founded one week after the murder of George Floyd. “We’re all about driving racial equity, and equity more broadly, in and through the tech industry,” says Humphrey. 

      “This was a window of opportunity like none I’d ever seen before, so I thought: How can we turn this moment into a movement where all of the most influential companies in the world have an ear for systemic change? How can we actually make something out of it?” 

      Today, Tech Can [Do] Better partners with innovative organizations to provide data-driven perspectives on how to enact change. “You can’t improve what you don’t measure,” explains Humphrey, quoting a famous maxim. 

      In running reports for tech companies, he helps business leaders identify—and fill—critical representation gaps. A large part of that process is breaking down data by gender, role, tenure, and other variables. 

      “You need to be able to segment the data,” says Humphrey. “It’s not enough to say that 15% of your workforce is Black. Where are the Black folks in your workforce?” 

      By getting granular, you can identify opportunity areas that might have otherwise gone overlooked—whether that’s diversifying the C-suite or rolling out initiatives to improve retention in a certain department.

      Set realistic expectations for DEI initiatives

      “Systemic problems require systemic solutions,” says Humphrey, “and systemic solutions require a long time frame.” It’s important for talent companies to recognize meaningful change can’t occur overnight. 

      Instead, DEI initiatives are an ongoing commitment to building a better workforce. As Humphrey explains, “It’s a little bit of work done for a long time. You can’t expect to just burst through some sprints or an intense one-quarter cycle, and then achieve equity. 

      That’s not how this works. It’s a commitment—and I feel comfortable saying it’s a life-long commitment.”

      Listen to the whole episode

      Here’s What You Can Do to Make DEI a Priority 

      Embrace best practices

      List salary bands. Use technology to reduce bias. Drop requirements for traditional four-year degrees and avail roles to those with non-traditional educational backgrounds, like bootcamps. In our 2022 State of Software Engineers report research, we found in 2021: 

      46% of software engineers had a computer science degree24% were self taught18% have a relevant college degree (ex., mathematics, information technology, data science, etc.)11% participated in a bootcamp program.

      In each case, the percentage increased 1% from 2020, except for “relevant college degree,” which decreased 4%.

      We’ve also seen wonderful results of bootcamp graduates on Hired, such as Paula Muldoon, who transitioned careers. After earning multiple degrees in and enjoying a music career, she joined a program through our partner, Makers, in the UK. She’s now a software engineer for Zopa, a leading financial company. 

      We’ve already seen great examples of DEI on our platform. So much so that we scored employers on our core values of equity, efficiency, and transparency in our first List of Top Employers Winning Tech Talent. Want to make the next list? Draw on these top ranking companies inside for inspiration.

      If you’re ready to follow in these organizations’ footsteps, Hired is here to help. By leveraging our platform’s innovative DEI tools and transparent salary data, we help your company build diverse teams and close critical wage gaps—one hire at a time.  More