Decide who you’re looking for

Before you kick off any recruitment, you need to decide who you’re looking for. It could be that you’re replacing a vacant position, building a new team, or just interested to see what talent is out there. Draw up a comprehensive job description, and a set of criteria to make the recruitment process as swift and efficient as possible.

Make it part of the day job

When you want to attract the best talent, you need to be pro-active all year round, not just at key recruitment periods. Building relationships with individuals via LinkedIn can be really effective. You might have nothing to offer them at the time, but building a rapport can be great when you want to hire them in the future.

Choose the right channel

Choosing the right channels for your recruitment campaign is essential. Often we stick to tried and tested methods, such as online job boards and LinkedIn. However consider other forms of advertising, such as radio, that could attract a different raft of talent. You need to think about where the talent you’re trying to attract will be looking, so take the time out to do a little research.

Keep an eye on your competitors

If you’re looking for new recruits in the New Year, chances are your competitors are too, so competition will be fierce. Keep a close eye on their recruitment and how they target candidates. For example which channels do they use? How do they sell their business? What incentives are they focussing on to attract candidates? You can learn a lot from what your competitors are doing.

Consider a graduate programme

January is a key time for recruitment, however so is September when a new raft of graduates enter the workforce. Consider if a graduate training programme could be beneficial and whether you have the manpower to support it. Training graduates can be great as you can mould them and their role to fit the needs of your business.