As the world economies seems to be collapsing around us what will be the best practices in recruiting for 2009? Will video resumes be the killer app? Will niche job boards take over from the big boards? Will social media be the killer app?

Nope, none of these alone will get you the best candidates. Sorry.

If the economies do completely collapse there are a couple of outcomes; unemployment will rise as companies go under and people in secure jobs will be less likely to want to move. At the same time companies will need to do more with less and work hard to keep good talent.

So where should you focus?

1. Quality of hire. Some people looking for jobs will be B grade, from layoffs, while some will be A grade. Given companies will be operating on thin margins you cannot afford to recruit the wrong person, ever!
2. Time to hire. While there will be more candidates to choose from, as with quality the time to hire will still be critical.
3. ROI, ROI, ROI. Every single recruiting activity must provide a positive return on investment. You can no long afford to just engage agencies to find candidates, it must be justified and most likely a last resort.
4. Use your talent pool. Following on from the previous point companies that leverage the data in their talent management systems will reduce the time to hire and cost to hire.
5. Look for innovative and cost effective advertising. Post 10 job ads on the biggest job board for $1,000 might seem easy but is it the best use of the $1,000? Maybe providing micro-sponsorship to an industry event will get you in front of better candidates.
6. Branding. Everyone is talking about it, but it is true. If people want to come ane work for your organisation you are half way there to hiring them. The best people want to work for the best organisations, no matter what the economy is doing.
7. Referrals. Time and time again referrals provide the highest quality hire at the lowest cost.
8. Social media. While it will not save you, social media will help. Look at social media to help improve your brand, and engage with top talent.
9. Social networking. As with social media it will not save you but it will help you find candidates and improve your brand. Not to mention the ROI is very high.
10. Learn to use search engines to find candidates.

You might look at the list and think, so what's new? Well not a lot. It is just how you apply the processes which differs.

Originally posted here