When it comes to recruiting talent, is your recruiting process innovative?  Would you consider your company a leader in your space?  Is your recruiting exciting?  Do candidates feel they're part of something special?  If not, you may be stuck in the humdrum of recruiting in the past.  Like technology, the recruiting process is always evolving.  If your company is not evolving with it, you could be shut out of attracting and hiring top candidates.  Let's discuss how you can innovate your recruiting process and attract better candidates.

Revamp Your Recruiting Process

There's a secret industry leaders know that the rest of the pack doesn't: they're not like everyone else.  They don't follow trends, they set them.  Want to attract the top tier of candidates to your company?  It's time to revamp your recruiting process with cutting edge technologies and fresh approaches. Try the following to shake up your recruiting process:

• Capture candidates' imagination with a hackathon.  Hackathons are very popular among technically sophisticated candidates.  Want to know if the engineer you're considering can really code in 4 languages? Take him for a test drive with a hackathon!  If you're not hiring for a tech role, the good news is you can simulate the experience for your industry.  Your team could host an impromptu sales competition or design competition that could produce the same desired results. The added benefits of a hackathon is you can find out if your candidate has a high EQ, or emotional intelligence.  Do they prove to be a leader?  Is their communication good? Can they get along on a diverse team?  A hackathon can reveal the answers to all of these questions. Make the recruiting process fun again and insert some friendly and fun competition.
• Use video interviews. Video interviews offer immersive branded environments that capture candidates' attention. You don't have to be high tech to project an air of digital maturity.  Imagine being able to connect with candidates across the nation, or halfway across the world.  Treat your candidate to an elevated candidate experience from beginning to end. Take them on a journey, tell your story with branded videos, and make the interview process easy and intuitive for candidates.  60% of candidates that experience a video interview recommend it over in person interviews. Be big but be cool and use video interviews.
• Test your candidate with a paid contract. No amount of digging into someone's resume can tell you whether or not that candidate would actually be a pleasure to work with.  And no amount of grilling your candidate on the finer details will show you whether he or she was more an observer of those than a participant.  If you really want to find out how your candidate will do, offer them a paid contract. This allows you as the employer to evaluate the candidate's skills in a real work setting.  It also provides the added benefit of getting the work you need done while offering you the ability to evaluate their attitude, communication, self-awareness and ability to just run with a project.
• Invite previous good candidates to speed interviews. We've all gone through hiring processes with good candidates that didn't get the position.  Rather than just keeping their resume on file for a year, why not hold a speed interview event?  At a speed interview event, you can quickly reacquaint yourself with the good candidate you didn't hire on the last round of recruiting. Did you have to choose between 9 salesmen for a job? Invite the other 8 back and see if they'd be interested in a speed interview.  This is a creative and fun way to attract the attention of previous candidates who may still be interested in working at your company.  If reaching passive candidates is a priority, this can be a fun way to entice them to jump ship and join your company.

Recruiting doesn't have to be defined within set borders.  Your company can break free from the mold and innovate your interview process.  The more creative you get, the more you may interest candidates and enhance your employer brand.  Try using these tips to elevate your candidate experience and innovate your recruiting process today.