Sponsored article - Totem Talent
The best candidates might not be the ones who answer your ad
Are you looking for that one-in-a-million person for your brokerage? Are you getting ready to kick off the hiring process?
Once you have a clear idea about your ideal candidate (including the desired profile, experience, and systems knowledge), you may be tempted to put together a job posting, which you could then post on your website and/or on social media and various job search websites. Then you could sit back and wait for the résumés to arrive.
But what if the applicants don't meet your criteria? You might even find yourself wondering why some people would send in an application if their professional experience has nothing to do with the position being advertised! What if none of the applicants are a good fit?
Still, you know there must be an ideal candidate out there somewhere! But why doesn't he or she contact you directly?
The answer is quite simple: just as you would never spend hours looking through profiles on Jobillico or Indeed to find the right person, the very best candidates aren't going to waste their time reading help wanted ads on your website.
Often, the ideal candidates are employed and leading busy lives. They may not yet be aware that what you're offering could be a golden opportunity. When looking for a new job, some people might be tempted to resign their current position so they can focus 100% on the search process. But that's quite rare—plus it's a risky strategy. Leaving your job with no guarantee that you'll find something else quickly can be scary.
Most serious and determined jobseekers, however, do the following two things:
1) They talk to the people they trust in their social networks and they let them know that they're in the mood for a change. Since the insurance sector is a "small world" unto itself, this can be a risky move. No one relishes the thought of going in to work on Monday morning only to have their boss ask, "So, I hear you're hoping for a change of scenery?"
2) Most serious and determined jobseekers contact a reputable recruitment agency that specializes in bringing employers and potential employees together.
If you want to maximize your chances for a successful hire, you should ask an agency to help you come up with the best candidate. Very often, it won't cost you a cent until you actually decide to hire that one-in-a-million person the agency came across.
Then you will have to decide whether you want to continue waiting for the ideal candidate's résumé to show up in your email inbox (i.e. sent in directly by the candidate) or whether you want to hire the person referred to you by the agency. If you chose the latter, you'll be able to do what you do best: focus on your own work and your own clients!
James Devinant, Recruitment Consultant, Insurance Division, Totem Talent.
