Job Search

I'm an employer

Attracting Talent into Engineering

Vying for the attention of good candidates can be a challenge, but you don’t have to be a big name with broad exposure to attract and retain exceptional talent – here are some important points to consider:

REVOLUTIONISE YOUR RECRUITMENT

Increasing the visibility of your company in the marketplace is critical to attracting talent. Networking and word-of-mouth referrals still have their place in engineering circles, and the value of picking up the
phone cannot be underrated. However, the use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for recruitment is increasing.

Using social media will not only demonstrate that your company is tech savvy and forward thinking, but will also help widen your reach and expose your brand. It’s not just a matter of posting ads, but also leveraging content such as case studies and testimonials to demonstrate the scope and quality of your projects to attract candidates.

GET CREATIVE

Remember that the best talent is actually not usually looking for a job, so you might need to get creative with a more unconventional recruitment campaign if you want to get their attention.

ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS

Write a job ad that top candidates can’t resist, remember to emphasise your company story, values and culture, not just the responsibilities of the role. Add some personality that reflects the workplace vibe. This is an advertisement, not a job description, and should be treated the same as any marketing campaign.

  • Think like a job hunter – what things are important to you in a role, and what would attract you to a particular company
  • Pick the job title carefully and optimise this for what your ideal candidate would be searching for online
  • Use your ad as a screening tool by including specific requirements
  • Make the recruitment process a little challenging by asking for the completion of task

Using a recruitment agency will help you narrow down specifics around the kind of candidate you’re looking for. Use one who focuses on recruiting for your industry. They’ll streamline the recruitment process by filtering unsuitable applicants; saving you heaps of time and helping you match up those with the skills best suited for the role.

PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES

Position your firm with opportunities to learn a wider range of responsibilities, rather than just being a nameless number stuck in a single department of a large company. Explain that they will be exposed to more facets of the business, such as sales, quoting, business development, and taking ownership of projects. They will receive a wealth of business acumen along with hands-on skills.

COMPANY CULTURE

Attracting great talent requires a company culture that makes potential employees swoon, and leaves competitors coveting your approach. Figure out what your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is. To do this, ask yourself ‘why would a potential employee want to work here?’ (Read more) It goes without saying that the more attractive you can make this, the more likely it is that you will attract top employees. And while compensation will obviously play a role in this, there are other factors that complete the bigger appeal:

  • Environment – office location, facilities and company culture
  • Technology used in your business
  • Benefits and perks
  • Opportunities
  • Support through training, mentoring and education
  • Flexibility around hours and holidays

Most attractive incentives for staying in a job were:

Salary increases (62%), performance bonuses (51%) and paid training (41%)

GETTING SOCIAL IN ENGINEERING

The old-boy mentality of sticking with traditional networking methods still tends to reign supreme in most engineering firms. However, that hasn’t stopped a growing number of more savvy adopters from experimenting with the use of social networking in promoting their business and sharing their expertise.

While not all networking sites are necessarily the right channels for engineers to engage with, there are still ways that you can – and should – make social networking a powerful part of your marketing strategy.

HOW TO NETWORK ON SOCIAL MEDIA

As social networks and networking have evolved, gone are the days of simply posting open positions on job boards — or even setting up corporate Facebook or Twitter accounts and hoping qualified candidates will come… Effective social recruiting today requires careful targeting, creative messaging and the on-going engagement and support of your entire organisation – from employees to senior leaders.

To help navigate this complex, highly transparent and dynamic online environment, we’ve outlined six key steps to maximizing your social media recruiting presence:

  1. Define your social engagement approach
  2. Meet your audiences where they are (Twitter and LinkedIn have been found to be the most popular social sites within the engineering sector)
  3. Promote your employer brand
  4. Keep it fresh
  5. Activate your employees
  6. Know your channels

Filling the skills gap: their will be an expected 2.56 million job openings in engineering companies up to 2022,/h2>

Engineering enterprise employ 5.4 million people in the UK

If you are looking for help in attracting the best talent for your business get in touch with our team of experts at The Works Recruitment who can assist you with the Advertising, Attracting and Assessing of candidates, saving your organisation valuable time and money.

 

 

Share