You Can’t Hire Everyone but Here’s What You Can Do Instead 

Near the end of many hiring processes, managers are left with the difficult task of hiring one candidate from a group of several very strong candidates. Unfortunately, the strong candidates who are not hired may get hired elsewhere, possibly by the competition. 

While you can’t hire every strong candidate who walks through the doors of your company, that doesn’t mean you should give up on them completely. Many companies maintain contact with former applicants in order to create a pipeline of talent that can be tapped into when another position opens. 

Building and sustaining a talent pipeline can help hiring personnel quickly locate qualified candidates, even for hard-to-fill positions. A pipeline also helps manage turnover and meet diversity objectives.  

One effective way to feeding a talent pipeline is to stay in contact with candidates you decide not to hire. If you can keep some of these folks engaged, you can then reach out to them when the time comes to hire again. 

If you’re looking to maintain contact with former applicants in order to sustain your company’s talent pipeline, consider the following tips. 

Connect with Content over LinkedIn 

An essential way to stay in touch with former applicants is to connect over LinkedIn. The social network for professionals offers a great way to stay connected in a somewhat passive kind of way. 

To keep your LinkedIn followers engaged, continuously supply them with useful content on topics associated with your company and industry. Some hiring personnel ask former job seekers for content ideas and tackle most commonly asked questions on LinkedIn as well.  

By keeping top of mind while delivering value, a recruiter on LinkedIn functions as a trusted asset for former applicants, who are then more likely to respond when a job opportunity opens up. 

Keep a ‘Hot List’ 

When you interview a great applicant, it’s important to take note. Hiring personnel often keep ‘hot lists’ of top applicants organized by their primary skill sets. It’s a crucial exercise for building effective, focused talent pipelines. A major key to this approach is documenting a point of reference with each applicant so you can readily reconnect when a different position opens up. 

Reach Out, But Keep It Casual 

After letting an applicant know you’re not hiring them, the best approach is to offer to remain in touch on an informal basis. You don’t want to give false hope, so make your intentions clear.  

After a few weeks, drop them a line to check in on their job search and say there is a chance you might have another position opening up in the future. You should also periodically check in with former applicants to let them know about networking events or company events that are coming up. 

We Can Be a Part of Your Company’s Talent Pipeline 

At Superior Resource Group, we provide our clients access to a broad and deep pool of talent. Please contact us today to find out how we can be a part of your company’s talent pipeline. 

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