attracting talent

How to get more candidates with Homerun

The number one challenge that small businesses face when it comes to hiring is reaching candidates and getting qualified applications. And that makes perfect sense!

As a small business, you likely haven’t made a name for yourself (yet), so job seekers aren’t seeking you out. You have to put in some effort to get on their radar. Luckily there are tons of ways to do that with a combo of Homerun features, employer branding best practices and some good ol’ creativity.

Checklist: Quick wins to attract talent

Below you’ll find extensive checklists that’ll get candidates rolling in, but we’ll admit it’s a lot! If you’re strapped for time, follow this shorter list for the low-hanging fruit that will help you attract more quality candidates:

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What to do before you publish your job

There are a number of tweaks you can make to your job post and apply form that will increase your chances of getting candidates. Follow these steps before sending your job post out into the world!

Job post checklist

Let’s start with the job post. Check these boxes and job seekers will have all they need to be swayed to apply. For a deeper dive, read more about how to write a job description that will attract talent.

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SEO checklist

To get more applicants, you need to get your job posts noticed. Here are some simple SEO tactics to use to create searchable, findable job posts on Google. For a deeper dive into SEO for job posts read our extensive article on the topic.

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Apply form checklist

Application forms are the way to go for an organized hiring process and great candidate experience. But you have to do them right. Check these boxes and you’re well on your way. Here’s more on how to make a job application form for your small business and some inspiration for questions to include on your apply form.

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What to do after you publish your job

Merely posting your job online is not enough to attract talent. You have to take steps to get eyes on your job post. There are two groups you’ll want to reach with your job post.

  1. Active job seekers who you’ll reach by making sure your job post is visible in all the places people look for jobs.
  2. Passive job seekers who you’ll reach by sourcing.

We’ve got checklists for both. 👇

Job post sharing checklist

First, you’ll want your job post to reach far and wide across the internet to get the attention of active job seekers. Here’s the checklist that will make that happen.

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Sourcing candidates and sending cold messages

If candidates are not coming to you, then it’s time for you to take the first step yourself by sourcing passive job seekers. Sourcing means you look for candidates you think might be a good fit and ask them to apply for the job. This is very effective when done right, so here's how.

How to find candidates you’d like to source

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How to write a good sourcing message

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If you follow all these steps, you’ll have candidates rolling in fast! But we’d be remiss not to mention that there are some more things you can do that don’t quite fit in a checklist, but instead require some long-term commitment.

We’re talking about Employer Branding best practices that will ensure you appear on a candidate's radar even when you’re not hiring and that'll make them feel all warm and fuzzy about your company.

So before you go, check out some of these resources on Employer Branding and start thinking about how you can start some of these initiatives before your next hiring round: