Times have changed and have justified the creation of several recruitment channels. Indeed, it was no longer enough to write the words “JOB ADVERTISEMENT” in bold and capital letters in a newspaper, or to post a job offer on a site, to find the ideal candidate.
As specialized profiles have become more difficult to attract, companies have had to diversify their recruitment methods in order to attract qualified candidates and compete with rivals.
In this article, discover the different recruitment channels that will help you attract the talent you need to drive the development of your business.
Recruitment channels: What is it?
The recruitment of new employees can be a real challenge for any company looking for growth and sustainability. To find qualified talent on their behalf, they often use several HR tools that play a crucial role in their recruitment strategy. These are the recruitment channels.
Recruitment channels: Definition
Recruitment channels by definition are means or supports used by companies to reach a large audience of potential candidates and recruit the best profiles for a vacancy.
In other words, it is all the specific channels through which companies advertise their job offers and interact with potential candidates. In general, recruitment channels can be classified into two main categories:
- Digital recruitment channels;
- Physical recruitment channels.
Each category has specific channels, and each recruitment channel has its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of reach, cost, speed and relevance of candidates.
The importance of recruitment channels
Recruitment channels are essential to set up an effective recruitment process. Their role is to facilitate the match between the workforce needs of companies and the skills of candidates. Clearly, they allow to:
- Reach a wide audience of potential candidates through an expanded reach;
- Precisely target the profiles sought using specialized means;
- Accelerate the recruitment process by using appropriate tools;
- Facilitate fast and effective communication with candidates through digital solutions;
- Reduce costs by switching to more affordable methods.
The choice of appropriate channels depends on recruitment objectives, the profile sought and the resources available, and directly influences the quality of the applications received.
Do you want to succeed in your recruitment? Click here to discover some examples of original recruitment campaigns.
What are the different recruitment channels used by recruiters?
As pointed out earlier, recruitment channels fall into two main categories: physical recruitment channels and digital recruitment channels. Here they are.
Physical recruitment channels
Between co-optation, temporary employment agencies and professional events, etc., there are a multitude of effective physical recruitment channels to succeed in your recruitment campaign.
Referral recruitment
Also known as participatory recruitment, referral recruitment is one of the most exploited recruitment channels. It consists of calling on the network of its collaborators to recruit new candidates for a position.
Clearly, the objective is to encourage your professional and personal networks to recommend profiles adapted to the position to be filled. These networks are a great recruiting pool because a member can match directly or know the ideal person.
Be careful, however, not to confuse word-of-mouth. Word of mouth does not include financial compensation, while referral recruitment is a bonus system. The fixed remuneration goes to the employee who refers applications.
Temporary employment agencies
Temporary employment agencies are companies that connect companies that are looking for temporary workers and workers who are looking for temporary assignments. They offer a wide range of services, such as:
- The search for qualified candidates;
- The selection of candidates;
- Making candidates available to companies;
- The follow-up of temporary assignments;
- Payment of wages, etc.
These recruitment channels can be generalist or specialized in a sector of activity or a profession. These are quick ways for companies to have skilled workers, and for candidates, to find temporary assignments and supplement their income. Temporary employment agencies are recruitment channels of choice for a successful work-study recruitment campaign.
Professional events
Professional events are also very relevant recruitment channels. These are opportunities for companies to present their job offers and find qualified candidates. These events can take various forms such as:
- Recruitment fairs;
- Conferences and conventions;
- Networking events;
- Training events, etc.
A priori, these are all opportunities to meet and exchange with professionals from the same sector of activity or different sectors, to train, to create professional networks. However, these events are also conducive to meeting potential candidates and recruiting competent profiles.
Companies can also use these recruitment channels to benefit from increased visibility, awareness or a positive employer brand.
Digital recruitment channels
Apart from physical recruitment channels, there are many effective ways in the digital sphere to carry out a recruitment campaign, whether through online job platforms, social networks or the use of artificial intelligence.
Job boards
Job boards are among the tools most used by companies to publish their job offers and candidates to find vacancies. These channels fall into two main categories: generalist sites and specialized sites.
Generalist sites offer job offers in all sectors of activity, while specialized sites focus on a particular sector or profession. Thus, among generalists there are options such as:
- Pôle emploi;
- Indeed;
- Apec;
- Monster;
- Keljob;
- Cadremploi, etc.
As for specialized sites, there are also many options:
- RegionsJob;
- LesJeudis (IT);
- HRcareers (HR);
- Linkfinance, etc.
Employee review platforms
Very little known, these platforms can be very useful in your recruitment process. In reality, an employee review platform is an online platform where you give your employees the opportunity to give anonymous and transparent opinions about your company culture and your work environment.
By unveiling employee reviews, these recruitment channels offer candidates an authentic insight into the company’s work experience, which can help them make informed decisions when looking for a job. It also helps attract candidates who better align with your values.
Social media
Social networks are also a very popular digital recruitment channel. They offer companies access to a large pool of candidates and make it possible to quickly disseminate job offers.
Among the professional networking platforms, LinkedIn and Viadeo are the most preferred recruitment channels by companies. These platforms allow them to create company pages, post job postings, search for qualified candidates, and make connections with industry professionals.
Moreover, recruitment marketing: a new strategy to recruit better, offers companies the opportunity to use more generalist social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to broadcast job offers to a wider audience, thus expanding their reach.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
In this digital age, artificial intelligence is investing more and more areas, and recruitment is no exception. In reality, AI can now be used to automate multiple tasks in the recruitment process. These include:
- Pre-selection of CVs;
- Interview scheduling;
- The marking of candidates;
- Generation of recruitment reports, etc.
In addition, with the digitalization of recruitment, there is a multitude of recruitment software integrating AI-based features. These include, for example:
- Matching systems: they use AI and big data analysis to match candidates to vacancies, based on objective criteria;
- Predictive recruitment: this method, thanks to machine learning, evaluates a candidate’s ability to excel in a position and predicts the length of time they will stay in office. It performs lexical analyses and studies facial emotions to refine predictions, and provide useful data to recruiters;
- Psychometric tests: AI assesses skills through self-learning technology, and relies on talent results to produce analytical reports automatically;
- Language analysis: This technology examines candidates’ text or speech while they are asked questions, for example to identify relevant language elements.
Some criteria for choosing your recruitment channels
The choice of recruitment channels is a crucial step in the recruitment process. Indeed, the channels used will determine the visibility of the job offer and, consequently, the number and quality of applications received.
To choose the right recruitment channels, it is important to take into account the following different criteria:
- The type of position to be filled: Some positions attract more candidates than others. For example, managerial positions are more difficult to fill than executive positions. You must therefore choose channels that reach potential candidates for the position to be filled;
- The sector of activity: some sectors of activity such as digital for example are more competitive than others. It is therefore important to stand out from the competition by using innovative channels;
- Company size: Large companies have more resources than small businesses. They can afford to use more sophisticated channels, such as recruitment agencies;
- The budget: the choice of recruitment channels is also linked to the company’s budget. Some channels are more expensive than others. It’s important to choose channels that fit your budget;
Rather than choosing just one, it is also possible to succeed in your recruitment campaign by multiplying the channels to increase the chances of finding the ideal candidate. In this case, do not hesitate to evaluate the performance of each channel used to determine their contributions.
Taking these criteria into account, you should be able to choose the best recruitment channels for your company, develop a successful recruitment campaign and find better profiles for your vacancies.
