Another day creeps by and you’re stuck staring at a sparse applicant dashboard. The number of ‘rejected’ candidates grows, and you find yourself scrolling through pages and pages of previous applicants who have not responded. Sound at all familiar?
Dare I say, you have just discovered a gold mine! For one reason or another applicants “ghost” you – perhaps they found another job, or they accidentally trashed your email invite to a little chat with you.
No matter. You can still mine those gems! Let’s explore a little further down this tunnel. Once a week, month, or whatever timeframe you squeeze this vital exercise into, send an email to reengage previous applicants (even if they didn’t take the job or were rejected!) and remind them why they want to work for your awesome company. An enticing email crafted just right may, in fact, generate shocking results!
Here’s the pickaxe, er… scoop, to start digging in:
- Target List: Candidates that never responded or never moved forward for one reason or another. Or applicants that weren’t qualified for a particular position but may be a good fit for another.
- Create Interest: Warm candidates may or may not be actively seeking a job – BUT may express interest if your dazzling email catches their eye.
- Reconsideration: It’s time to flex your recruiting muscles by showing them why they should reconsider and why working for your company is optimal!
- The EMAIL: Design your email with these things in mind –
- Be personal – not like what you ate for breakfast personal, more like be sure to use their name.
- Engaging imagery – fun photos or .gifs. Also, consider shooting a video with your employees celebrating a birthday, promotion, or new menu item (I hear the latest smartphones have killer cameras).
- The hook – announcing new perks or benefits for new hires, company expansion news, employee raves & reviews.
- The big reveal – new job openings based on their skills, pay increase for the position they applied to, etc.
- Call to action (CTA) – this is your unicorn…after agonizing over every detail so far, you’ve ushered them to the tail end of your story. Now they are bestowed the option to grant you, yes YOU, reconsideration. You’ve earned that favorable feedback, so let’s make sure you strike it big! Some irresistible assumptive CTA’s:
1. Shoot me a text, I’ve reserved an interview spot for you (don’t forget to actually include your cell number here)
2. Email me back for a guaranteed interview – lunch is on me!
3. Happy where you’re at? That’s awesome! I’d consider it a huge favor if you would forward this email on over to a friend. In return there’s free pizza (or whatever is good at your joint) on the house when they interview!
Your brand story, company image, and message are all critical to recruitment marketing. Seek input from employees; what they like best in their job, what they would like to see change (and change it if you can), what made them apply, etc. Then investigate what your competition is saying and say it better!
The Email
- Your email must be mobile-responsive!!!!!!
- Keep it simple but packed with power
- Proofread at least twice (spelling and grammar errors are NOT cool)
- Save your real email as a template
- Tweak and tweak again as necessary
- Don’t invade the same inbox more than two times; that’s just being spammy
Subject
- Keep it short
- Add an emoji, those are fun
- A few examples:
1. Your upcoming interview…
2. [Friend’s full name] said to get in touch
3. Thank you for applying to [company], what now?
4. New positions now available
5. I’m holding your dream job hostage!
6. Ninja [position] wanted
7. Top place to work in [town]
The Hook
- Hi (name), since you last applied, we’ve added some new positions that I believe your skills are a great match for!
- Hi (name), you previously applied for (position), and I’m excited to share that we’ve increased the pay!
- Hi (name), we’ve just rolled out some awesome perks for employees! Check it out! (list perks or benefits here, sometimes just highlighting benefits even if they aren’t “new” can be what a candidate is seeking)
The Big Reveal
- Positions open now! (List all open positions with a link to apply for each specific posting) Also, now’s a good time break the news for upcoming positions, you’re growing, right?!
- Highlight an employee, include a quote from the CEO, celebrate a milestone or new product, anything that is interesting or shows the good stuff your company is doing.
The CTA
- Your kickbutt closing line – remember to be a REAL person here!
Now go get ‘em, you recruiting machine – be ready for those interviews!
Aren’t set up with recruiting and applicant tracking goodies? Efficient Hire has you covered, my friend! By the way, we can streamline the Employee Onboarding and HR Compliance stuff and get you federal tax credits just for hiring; we have been a processor for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit program since 2014. Sounds to me like you could be putting more money back to the bottom line than you’d spend on these nifty tools! Get in touch now, if we are a fit for you!