Recruiting is already a mind-boggling aspect of business development and management. And if you really want the best and brightest for your company, you need to go above and beyond in terms of effort and execution.
This explains why more companies are eagerly searching for outside-the-box thinkers in the age of remote work. New challenges require creative solutions, and that means bringing on the team members that aren’t locked into old ways of thinking.
We spoke with a number of leading owners and managers, and here’s what they shared with us about finding, recruiting, and hiring top creative talent in the current climate.
Explore New Recruitment Avenues
It makes sense that to find original thinkers, you’ll need to fork off the beaten path when starting out in the recruitment process.
This starts by maximizing brand presence on all social media sites, even if they aren’t necessarily related to hiring or job boards in a traditional sense.
“Social media is the all-encompassing landscape where all types of business interactions happen, including recruitment and hiring,” said Seb Evans, Co-Founder of Banquist. “The mechanism of reaching out and communicating with people is intuitive and everyone gets it, particularly in younger generations. Don’t skip platforms like Twitter or IG just because they don’t seem to be hiring platforms on the surface. In fact, it’s often the best way to get in direct contact with a person and pitch your idea or offer.”
Beyond the scrolling pages of social media, many free agents are looking at more prominent media outlets across the web. Business and tech news journals are where many people look to learn about their industries and consider new career pursuits.
“Getting noticed and picked up by the media is a great outside-the-box strategy for recruiting,” said Bill Glaser, CEO of Outstanding Foods. “Everyone wants to get on a moving train. Media attention can help make your company more attractive to job applicants. Using LinkedIn InMail is also a great way to find new talent. You can also reach out to them using LinkedIn’s Connected app which is very straightforward and provides great results.”
When browsing media and job boards, recruiters shouldn’t box themselves in, either. This means thinking beyond the confines of their own industries and realizing that cross-disciplinary professionals are increasingly common.
“There is now so much crossover between attributes and industries that wasn’t talked about so much in the past,” said Brandon Amoroso, Founder, and CEO at electrIQ marketing. “Skills tend to be more transferrable in the digital era, and that makes our jobs a lot easier when finding candidates to fill roles. Plus, creative thinkers are always looking to step out of their own comfort zones and see what new skills they can add to their belt. Everyone wins when you expand your sphere of possibility for recruitment.”
The old ways of recruitment are long gone, so it’s time to explore the new frontier.
Set Clear (and High) Standards
Creative thinkers are not just going to come out of the woodwork and lead a business to greatness. Leaders need to set the bar high for new recruits and create compelling offers.
“The irony of hiring is that having higher expectations actually serves you better than having low standards or opening the doors completely,” said Remon Aziz, Chief Operating Officer at Advantage. “Creative, high-performance people will seek out the types of opportunities that push them and drive them to do better. If you post job listings that are disjointed and missing details, you’re unintentionally inviting people who are scattered and disorganized by nature. Instead, you want the best people available, who can pinpoint those details. These are the people with high conscientiousness and industrious streaks, so weed out the rest by keeping standards really high.”
Not all variables are concrete, however. Company culture is an example of something that needs to be experienced first-hand as candidates get a feel for the atmosphere of a workplace.
“When hiring, we look at a variety of factors, including education, experience, and skills,” said Writer and Influencer Sarah Cooper. “The biggest factor by far, though, is a candidate’s ability to fit in with our existing culture. Some might say this is why we seem to only hire the same type of people, but who knows?”
Rethink the Interview Process
Everyone knows it – interviewing is a snooze, and somehow stressful at the same time.
To fix this, businesses are revamping the interview experience to appeal to a new generation of forward-thinking applicants.
“If you’re asking questions that your first boss asked you ten or twenty years ago, that’s a sign that your interview game needs an overhaul,” said Francis Pollara, Co-Founder & Head of Product & Growth at The Future Party. “Make a list of questions that are more relevant to you as a manager, or speak more broadly about the person’s ambitions and vision. Throw out hypotheticals or thought experiments and see how they respond. Share a story about yourself and ask them to share one back. We’re in an age when all the rules of recruitment are being rewritten, so it’s a chance to create some new best practices from scratch.”
Every person interviewed has a unique perspective and approach. It’s the job of the hiring manager to make those discoveries and connections in real-time.
“Your role as an interviewer has a direct impact on each person you meet,” said Denise Wilkerson, Co-Founder, and CEO of Dandyworx Productions. “Some candidates will be at a crossroad in their lives. Some candidates may want to make a career move. Others not so much. Some, through displacement or termination, have been placed in a position in which they are forced to make a change. We have all been there, whether through our own choice or the choice of someone else. We are forced into making a change, and change can be scary.”
For creative types, a sit-down interview may only be part of the process. Aside from reviewing documents and storytelling, see if there are technical or artistic paths to pursue.
“When recruiting outside-the-box thinkers, make sure your application and interview processes allow candidates to show their creativity and uniqueness,” said Nathalie Walton, Co-Founder, and CEO of Expectful. “It can be time-consuming to review portfolios, watch video applications, or visit candidates’ websites, but these things are easy ways for them to highlight their unique talents. If you are trying to fill a position that would greatly benefit from having an outside-the-box thinker in it, like a highly creative role, take the extra time to review applications and portfolios manually rather than using an automated system that might inadvertently weed out the best candidates.”
It may seem like a longer, in-depth interview process is overly time-consuming and tedious, but as any manager will attest, it’s worth it. Otherwise, rushing through these steps can lead you to make poor choices, then go back to square one.
Take Chances On Unlikely Candidates
The art and science of recruitment comes down to hunches and risk tolerance.
The most polished, perfect-on-paper candidates may not be the best fit for your business.
On the other hand, the unlikely applicant with less experience could be the greatest hire you ever make.
“I know so many entrepreneurs who take risks around the clock, but they shy away from risk when it comes to hiring new people,” said Matthew Mundt, Founder, and CEO of Hug Sleep. “That doesn’t make sense to me, because your employees are your company, at the end of the day. Taking chances on people is part of the deal, and the rewards can be huge if you recruit someone with a unique perspective or untapped talent. The consequences of a bad hire can be severe if you don’t manage the situation well, but the potential for upside is tremendous. It’s one of those asymmetrical bets you can take on yourself and your business.”
One of the fastest ways to streamline hiring is to realize that the perfect candidate doesn’t exist. Instead, it’s a matter of tradeoffs, pros, and cons.
This realization will help any manager see through the fog and make the best choice with the information they have, even if that means taking on a bit more risk.
“Everyone knows that the ‘safe bet’ candidate is not going to move the dial for your business in any monumental way,” said Jeff Meeks, VP of Sales and Marketing at EnergyFit. “Conversely, someone with a different background or self-taught skills may need a bit more training at first, but can then soon become a pillar of your organization and a force for innovation. It also depends on the position, of course. Some jobs are simply better suited for introverted workhorse types, while others require outgoing, high-energy personalities to thrive. Just be aware that not all creative thinkers are necessarily great employees, and use discretion always.”
Creative thinkers are the way of the future in business, and these recruitment insights should help any company find great employees to bring into the mix.
