Recruiting: How to succeed in customer acquisition
An interview with Lea Podgajnik from UNTERWALD about modern challenges in recruiting
Even for recruiting agencies, the search for suitable personnel is becoming increasingly difficult. Potential employees often have several offers and companies have to make an impression in order to find qualified specialists. Professional recruiters have to adapt to this change and sometimes resort to new methods: They know that a job ad or a phone call is no longer enough. It is much more important to present companies coherently and seriously on different channels right from the start. That way, candidates have a positive image of the company and are more likely to respond to a job offer.
Lea Podgajnik from UNTERWALD deals with this topic in detail: As an interface between recruiting, marketing and IT, UNTERWALD helps companies to increase their visibility as employers and to reduce administrative activities in the recruiting area with digital measures. As an expert in this field, Lea tells us what modern recruiting looks like and which tools make recruiting more efficient.
First of all, who are you and what do you do for a living?
My name is Lea Podgajnik and I have been in recruiting for 6 years. Originally, I came from the IT and digital industry. In the midst of the first Covid-19 lockdown, I started my own business, UNTERWALD, to combine exactly these industries - recruiting, marketing and IT. In short, I help employers and recruitment companies digitalize their recruiting processes and strategies. My focus is on candidate and client acquisition with organic outreach - meaning no marketing budget and no cold calling.
How can I generate new business and clients as a recruiter in 2022? What role do warm and cold calls play in this?
I have to confess - I hate cold calling. I know that many in our industry are very good at it and are even charming and efficient in their initial contact with potential clients on the phone. I myself have always been too shy for this and have therefore come up with strategies on how to get new customers without cold calling and a marketing budget. I show these strategies to my HR consulting clients.
So how do I get clients and candidates in the new year without picking up the phone or resorting to active sourcing by default? I need to make myself visible to my target audience so they actively reach out to me. The best way to do that is with a solid, conversion-optimized website and algorithm-compliant use of social media platforms. After all, most only look at their online presence from a creative perspective. However, the technical component in terms of SEO, usability, algorithms and co. is the decisive gamechanger. So if you generate visibility via social media like LinkedIn, your own content ensures that you deal with warm leads. After all, potential clients and candidates will then already have a picture of the services and methods as a recruitment consultancy.
What are some tips for modern client acquisition? What advice do you have for recruiting agencies when they want to acquire new clients and why?
I always advise building a certain diversity of channels, both in acquisition and recruiting. If you rely on one channel, you may run into difficulties when it starts getting dull and is no longer as effective. It’s also a way to make sure you’re not “fishing in the same pond as the competition.”
I’ve noticed it particularly in the context of cold calling and active sourcing - in many industries, both clients and candidates are now quite annoyed by cold contact requests and often respond negatively or not at all. So before it comes to that, you should try and evaluate other channels.
Example: If I’m already on LinkedIn doing active sourcing, posting a job ad every now and then, and engaging in conversation with potential clients, why shouldn’t I take advantage of the network’s full potential and learn how to make myself visible with content on the platform?
How has recruiting changed compared to 5 years ago? What opportunities and challenges have arisen?
Recruiting is changing really fast. I’m not a fan of the statement “The war for talent is over, and the talent has won.” But of course, this quote highlights the fact that candidates have long since ceased to be the supplicants in the job market. Vacancies are plentiful, active seekers are few - making it all the more difficult to find suitable candidates and convince them to join new employers. This is still relevant in 2022.
The issue of visibility is therefore all the more important. If passive candidates are not actively looking, I have to come up with something to get them to see me as an employer or career partner. A strong digital foundation, a transparent job or career placement offer, and organic reach on channels where talent is active are very helpful.
What role do technology and automation play in this and how can they help with challenges?
I love tech and automation in recruiting, but always emphasize that recruiting is and should remain a human business. A sensible dose of technology in recruiting is a great opportunity that can help reduce administrative and operational effort, so that we have more time for the essentials in recruiting - the people in the application process.
Conclusion: Meeting new requirements
Of course, the transformation of recruiting in the course of digitalization is a challenge for many companies. Some classic approaches, such as cold calling, are no longer as promising on the job market as they once were. That’s why recruiters need to get to grips with modern methods and the possibilities offered by social platforms. The right digital tools are crucial for improving customer acquisition. With a digital and sustainable approach, agencies adapt to new requirements in the job market and optimize their search for customers and applicants.
Über UNTERWALD
Since 2020, UNTERWALD ombines recruiting, marketing and IT to establish intelligent recruitment strategies and shows staffing agencies and employers how to make themselves visible to their target group with an organic reach. The goal is not short-term marketing campaigns, but to build a strong digital foundation with a sustainable and long-term digital strategy for recruiting without cold calling and campaign costs..
If you want to learn more about a suitable software for your recruiting agency, get in touch here.