Our clients tell us that most of the candidates they are recruiting are are also being pursued by a half dozen competitors. As the competition for talent continues to rise, it will be become harder to make a job offer stand out from the crowd. But after years of creating highly customized experiences for candidates considering a job in NE Ohio, here are some ideas on how to create a recruiting experience that will be memorable and help you land your first choice candidates often (whether or not you have access to a company like Executive Arrangements or not).
Personalize the materials and approach as much as you can for each recruit. If they mentioned children, make sure you send them info on the schools in your region. If their spouse works in a familiar industry/trade, make sure they have a list of the companies or clusters that might be good contacts for them. Make every contact a reinforcement that the whole family matters.
Last week, two of our Guides spent the day with a family relocating to Cleveland for Eaton Corp. The parents had warned us that their children were not excited to move for the 8th time for dad’s job and asked us to win them over with our Cleveland tour. So we focused on their interests: a 12 year old son who enjoys going to ballgames with dad and 14 year old daughter who loves performing arts and is the lead in her middle school’s musical. Using our deep connections in the community, we arranged a private tour of Progressive Field, where they were given VIP access including a walk out onto the Cleveland Indians field as the players took batting practice for an afternoon game. Then we created a behind-the-scenes visit to our theater district where a Playhouse Square staffer took them onto the stage of The State Theater to look out at the historic 1920’s theater while describing next year’s Broadway Season line up. The kids were thrilled and felt they were included in this decision making process, which was a huge step forward for the whole family. 
If your recruit lives in another state, assume they know little about your city. Share links to websites that can help educate the. Assume they don’t know all of the assets you take for granted. We recently arranged a docent led tour of the Asian galleries at the Cleveland Museum of Art for an Indian family who loves art and had no idea Cleveland had such a world class art museum. We stopped at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium and arranged for a staffer to walk a family with young children through the Great Lakes exhibit so the kids could get out of the car and learn something about their new town (and get their hands wet inside a tank with sting rays!).
If you have a feeling they are considering multiple offers, try to find out who the competition is, or at the very least, what cities they might be in. You may learn enough to offer positive comparisons in regards to quality of life, cost of living, traffic/commute times, educational options, access to places that address their hobbies, etc.
For more info on how Executive Arrangements can help your company or organization to attract and retain top talent to NE Ohio, please call us at 216.231.9311.
