Simple Solutions for the Budget Constrained

Let me take you back to an earlier time in my role as the Resourcing Manager at Barminco. We had very little budget, a small team, and very little time. We were just like every other employer and needed to do something different in regards to recruiting. Here are a few examples of what we did with $0 budget and a little bit of time. In both examples we communicated via email through our ATS.
 
Example 1
We were recruiting experienced underground mine Operations Managers, Project Managers, and Mine Foreman from around Australia. We used your usual attraction methods to stand out from our competitors. We approached our COO and managed to convince him to get on camera, and talk a little about our company values, his expectations, the challenges of the role and a little about himself. This was all off the cuff; unscripted and captured on my corporate mobile phone. We uploaded it to YouTube and invited applicants to review and provide feedback. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with some constructive feedback. This was mainly regarding audio quality, and also how some of the messaging being ‘standard issue’. The video interview took about 10 minutes to record in one take, a further 5 minutes to upload to YouTube, and then about another 15 minutes to create and distribute as an email to the candidates. About 30 minutes in total.
We then regularly communicated our updates, in a one to one, tone via email. Although the roles were all put on hold, what’s been fantastic is that the candidates have continued to reach out to us providing updates on their circumstances. It’s actually quite refreshing.
 
Example 2
Barminco is transitioning to SAP and part of this implementation required that a new position of HR Master Data Administrator was required. I know, I know, this position would have been ranked on LinkedIn as ‘On Fire’ if that ranking system was still around. What ever happened to that anyways? You know, the little flame icon?
[bctt tweet=”So how did we make this not so sexy role a little more enticing? Like every great sourcing professional, we laid out a grand plan.”]
In our advertisement we spoke a little about our team culture, which included a constant supply of chocolates. Also a little about our offices, which mentioned a gym to work off said chocolates, and a secret garden to escape the grind.

About three days after their application, we sent candidates a follow up email complete with these pictures (see attached). Almost everyone who received the email responded, and every response was positive. The creation of this email and distribution took all of 10 minutes, if that. The next email follow up would have included a picture of the team, however we were fortunate enough to recruit someone into the role before this took place.
 
It cost Barminco $0 to create. The time it took to plan, create, and implement was only slightly more than usual. Not enough time to say ‘there’s not enough time’ or ‘we’re too busy’. Well, not in my opinion anyways. The majority of responses were surprised to have even received a response, let alone one or two follow up emails. They were very grateful. Judging by their responses, they were engaged and they wanted to work for Barminco. You don’t need a DeLorean to save you time, nor do you need a cent to be creative. Personally, I think its art over science.
 
If you are looking for similar tips and tricks from the world’s leading Talent Acquisition peeps, make sure you get yourself down to ATC Events Sourcing Social Talent Conference in Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland this November. Maybe you can divert the money saved from these tips into some great learning at #SST15.