By Stacy Pursell of The VET Recruiter

Finding and hiring the best candidates in the job market right now is not easy. After all, the National Unemployment Rate is still hovering near a historic low. We’re in a candidates’ job market and we’ve been in one for quite some time. As a result, candidates—especially the top candidates—have more options and more opportunities at their disposal.

There are two types of job candidates—active job seekers and passive candidates. Typically, passive candidates represent the top 5% to 10% of the talent in the employment marketplace. (Although that’s not always the case. Sometimes, a person within the top 5% to 10% initiates an active search for new opportunities.)

In a candidates’ market, there are usually more passive candidates than there are active job seekers. In addition, active job seekers don’t have to be convinced to explore an employment opportunity. Passive candidates, on the other hand, must be convinced to do so. In fact, in most cases, they must be engaged and actively recruited.

More than likely, you’re going to know when you’ve come across a truly exceptional candidate. Or more than one, for that matter. If and when that happens, you must be prepared to interact with these candidates in a way that will truly engage them and ensure that they both enter the hiring process and then stay in the process all the way until the end.

Below are four steps for treating the best Animal Health job candidates like the best candidates:

#1—Express your interest in their candidacy.
This is not a one-way street, in which candidates are the only ones who are supposed to express their interest. Employers should also do so. That’s because candidates want to feel as though they are wanted. Perhaps the reason they’re exploring other opportunities in the first place is that their current employer does not make them feel that way.

#2—Communicate, communicate, communicate!
There is no greater factor in the hiring of top talent than communication. Miscommunication or a lack of communication can derail any hiring process. If you identify top candidates, engage them, convince them to enter the hiring process, and then don’t communicate with them enough, you’re effectively sabotaging your own efforts.

Remember that the very best candidates don’t chase employers. Instead, employers chase them.

#3—Do everything you can to keep candidates engaged.
An organization is branding itself during the hiring process, and a company’s employer brand is critical in the job market these days. Today’s candidates want to work for a forward-thinking organization that offers opportunities for career advancement and boasts a stellar company culture. This is the way you should brand your organization to job candidates, so that you can keep them engaged and increase the chances that you’ll be able to hire them.

#4—Make a timely hiring decision.
Time is of the essence during the hiring process, and that includes during the offer stage of the process. Since we’re talking about top candidates, keep in mind that these candidates might be interviewing with multiple companies. If so, then time is not on your side. If you wait too long, then your top choice could accept an offer with another organization, quite possibly your competitor.

Identifying the top candidates in the job market is just the first step in the journey to hiring them. You also have to attract, engage, and recruit them. This involves treating the best Animal Health job candidates like they’re the best candidates.

If you don’t, then they’re going to want to work for an organization that will.

(Stacy Pursell is a Certified Personnel Consultant and a Certified Employment Retention Specialist. She is a workplace/workforce expert with 25 years of executive search and recruiting experience in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. For more information about Stacy’s firm, The VET Recruiter, visit www.thevetrecruiter.com.)