How do you maintain candidate pipeline quality?

Maintaining candidate pipeline quality is crucial for any recruiter who wants to hire the best talent for their clients or employers. A high-quality pipeline means you have a pool of qualified, engaged, and diverse candidates who are ready to move forward in the hiring process. But how do you ensure that your pipeline stays fresh, relevant, and competitive? Here are some tips to help you.

1 Define your ideal candidate profile

Before you start sourcing candidates, you need to have a clear idea of what kind of person you are looking for. This means defining your ideal candidate profile (ICP), which is a detailed description of the skills, experience, personality, and culture fit that you require for the role. Your ICP should be based on the job description, the hiring manager's input, and the market research. Having a well-defined ICP will help you narrow down your search, avoid wasting time on unqualified candidates, and tailor your outreach and communication.

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Brittany LeBlanc

Search Consultant @ Dean Group | Insurance | Manufacturing | AEC
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Defining your ICP is important to keep you on the right path when it comes to sourcing ideal candidates but you need to understand more than just what the perfect candidate is going to look like. The perfect candidate rarely exists. You need to be able to prioritize skills, experience, personality, and culture fit and understand where you may be able to colour outside of the lines. For example, if you know that skill and personality are more important for a certain role than years of experience, then you can start looking at candidates that may be more junior but have the ability to surpass a mediocre intermediate candidate. Your ICP should guide you but it can't turn into blinders that have you ignoring perfectly viable candidates.

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2 Use multiple sources and channels

To build a diverse and robust pipeline, you need to use multiple sources and channels to find and attract candidates. This means not relying on one platform or method, but exploring different options such as job boards, social media, referrals, events, networking, and passive sourcing. You should also diversify your messaging and content to appeal to different audiences and showcase your employer brand. For example, you can use LinkedIn to share industry insights, Instagram to highlight your culture, and email to send personalized invitations.

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Brittany LeBlanc

Search Consultant @ Dean Group | Insurance | Manufacturing | AEC
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Multiple sources and channels are necessary in today's recruitment landscape. You will lose every time if you're only operating in one space. Many recruiters live and die by Sales Navigator or LinkedIn Recruiter. But this is an oversaturated channel. You need to find other methods to supplement like using boolean strings in several different browsers, creating thoughtful social media content that speaks to your target audience, and actively network online and in your community. Only using one method/channel is like swimming in a kiddie pool when there's an ocean right in front of you!

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3 Keep your pipeline updated and organized

One of the biggest challenges of maintaining candidate pipeline quality is keeping track of all the information and interactions you have with your candidates. This is where a good candidate relationship management (CRM) system comes in handy. A CRM system is a tool that helps you store, manage, and update your candidate data, as well as automate and streamline your communication and follow-up. By using a CRM system, you can ensure that your pipeline is updated and organized, and that you don't miss any opportunities or lose any candidates.

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Brittany LeBlanc

Search Consultant @ Dean Group | Insurance | Manufacturing | AEC
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I keep my pipeline organized in a couple of different ways. First, OneNote has changed my life. I keep all my job orders and intake notes in one tab, and all my candidate conversations in another tab (organized by the job I reached out to them for). This way, I ALWAYS have access to my notes and our conversations. Next, I will copy and paste my notes into our CRM, so that anyone in our organization understands the candidate and the conversations we've had. Transparency is paramount!

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4 Nurture your candidates regularly

Another key factor in maintaining candidate pipeline quality is nurturing your candidates regularly. This means staying in touch with your candidates throughout the hiring process, providing them with relevant and valuable information, and building trust and rapport. Nurturing your candidates can help you keep them engaged, interested, and motivated, as well as reduce the risk of dropouts or ghosting. Some of the ways you can nurture your candidates are sending them feedback, updates, tips, testimonials, newsletters, and surveys.

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Brittany LeBlanc

Search Consultant @ Dean Group | Insurance | Manufacturing | AEC
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Nurturing your candidates can help prevent a lot of heartbreak. I find the best practice is to be open about the process and what to expect. I always try to share timelines with my candidates, and if I'm not sure, I will tell them that. I also make the effort to follow up, even if it's just to say there is no news. These "little" things build trust and loyalty. I also acknowledge that I'm not perfect. I get swept up and drop the ball. I make sure that candidates know they can reach out to me any time and I'm more than happy to answer questions/concerns. The key is to really keep all communication channels open.

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5 Measure and improve your pipeline performance

Finally, to maintain candidate pipeline quality, you need to measure and improve your pipeline performance. This means tracking and analyzing the key metrics and indicators that reflect the quality of your pipeline, such as conversion rates, time to fill, candidate satisfaction, diversity, and retention. By measuring your pipeline performance, you can identify the strengths and weaknesses of your sourcing and hiring strategy, and make adjustments accordingly. You can also use the data to benchmark your performance against your competitors and industry standards.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you maintain candidate pipeline quality?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Define your ideal candidate profile

2 Use multiple sources and channels

3 Keep your pipeline updated and organized

4 Nurture your candidates regularly

5 Measure and improve your pipeline performance

6 Here’s what else to consider

Recruiting

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How do you maintain candidate pipeline quality?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Define your ideal candidate profile

2 Use multiple sources and channels

3 Keep your pipeline updated and organized

4 Nurture your candidates regularly

5 Measure and improve your pipeline performance

6 Here’s what else to consider

Recruiting

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