I’ve been in the human resources and recruitment field for approximately 20 years and with a medical association for the last five years. I must admit, like many of you, I’ve been surprised by the recent job market.

It’s tough out there, and it’s particularly challenging for associations, which most often lack brand recognition. Candidates are moving quickly through the process, have many more options, and are negotiating on their offers more than ever.

For the last five years, employee promotions and referrals have consistently been among the top three recruitment resources utilized by my organization. Unfortunately, it’s not always that easy. You can’t rely solely on promotions and referrals. Here are a few talent acquisition sources and strategies that have worked well for me.

Association Job Boards

ASAE and the Association Forum both have online job boards specific to the association industry. We have had great success attracting qualified, experienced association professionals through these job boards and resume databases. I also recommend taking advantage of trainings, online forums, networking events, and committee volunteer opportunities offered by these organizations—after all, good talent can come from anywhere. You never know when or where you might meet someone who may be interested in working for your organization.

Indeed

Indeed is the world’s number one job site. There are other national job sites, but we’ve had the best success with this platform. It is cost effective because it has pricing options for every budget. You can also pay extra to sponsor your job posting. The downside is not every applicant tracking system integrates with Indeed’s job board, so for me it turns into a manual resume review process. However, the additional time spent reviewing these resumes has paid off.

Social media platforms—particularly LinkedIn—are a great resource for networking with candidates who may be passive in their job search.

LinkedIn

Many social media platforms are used for recruitment today—they are a great resource for networking with candidates who may be passive in their job search. Although I dabble in Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, I prefer utilizing LinkedIn for business purposes. LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network, with more than 546 million users in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. My organization has invested in a recruiter account that allows for a posting package, unlimited InMails, more candidate search options, and other benefits. Although the recruiter account is costly, LinkedIn offers a significant discount to associations and nonprofits. There are also many free features you can use for recruitment if you don’t have the budget for a recruiter account. These features include creating posts, making connections, and posting jobs in various groups. You can also upgrade to a premium account, which includes additional features but is less costly than a recruiter account and permits you to create individual job postings for a fee.

Glassdoor

Glassdoor is one of the fastest growing job and recruiting sites. It has been primarily recognized as a resource for candidates to obtain company information, CEO reviews, salary data, and more. Recently, it expanded its services to allow employers to post jobs and brand their companies. Earlier this year, we upgraded to an employer account, and I am still learning about its payoff, but so far, I have received many applications.

Focus on Branding

Last, but not least, we have been focused on enhancing our employer and recruitment brand to attract nontraditional candidates, including millennials, diverse candidates, and non-association professionals.

We started by collaborating with our marketing and public relations teams and relied heavily on their expertise with this initiative. We created a marketing plan and identified our primary deliverables for 2017-2018.

Initially, we focused on creating fresh, consistent messaging and images representative of our organization’s culture, values, and benefits. These messages and images were used to update various collateral, including recruitment handouts, online company pages (such as on Glassdoor and LinkedIn), social media posts, and our website and employment pages. We’ve also recently applied for and won various company awards, which we have advertised via social media and our website. The branding work will never be done—it will always require regular review and updating.

When it comes to talent acquisition and recruitment, there is no silver bullet. What works for me may not work for you. But there are many options—some not mentioned here—that work well for different positions and organizations. One thing I know for certain is that the candidate market has changed over the years, and we will need to adapt, change, and improve our strategies to continue to recruit and hire the best talent.