HR Technology Primer: What is Inbound Recruiting?

By Sudipto Ghosh Last updated Apr 25, 2019

Whether you are a beginner or an expert, you will find this HR Technology primer on Inbound Recruiting very useful.

In this HR Technology primer, we will cover:

What is Inbound Recruiting?
What are the various steps in Inbound Recruiting?
What are the various resources in Inbound Recruiting?
What are the benefits of Inbound Recruiting?

What is Inbound Recruiting?

Inbound Recruiting is a technology-driven recruitment process of creating, sharing and distributing branded content with the recruitment centers. Inbound Recruiting targets active and passive job seekers at various stages of their job searching journeys. By leveraging Inbound Recruiting methods, recruitment managers can enhance their Employer brand quotient and attract the best talent in the job market toward their organization.

What Inbound Means: Drawing an Analogy with Marketing and Sales

Today, the job markets have evolved digitally all over the world. As with IT, SaaS and E-Commerce industries, the recruitment industry has also digitally transformed to improve the way job seekers and employers connect and interact with each other. The contemporary job market is more or less on a similar evolution curve as we have witnessed in the e-consumer and B2B marketing where the focus for companies have changed from outbound to an inbound one. Much like in Marketing, Sales and Customer Support, Inbound methodology is driving the paradigm shift through Data, Analytics, Intelligence, and Personalized Experiences.

What are the various steps in Inbound Recruiting?

Most Inbound Recruiting methods can be fully understood by referring to the modern-day Hiring Funnel. Through Inbound Recruiting funnel, a candidate (passive and active, both) looking for a job goes through a journey that allows an employer to attract, engage and build relationships with them. This funnel is based on the various stages of hiring and their outcome. It consists of these steps:

Attract and Source
Convert
Engage
Track

What are the various resources in Inbound Recruiting?

Various Inbound Recruiting resources can be shared with the candidates depending on what point they are currently placed in the funnel. Here are some of the most widely-used Inbound Recruiting resources.

Career Sites

These sites are the go-to destination for candidates as well as employers. There are thousands of online job sites, but the best job boards and job search engine sites excel in leveraging Search, Automation and Machine Learning capabilities. With advanced Search capabilities on career sites, employers can find the best talent in any given location matched with other criteria.

Companies such as Certn provide pre-employment screening platform that uses AI and machine learning to provide lightning fast and compliant background checks. Many background-check companies are running a “high touch” process that is completely or predominantly manually achieved.

By utilizing AI and machine learning, Inbound Recruiting teams can significantly reduce those touch points and deliver a high-quality result, fast.

SEO and Branded Content

Employers are leveraging job-specific SEO and Branded Content to target inbound candidates who are searching on career sites and search engines. By creating relevant landing pages and blogs for such candidates, employers aim to provide a 360-degree view of their company culture and their current workforce. Blogs, videos and landing pages showcase various ways a candidate can grow in career and balance it with their personal life. Perhaps the best content in Inbound Recruiting funnel would be testimonials from the past and existing employees who often post their reviews on sites such as Glassdoor.com.

Social Media

Social Media provides an exciting growth opportunity in Inbound hiring and recruiting efforts. In the “War of Talent”, attracting Gen Z’s and Millennials are largely driven by employers who are tech-savvy and socially “acceptable”. New social hiring campaigns are seen all over LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter through branded posts, videos, events, and training programs. These activities on social media not only drive awareness and engagement but also demonstrate the social-savviness of the employer.

PPC and Advertising

Digital advertising, supported by Pay-Per-Click (PPC), can help to promote your content and social media inbound resources across various advertising channels. In addition to PPC and Digital Advertising, companies can also leverage PR and Mobile Marketing platforms to share newsworthy developments in their company. For example, announcements on new office opening, employee achievements, recognition on HR policies and the latest hiring developments can further drive the Inbound Recruiting activities through authentic channels.

Recommended HR Technology Blog: What Generation Z’ers Want at Work?

Employee Advocacy

According to a report by Jibe, more than 70% of companies felt their employees were advocates for their employer brand. By letting employees participate in your current Inbound Recruiting programs, you can certainly amplify your brand value in the talent search — and, also show how best employees stay longer and grow better.

What are the benefits of Inbound Recruiting?

Though Inbound Recruiting is a very recent practice, it’s managed to catch the attention of the employers very well. The growing shift toward Inbound Recruiting is largely driven by one thing: Data. Companies have become better with their understanding of data and how it impacts every function of their organization. Inbound Recruiting is no different. By leveraging data, employers are able to strategize and build their Inbound Recruiting campaigns. The immediate benefits of data-driven Inbound Recruiting are:

Meet and engage with the right kind of people online via website content, social media posts, and other online assets
Provide a better job search journey to potential employees by offering relevant information about jobs, roles, and responsibilities
Provide a growth plan to like-minded people scouring for jobs
Attract the best talent from other industries, or other roles, who want to sail into new seas
Create a new employee-friendly brand that hosts ideas and thoughts with any biases and perversions
Create a truly digitally-transformed organization with the Employees, Workplace Culture, and Technology driving the company into the future

In short, Inbound Recruiting is a transformational process, and not a dimensionless transactional one. It has the potential to create an ‘advocate’ and a ‘promoter’ out of every candidate you meet. From greeting your candidate the first time you meet to writing a rejection email, Inbound Recruiting processes can truly set the benchmarks in the talent search funnel. With compelling content for omnichannel targets and persistent effort, your hiring process would continue to evolve and improve.