Over the years there have been countless waves of hot candidate markets in various sectors. Some of these waves have included the dot com boom of the late 90’s and the financial services boom of the mid 2000’s. None of these candidate booms compare to the current RN crisis sweeping the nation. Anyone who currently recruits for registered nurses in the United States understands what a precious commodity nurses have become.
Here are four ways to increase your RN hires without spending any marketing dollars.
1. Your ATS/CRM Is A Hidden Gold Mine
Almost every recruitment /sourcing department has some form of ATS/CRM system. In most of these systems are dormant candidates who have shown previous interest in your brand. Many times, candidates who apply are disqualified by both system and human error. Other times, silver medalist candidates who interviewed well are dispositioned after another candidate is chosen during the interview process. Many of these candidates are perfect fits for roles but, by inadvertent errors, are lost in your ATS/CRM. By reengaging with these candidates, you could have easy hires. Advice for reengagement would be to contact the candidate through all available contact information you have on the candidate. In your first reengagement, the first thing that should be brought up is their past interest in your organization. By actively targeting qualified candidates who have applied previously to your organization, you will see an uptake in RN hires that will cost zero marketing dollars.
2. Ask Your Hiring Managers The Right Questions
You might be wondering how asking the right questions of your hiring managers can increase your RN hires. The answer is many times hiring managers are willing to accept alternative RN profiles. These would be nurses who may not have the service line experience needed for the role, but have profiles hiring managers are willing to see. Examples include PCU for ICU, Med-Surg for PCU & Rehab, Home Health, and LTAC nurses for Med-Surg.
Many nurses who are not actively looking are willing to consider a new job if there is a chance to advance in their career. Unless a recruiter and sourcer have asked specific questions during their intake sessions, they will never learn that a hiring manager will take an alternative profile. Before you can even start to ask the right questions of your hiring managers, you have to understand alternative profiles hiring managers might accept. If you do not know this information, talk to nurses to find out what works.
During your intakes, do not be afraid to ask your hiring managers if they would look at alterative profiles. You will be surprised how many hiring managers will accept these candidates
3. Search-Optimize Your Job Titles
In order for nurses to find your jobs, always ensure you search-optimize your titles the right way. The first step is to ensure you use the most common title for the role. For example, most ICU nurses search under ICU as opposed to the full word “Intensive Care” or “Critical Care.”
Regional names change as well. For example, in some areas, either emergency department or emergency room is used. Knowing your regional terms is quite important in choosing the right title. Also, keep your titles as short as possible but with as much searchable information as you can. Put RN after the domain areas, such as ICU RN. Most nurses search for those terms together. To still capture people who search “Registered Nurse,” include those words just before the end of the job title. And be sure to use the word “job.” Many people include “job” when looking for one. Here’s what a search optimized title might look like: ICU RN Registered Nurse Job.
4. Use Job Board Aggregators
To increase the flow of traffic to your jobs, use a free job aggregator. Job aggregators scrape your job listings and post them to be viewed by a wider audience. There are plenty of free options such as Indeed and Simply Hired. The good news is unless you sponsor a job, the cost of using an aggregator is nothing.
By following these four tips you should be able to increase your RN hires without spending any money on extra marketing.