This article is part of the Recruitment Methods Guide. Read our related articles on sources of recruitment, out-of-the-box recruitment methods, and outsourced recruitment.
Are you constantly looking for new recruitment methods to advance your hiring process?
Look no further! We have created this article to serve you as your go-to guide when you need extra inspiration for methods of recruitment.
Recruitment Methods Basics
What are recruitment methods?
Recruitment methods are the set of tactics that an HR Manager or Hiring Specialist uses to attract, hire, and onboard the best talent for the company.
Types of Recruitment Methods
There are seven types of recruitment methods:
- Internal
- External
- Direct
- Indirect
- Third-Party
- Traditional
- Modern
Let’s analyze them in pairs.
Internal vs External
Sometimes the most efficient strategy is to rehire your people. What does this mean? Use your current employees as the go-to recruitment pool. This is called internal recruitment. The main benefit is that people are already familiar with your organization and internal culture. However, the main downside is that this can reduce innovation and be a breath of fresh air for some projects.
External recruitment is everything you do when you go outside the company to attract the people you’re looking for. The disadvantage is that it is time and resources consuming.
Direct vs Indirect vs Third Party
One frequently used method is posting the job description on different talent pool websites like career pages, LinkedIn, etc. This gives you access to a vast pool of potential talent and increases your brand’s visibility as an employer. This is an indirect approach. .
One method that falls into the direct approach category is sending personalized messages via LinkedIn. You can check your potential candidate profile and write a custom message regarding the opportunity that you have available.
You can also use Third Party methods such as career events and recruitment companies.
Traditional vs Modern
LinkedIn, recruitment events, and job boards all fall into the traditional recruitment methods. Still, in today’s climate, when the market is oversaturated and the competition for attention is more fierce, you need to approach things with a touch of creativity. Approaching recruitment with modern tactics such as video recruitment, AI generation, and Instagram hashtags might be the right approach for you.
How to choose the best one for you
Sometimes choosing from all the available methods might take more work than expected. That’s why there are some things that you should take into consideration when deciding which one satisfies your needs better:
- Your company’s financial and human resources
- Your history with one of the methods
- The ROI you are looking for
- Your personality and the area where you are the most skilled
To help you have a clearer picture of all the methods briefly described above, we will dig deeper into their pros and cons.
Internal vs External Sources of Recruitment
Internal Recruitment
Advantages and Disadvantages
We previously mentioned that one of the most overlooked talent pools by recruiters is the internal one, your colleagues.
There are some advantages to recruiting internally:
- People already know the company culture
- You save a lot of time
- Increases employee retention and engagement
However, like anything in life, this method has its disadvantages:
- It can decrease innovation and fresh ideas
- It can lead to biases based on friendships and previous arrangements
Examples
Some internal recruitment examples could be:
- Posting on your intranet
- Make an internal transfer
- Offer a promotion
External Recruitment
Advantages and Disadvantages
On the opposite side of the spectrum, we have external recruitment. This represents all your tactics to bring people in from outside your company
Some advantages to this type of recruitment are:
- The fresh perspectives and ideas that the newbies will bring inside the company
- Bring a new set of skills into the organization
The disadvantages are:
- It is more time and resources consuming
- You have 0 guarantees related to person-culture fit
Examples:
- Job boards posting
- Career and networking events
Direct vs Indirect vs Third Party Methods
Direct Methods of Recruitment
Advantages and Disadvantages
Direct recruitment methods are great whenever you want to reach a broader audience.
The main advantages are:
- Reaching a larger audience
- Increasing the Employer Brand exposure
- Expanding the company’s overall visibility
However, the main disadvantage is related to costs. You might need a bigger budget to advertise on different platforms. If your targeting needs to be corrected, the ROI might differ from what you expected.
Examples
Some examples are:
- Job boards
- Career websites
- Social Media
Indirect Methods of Recruitment
Advantages and Disadvantages
Indirect recruitment methods include PR initiatives such as advertising in the press, TV, or other media publications.
The advantage is that many people will see your open role and associate your company’s name with something tangible. The disadvantage is that you have no control over the audience. If you don’t choose the medium correctly, you might not close the open position.
Examples
- TV
- Newspapers
Third Party Methods of Recruitment
Advantages and Disadvantages
Third-party methods help you foster closer relationships that you can use across your career. Still, the disadvantage is that it takes longer, and you can’t control the output.
Examples
- Agencies
- Associations
Traditional vs Modern Methods
Traditional Methods of Recruitment
Advantages and Disadvantages
When thinking about traditional methods of recruitment, we think about newspapers, internal recruitment, agencies, and so on.
The advantage is that you can apply these methods with a relatively small budget, however the time to close the open role might be longer.
Examples
- Newspapers
- Agencies
- Associations
Modern Methods of Recruitment
Advantages and Disadvantages
The main advantage of modern recruitment methods is that they allow you to reach a specific audience and see the feedback in real time. The drawback is that they require a higher budget.
Examples
- Social Media
- Ads
- AI
Out Of The Box Recruitment Ideas
We have spoken about traditional and modern recruitment methods. Still, we have something in store for you: 3 out-of-the-box recruitment ideas.
Use different platforms
LinkedIn is great and it helps. However, when you need something more creative you can take into consideration using other platforms that weren’t designed for recruitment specifically, such as Craigslist, Instagram, or Facebook Marketplace.
Boolean searches
Put your Sherlock’s hat on and start using a boolean search formula as a way to find your candidates.
Attend non-job related events
Go to meetups or jump on events that are related to job searching specifically. This will help you expand your network without having the ‘’recruiter alert’’ badge on.
Outsourced Recruitment
You can always consider outsourcing your recruitment processes to an agency that specializes in doing this. This might help you save time and focus on other aspects of your business. Just note to make sure the agency clearly understands your intentions and culture.
What other recruitment methods do you usually use?
Recruitment Methods FAQ
What are the different types of recruitment?
There are seven types of recruitment:
- Internal
- External
- Direct
- Indirect
- Third-Party
- Traditional
- Modern
What are the new trends in recruitment in 2022?
The new trends are candidate-centric interviews, video CVs and AI automation.
What is a third-party method of recruitment?
The third-party method represents using different agencies and partnerships to recruit, onboard, and hire an employee.