recruiting funnel –
Efficient employee recruitment

Author Kurt Schauer

Candidate acquisition has more in common with customer acquisition than many people think. Today, it is no longer enough to simply post a job ad and wait for highly qualified, motivated employees to show up on their own to increase sales.

Companies are in massive competition and vying for the same applicants. This makes it all the more important to make the decisive difference in the recruiting process and to stand out from the crowd. This is exactly where the recruiting funnel comes into play. What it is all about and which steps have to be taken will be explained in more detail in this article.

The Recruiting Funnel – a Definition

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The recruiting funnel, also known as the HR marketing funnel or employee funnel, includes all steps from the open position to the hiring of an employee. This tool can be assigned to online marketing, with companies using various social media to recruit employees.

The company draws attention to itself on social networks through targeted advertisements.

The recruiting funnel, also known as the HR marketing funnel or employee funnel, includes all steps from advertising a vacant position to hiring a new employee. This concept can be assigned to online marketing, as companies are increasingly using social media to specifically recruit employees.

Through precisely placed advertisements, the company draws the attention of potential candidates on social networks.

What is the idea behind it?

The job market has changed dramatically, from an employer market to an applicant market. While a few years ago employers could select the top candidates for a vacant position from a large number of applications, demographic changes and the shortage of skilled workers are now presenting companies with massive challenges.

They are in direct competition with numerous other companies that are also vying for the best talent on the market. A vacant position can have serious consequences for the company and cause considerable costs. Therefore, companies must react quickly to the shortage of skilled workers in order to successfully fill their positions.

A convincing recruiting funnel is crucial to scoring points with potential applicants and gaining their attention. Companies should always put themselves in the shoes of potential applicants and identify their wishes and needs in order to then be able to place targeted and successful advertisements. Emotional design of the advertisements or video messages plays a major role in appealing to applicants.

In addition to the emotional appeal, the company's communication strategies and external presentation are among the fundamental pillars of the recruiting funnel. Today, future employees not only prefer professional challenges, but also want to be able to identify with the company. Therefore, the company's presentation has become a decisive factor.

The individual steps of the recruiting funnel

A standardized process has been established in the recruiting funnel, which consists of four steps and results in pre-qualified applications:

1. Advertisement

Social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, but also LinkedIn or Xing are used for the advertisements to address potential applicants. The advertisements can be designed as text, with images or in video format. The focus is on the advantages and values that the company offers.

This targeted communication addresses the right applicants, which initiates the recruiting funnel. Companies should think more deeply about their employer branding and a positive candidate experience before creating advertisements.

2. The idea

Applicants have certain expectations when they approach a company. The company should answer these questions as quickly as possible with a clear self-introduction.

Applicants want to know what benefits they can expect if they choose the company. They also want to understand more precisely: What makes the company special? What is the company culture like? What values does the company represent? The more similarities there are between the applicant's expectations and the company's portrayal, the more likely a potential applicant is to identify with the company.

3. Qualification

The recruiting funnel experiences a significant boost through targeted qualification questions. These questions are used to obtain information about the applicant, determine wishes, and identify requirements and goals. These questions make it possible to weed out unsuitable applicants from the further application process.

The questions are designed in such a way that qualified applicants can only be identified if there is a match. Application documents are not initially sent to the company via the ad, as they usually cannot be sent from mobile devices (because applicants often do not have them to hand).

The application documents are only sent in the last step - making contact. This significantly reduces the risk of the recruiting funnel being abandoned.

4. contact

The applications received are analyzed in more detail by the company and suitable applicants are contacted. Before the interview, the CV and relevant certificates can be submitted afterwards.

Like the previous steps, the interviews can also be conducted digitally.

Who is the employee funnel suitable for?

The recruiting funnel is a suitable tool in every industry to counteract the shortage of skilled workers. Although companies are facing a shortage of skilled workers, there are certainly enough qualified candidates. However, many of these skilled workers are already in permanent positions with other employers. Therefore, it is a matter of making the change attractive for these skilled workers and convincing them with advantages that their current employer cannot offer.

Social networks are an ideal place to reach out to all potential candidates. Millions of users are active on these platforms every day, and thanks to modern algorithms, it is possible to target interested parties. The pool of top candidates is available on social networks - the real challenge lies in convincing employer positioning. In addition, the employer must analyze the target group precisely, understand their wishes and requirements in order to be able to tailor the advertisements precisely to their needs.

Which costs arise?

The costs for creating an applicant funnel are one-time payment of 3.200 euros, and per job advertisement one falls one-time fee of 550 euros (duration: 3 months). In addition, monthly campaign costs of EUR 1.200.

If we generate fewer qualified applicants than we guaranteed, we have worked for you for nothing.

On average, we generate 30 pre-qualified applicants per advertised position. The more specific the requirements, the lower the number of applicants may be. In a preliminary discussion, we will clarify together what minimum number of qualified applicants we can guarantee you. This is based on the requirements profile of the respective job description.

We clarify the following questions in advance:

Which position needs to be filled?
Which platform should be used for the advertisement (Facebook, Instagram)?
In which industry are skilled workers sought?
Which form of presentation is chosen (images, texts, videos)?
What does the funnel look like?
Which qualification questions are used?

Application in practice –
Efficient employee recruitment

Would you like to try out an employee funnel yourself?

Click through our example funnel and test for yourself how easy the application process works.

Conclusion

Companies today are facing major challenges due to demographic change and the increasing shortage of skilled workers. The shortage of skilled workers in particular poses a significant challenge – an unfilled position can significantly increase costs for the company.

Traditional job advertisements often do not bring the desired success. The recruiting funnel, on the other hand, is an effective tool for targeting top candidates where they are sure to be found - on social networks. If the company succeeds in positioning itself attractively and applicants can identify with the company, nothing stands in the way of a successful application.

Any questions?

Kurt Schauer

Managing Director

What is a recruiting funnel?

A recruiting funnel describes the entire recruiting process. This can be divided into individual phases, which extend from the first point of contact through to the hiring of a new employee. As the phases progress, more and more potential employees are lost in the funnel based on certain criteria. In the end, only suitable candidates remain, who are then hired. The recruiting funnel process can be roughly divided into 5 phases. First there must be the so-called attention phase. In this phase, an employer must draw attention to themselves or the vacant position using certain channels such as social media marketing, websites, blogs, YouTube channels, and many other options. In this first phase, it is important to reach a large number of people and to lure them into the funnel, which is filled with potential new employees. The more people are interested, the higher the probability of finding someone suitable in the end.

Applicant Funnel – How to find qualified employees as an employer

The second phase of the recruiting funnel is about gaining the interest of the people who have been made aware of you. In this phase, it is important to present yourself as an employer in a particularly attractive way. You are given an insight into what a potential employer can expect from your company. What advantages they will have from working in your company and why they should choose this particular position. You are making promises to the potential candidates, so to speak. In the best case scenario, they will then contact you via social media, job advertisements or other means. There are also a few things to consider in the following, third so-called application phase, as most candidates drop out in this phase of the recruiting funnel. Here it is important to keep the applicants' workload as low as possible. This is the only way that people who may already have a job and just want to get a taste of it or who are generally still unsure will contact you. Keep the process simple. It is best to give applicants the opportunity to apply via an online application form and to contact you via mobile.

Recruiting Funnel: Pre-selection Application

With a recruiting funnel, it is important to influence who applies to your job advertisement and, ideally, to attract suitable people. Therefore, the phases described above are essential for the pre-selection of applications. Through your appearance and your job description, you try to attract a certain group of people who are best suited to your company. In this way, you influence right from the start which people will be interested in your advertisement and, so to speak, will end up in the funnel. The fourth phase that follows is about the selection process. This can be structured in different ways. Here it is important to make the right decision and find employees who are a good fit for your company. To find this out, you could, for example, make a pre-selection based on the applications. You can now arrange an initial interview and, if necessary, a trial day with these people. Your wishes and those of the potential employees should be communicated clearly and transparently in this phase to avoid possible disappointment.

Recruiting Funnel – All phases up to hiring

After you have made your shortlist and met all the candidates, it is time to make an offer to your favorite. In this final phase, the contract is signed, i.e. the new employee is hired. The recruiting funnel has now been successfully completed. In this final phase, it is important to be open and to respond to the wishes of the other person. Highly qualified people in particular usually have several job offers and therefore have a choice. In the end, it depends on which of the potential employers is more attractive and makes the better offer. Being willing to negotiate is very important here in order to be able to attract first-class employees.

The Benefits of a Recruiting Funnel

In order for a recruiting funnel to be successful, it is very important to carry out and follow the individual phases carefully. Only those who know exactly what they are looking for in a future employee and communicate this clearly can ultimately choose the right candidate from the applicant funnel. A particularly advantageous feature of the recruiting funnel is that all phases can be analyzed in detail and thus improved for the future if necessary. You can reflect on the process and possibly even request evaluations of the candidates. The process can therefore be continually optimized and not only pays off in terms of new, qualified employees, but also promotes the knowledge of your existing employees. All phases require different skills, which usually have to be learned first. In order to be successful with a recruiting funnel right from the start and to receive valuable tips, it can also be worthwhile to get help from a suitable service provider, such as an advertising agency.

recruiting funnel – Efficient employee recruitment