This is a guest post from Aria Dillinger. Aria graduated with a degree in psychology and has worked as a recruiter for a contact center in the Philippines for four years. She is constantly looking for ways to streamline processes and access larger talent pools, and enjoys writing about her experiences in her spare time.

Company recruitment strategies tend to look for a mix of talent and technical skills. However, preferences for talent and skill differ depending on a company’s current environment, as well as its needs and existing employees.

Skilled individuals can easily step into a certain role, as determined during the recruitment process’ assessments. On the other hand, talented individuals show the potential to learn skills through their behavior and attitude. In the long run, they will be able to adapt to other roles.

The diversity of employing these two kinds of people often results in the best-run organizations. But how can companies amplify their own image to better attract this talent?

HR practitioners and organizations can use technology to streamline recruitment procedures. A lot of work is now done online, and this begins as early as the job hunting process for applicants.

In this regard, companies have to work on building their online presence to make themselves available to the wealth of talent on the lookout for positions to fill.

A bold employer brand, according to Recruitday’s founder Joel Garcia, must be the focus of companies wanting to entice the best candidates. Companies must impress these aspirants before the latter can do the same for them.

How to impress and recruit candidates online

1) Know your demographic and the spaces they frequent

While physical visits to career fairs still occur, much of the research on companies and jobs are now done online. There are many analytics tools companies can use to learn what digital spaces or websites potential applicants frequent when job hunting.

IT company Riverbed has strengthened its presence through ads––both online and offline. These include company events open to the public, such as hackathons and programming and coding competitions. Aside from boosting their brand, they created spaces for networking among prospective hires.

2) Maximize social media

Using new digital media like Instagram takeovers or Facebook live videos have become non-negotiable tools for companies in Asia.

A growing number of businesses have also begun seeing the value of platforms like LinkedIn when it comes to hiring people since a lot of fresh talent has migrated to the region. It’s an easy way for companies to immediately scope out the backgrounds of their potential candidates.

Ayima Asia’s MD Dean Chew explains that operating in Hong Kong has allowed them to “work with some of the most amazing talent in the world, from burgeoning entrepreneurs running startups to established fintech experts.”

They have delivered successful campaigns for other Asian markets of companies big and small on local leading platforms such as Google, Baidu, Facebook, and WeChat. These digital marketing campaigns are effective in that they promote a more transparent recruitment process.

3) Simplify the process

Technology should be optimized to simplify the typically arduous application process. Online applications should have options to upload resumes or sync LinkedIn profiles so as not to turn candidates off or lose their attention from the tediousness that comes with applying.

Having all information uploaded and stored in a single space that can be passed down–should the application pass the initial stages–will be more efficient for all parties.

4) Build your website’s user experience

The user experience online is of prime importance to the modern job seeker. Information on a company has been made so much more accessible online. It’s likely that one of the first things an applicant will check upon seeing a job posting is the company’s website. It should be simple enough to navigate and draw people to careers pages.

Candidates appreciate knowing the company’s culture through employee testimonials, whether through videos or easy-to-digest statements placed on the site. The PeopleFluent Edge has said that turning current employees into brand ambassadors boosts both credibility and appeal as candidates can envision themselves in the company as well.

About the Author: Jocelyn Pick