The job market is on fire, and candidates are low. It’s summertime, so if you’re in construction or agriculture, a departing employee leaves a massive hole on your team. You’ve got jobs to complete, milestones to hit and now, a qualified person to hire – STAT. But with the most qualified candidates already working on full tilt, and not even looking to move, how in the heck are you going to get enough good applicants to fill your role?

We’ve got some ideas on that. You have the power to make the process better for you and better for the candidate. Here are some tips on how to ramp up the number of qualified applicants coming in.

1. Recruit for Passive Candidates

Passive candidates are people who are great fits for a role, but who aren’t actively looking for a job. They might be contentedly employed, not serious about looking or unaware their talents are in demand. It seems counter-intuitive to recruit people who aren’t working or moving themselves forward, but passive candidates can create big returns: SHRM says they are the top reason to use social media for recruitment.

Read More: How to Recruit for Passive Candidates

2. Set Up An Employee Referral Program

According to a LinkedIn Talent Solution report, employee referral programs are the No. 1 way people find out about new jobs, and even more incredible: effective employee referral programs can expand the talent pool by 10 times! Don’t let this important recruitment funnel go to waste. Here are some important best practices:

  • Find out how employees are feeling about your business; make sure your culture, pay and benefits are good enough to attract and retain people
  • Get input from employees about what they want in a program
  • Make sure employees are aware of the program, how it works and what their incentives to participate are
  • Encourage employees to share job openings on social media
  • When employees make a referral, keep them in the loop regarding where in the process the potential candidate is

Free checklist: How to Launch an Employee Referral Program

3. Create (or Boast About) Great Company Culture

Not sure where your business lands on the company culture scale? Take our quiz.

If no one wants to apply to your jobs, your business might have a bad reputation. Whether that’s word-of-mouth on the local level or low ratings on Glassdoor or Indeed, a lack of positivity can make a major impact on your quantity and quality of applicants. Here are some steps to take to fight the “bad culture” stigma:

  • Give Your Website a Onceover: Make sure your company values and your commitment to them are easy to find (it should go without saying that your company values not only be positive but also a central piece of your business strategy).
  • Manage Your Digital Footprint: If negative reviews are plaguing you on sites like Glassdoor, you need to step up and address them. It’s better to respond gracefully to bad reviews than to leave them there unanswered. That kind of silence speaks for itself, and you have the power to impact the conversation.
  • Humble Brag: Company awards, great benefits and flexibility are all appealing to prospective candidates.

4. Have a Quick and Simple Application Process

Mobile job searching is the norm for most Americans. With nearly 100% of young people having smartphones, it makes sense that mobile-friendly job postings and applications have skyrocketed in the past couple of years. The skilled labor professions in particular need to make their applications easy to navigate. An Indeed study shows the percentage of job searches originating from a mobile device is highly impacted by field:

  • 80%: building and ground cleaning and maintenance
  • 79%: construction and extraction
  • 57%: business and financial

People who are more likely to be on-the-go while on the job are more likely to use and need mobile tech. From your job posting to your applicant tracking system, getting mobile-friendly lowers the hurdles and encourages more applications.

5. Post to the Right Places

The cardinal rule of recruiting: Post your jobs where the candidates are.

That’s usually not just one place. With a robust ATS, you can use a one-click distribution to hundreds of board and social media channels. And don’t forget, niche industries often have their own job boards; in the skilled services industry, some popular ones are:

The hunt for great talent has never been more competitive. Make sure your recruiting efforts pay off by using customized HR software to attract and retain your carefully collected workforce. Arcoro Applicant Tracking System makes it easy to post to 100s of relevant job boards.

6. Develop a Thorough Job Description

Job descriptions matter more than ever, now that algorithms and search engines help candidates find relevant job postings. According to HR Dive, 72 percent of hiring managers think they provide clear job descriptions, but only 36 percent of candidates agree. That’s a lot of room for improvement.

To learn how to attract the most qualified candidates read Top 5 Tips to Improve Your Recruiting Strategy.

Read the Guide