HELP! Why can’t I fill my equine job vacancy?!

Sometimes your recruitment drive gets stuck in a rut and needs a shove in the right direction to get things moving and pick up the momentum needed to fill an equine job vacancy. This is where The Grooms List by Caroline Carter Recruitment can help. The Grooms List is the No.1 equestrian recruitment agency, and little wonder with over 20 years experience in FILLING EQUINE JOBS at your disposal when you subscribe to one of our recruitment packages; either our DIY website package or our bespoke equine recruitment services.

This article is written specifically for employers using a DIY website recruiting route who, sometimes, can find themselves at an impasse finding suitable candidates and receiving applicants from appropriate job seekers.

 

Where has it all gone wrong?

 

Are you making assumptions on candidates’ behalf?

A big mistake recruiting employers make when filling an equine job vacancy is to assume certain things about job seekers without finding out facts.

The number one example of this is a candidate’s start date – the “earliest start date” is exactly that – their earliest start date, not their only start date! A considerable number of employers miss out on their ideal employee because they have noted the candidate’s start date is 6 weeks past, assume they must have a job now and disregard them (sometimes even when the candidate has just applied for their job!) Never, ever do this! If a candidate is visible on The Grooms List, contact them! Even if their start date is 6 months past!

As stated in point 2, a good number of job seekers will already be in work and maybe casually keeping an eye out for a new opportunity to move onto or step up to. If you think the opportunity they’re looking for could be your job vacancy, ignore their start date, find out for sure by contacting them and drawing their attention to your job vacancy.

Sounds counter-intuitive but… don’t be too discerning when reviewing Jobseekers Profiles – In our experience, a lot of job seekers don’t help themselves when completing their profile or writing a CV. Don’t miss out, make time to engage with job seekers and find out the facts before disregarding them or rejecting their application. More often than not it will pay off! If a candidate’s profile mostly matches your requirements it’s worthwhile engaging with the candidate regarding your vacancy (and especially if they’ve applied for your job!). There have been numerous occasions where the appointed candidate’s Jobseekers Profile doesn’t align with the requirements of the job they end up happily taking, and often staying a long time in!

 

 

Simple solutions!

Make use of an equine recruitment agency like The Grooms List

Social media may appear to present a wealth of opportunity to recruiting employers but, in reality, this can be an absolute minefield, fraught with problems and pitfalls. Also, unless you are a social media whizz who can deftly target your social media posts at a relevant audience, advertising on social media can waste a fair bit of your recruiting time. The Grooms List by Caroline Carter Recruitment has the largest social media coverage of any equestrian recruitment agency (August 2019) with a following of well over 60,000 potential candidates, which is extended at least threefold if you choose to feature your job vacancy on The Grooms List. Furthermore, you have direct access to:

• A database of current equine job seekers, not just avid horse lovers browsing posts in their leisure time.
• The facilities to construct an effective job vacancy advert that is targeted directly to current equine job seekers.
• The benefit of social media channels that are 100% targeted
• Knowledgeable, professional equine recruiters who know things you may not even think of to help you find your perfect candidate! The Grooms List by Caroline Carter Recruitment has the most knowledgeable, experienced recruiters in the equine industry today and are available to you, along with a modern, user-friendly equine recruitment website from just £60 including VAT.

Read more on why you should use an equine recruitment agency here.

 

Don’t advertise everywhere!

By placing your job with every equine recruitment company, despite how it might feel, you really aren’t covering all your bases – it can give potential candidates the impression that you are struggling to fill your vacancy or that you have a high turnover of staff (we know, they tell us this!), whilst simultaneously wasting your time and money.

By subscribing to The Grooms List you are accessing the largest audience of genuine, current job seekers in the UK via our database and social media platforms. We value your custom and are all about repeat custom in the future so, uniquely, we work hard for your subscription. See our testimonials here.

 

Make sure you’re using the facilities available to you…

 

Don’t let things drift

You’d be surprised at the number of busy employers who take out a subscription on a recruitment website, turn around three times and find that their subscription has expired! Buy a subscription when you are ready to recruit in earnest, then ensure you log into The Grooms List website regularly.

• Add a job vacancy advert as soon as possible! We advertise all jobs on our social media channels, so it’s imperative that you add a job vacancy advert so we, our job seekers and everyone on social media know to apply to you/contact you about your job vacancy! We check all job vacancy adverts before they are published. This protects you from inadvertently stumbling into difficult territory with anti-discrimination laws and employment laws (such as legal salary packages or providing accommodation for an employee or their horse). Read more on writing an effective job vacancy advert here.
• Feature your job vacancy to broaden your audience to well over 60,000 (August 2019) potential candidates
• Regularly check your applications
• Regularly check your Private Messages
• Regularly search the latest candidates who have joined The Grooms List since your last visit
• The Grooms List website works on any device so you can keep up with your recruitment drive from anywhere that you have an internet connection.

 

Reply to ALL applications

Even the unsuitable ones – no one likes to be left hanging!

• Let good candidates know that you’d like speak to them by approving their application on The Grooms List. Yours won’t be the only job they’ll have applied for, and you could easily miss out if another employer has engaged with them before you do.
• Let unsuccessful applicants know that your job is not for them – this time. They’ve taken the time to read your job vacancy advert and apply to you – it’s only fair that you let them know that they need to keep looking. Do bear in mind that an applicant who is too inexperienced for your yard now could be your perfect employee a year or more down the line, so it’s worthwhile politely letting the candidate know that on this occasion their application has not been successful, rather than simply let them slowly draw the conclusion that you’re not interested to speak to them as time passes and you don’t reply to their application.
• We appreciate that it can be difficult to know what to say, especially when rejecting a candidate’s application, therefore we have created editable preset replies for you to use to quickly go through your applicants letting candidates know if their application has been successful or not. Remember, either way it is in your interest to respond to your applicants.

Review and accept/reject your applications here. See our How-To video on accepting and rejecting applications here.

 

Get professional advice

Through The Grooms List, a wealth of valuable equine recruitment knowledge and experience is only a phone call, email or social media message away – make use of that!

• Make use of the Employers Zone on The Grooms List. From there, you can access everything you need to navigate The Grooms List website, read advice and information about each stage of the recruitment process, and watch How-To videos to help you get the best out of The Grooms List website. Visit the Employers Zone here.
• The Grooms List has an ever-growing catalogue of articles offering recruiting employers information and advice on the recruiting process – have a browse through them here and benefit from key advice on finding, employing and retaining your Super Grooms!
• Contact us if you would like to have a chat about your vacancy and requirements, or you would like any tips on getting the best out of your subscription to The Grooms List website.

 

But it’s all so time-consuming!

Key facilities on The Grooms List

Find everything you need in one place on the Employers Zone here.

Advertise your job vacancy here.

Edit your job vacancy here.

Feature your Job Vacancy here.

Manage your applications here.

Search candidates on The Grooms List here.

Your Private Messages here.

Manage your subscription here.