From job boards to college fairs, recruiting has lost its edge. According to Harvard Business Review, 66% of CEOs are concerned about finding the right talent for their organization; however, recruiters are leading the search with tactics born when jobs were few and candidates were plentiful. Gimmicky perks aside; recruiting high quality talent requires a new, yet simpler approach.

Top notch recruiting in today’s job market is one of the most difficult and time consuming positions a person can have. Ask anyone in the industry and you’ll quickly learn that burnout and stress for recruiters is just as high as industry “leaders”, first responders, medical workers and education professionals. Much of the burnout comes from recruiting's labor intensive nature and need for quick turnaround times. It’s time to help recruiters accomplish what they do best and in a way that alleviates all unnecessarily (read, stressful) steps from the recruiting process.

The following 4 steps will allow recruiting professionals to find higher quality candidates in less time, with less hassle, and with more enjoyment for candidates and recruiters.

1.  It’s not all about sourcing channels

Finding the right candidate is a lot easier when they come to you. Creating a strong, meaningful employer brand is the #1 best method for attracting high quality candidates. Learn from your current employees and candidates what attracted them to apply to your company and highlight these features every opportunity you get. Candidates will appreciate attractive offers that are differentiated from competing firms.

2.  Create job descriptions that actually attract and excite candidates

It’s not a secret that template-ready, one-off job descriptions no longer work to attract the best and brightest in today’s job market. A simple search on any job board shows a lack of creativity and uniqueness across jobs, companies, and industries. When job boards are often the 1st impression high quality candidates have of your company you need to capture their attention and leave them begging for consideration. Spice up your job descriptions and provide potential candidates a glimpse into the meaningful work, fun work environment, and awesome developmental opportunities your company will provide.

3.  Expand your recruiting staff for [almost] free

When high quality candidates are still not lining up outside your door, send out the best recruiting team possible, your current employees. Current employees are constantly talking about their job and company with friends, family, and other industry professionals so promote your employees to deputy recruiters and reward them with finder’s fees ($300-$500 for successful hires is a lot cheaper than hiring additional recruiters or having to staff a booth at the local college fair).

4.  Make the recruitment process fun for everyone

Companies spend an average of 40 hours per employee hired during the recruitment process trying to find out if applicants are high quality. Why not find out right from the beginning and energize applicants at the same time? Create a tailored screening tool that gets to the heart of a job’s primary requirements. For example, if you’re hiring for programmers create a “hacking” test with a fun and challenging real-world problem and let candidates strut their stuff. Weed out the “good on paper” applicants right from the beginning, and leave labor intensive phone and in-person interviews for later. With a little bit of creativity, you can design a test for any job that mirrors actual work performance, and the best part is candidates will enjoy taking it!

With a few simple tweaks your recruiting process will gain efficiency and attract high quality candidates resulting in not only a better, strong applicant pool, but also happier and less stressed recruiters.