Using Advocates to Fill Job Openings: The Vital Equation to Help You Hire Better
Companies facing extreme talent shortages and struggling to get enough qualified applicants for their openings often resort to throwing serious cash at job boards and recruiters in the hope of finding someone. But in the search for quality applicants, the data is clear: Referrals yield the best results. Partners, present and past employees, vendors, friends, family, and even customers can all be advocates for you—but only if you motivate and make it easy for them. Hiring optimization expert Ryan Kohler walks you through the Hiring Equation behind creating an advocacy and referral program that gets more applicants for less money.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about the importance of implementing a referral process in your company that goes beyond employee referrals.
- See how the Hiring Equation maximizes applicant flow.
- Understand how hiring is really just marketing.
- Learn the must-know strategy for creating the ultimate “job product” that is unique, compelling and credible.
- Learn the method used by HR teams to multiply the number of applicants by 300% to 500% over other methods.
- Learn how to easily set up an advocacy and referral program that's administered by HR and almost effortlessly understood, shared and rewarded by referrers.
Ryan Kohler

Ryan is the Founder and CEO of ApplicantPro, a hiring software company founded in 2006. Ryan and his team have grown the small startup into a leading provider of hiring software for over 7,000 companies around the nation. Ryan's mission is to help companies, managers, and HR teams improve their hiring results. To do this, he and his team strive to create educational content, tools, integrations, and software to help businesses drive their hiring results. In addition, he is an HRCI and SHRM-CP Approved Provider and conducts weekly, free webinars and presents at SHRM events around the country.
Find Sessions by Day
Find Sessions by Speaker
Find Sessions by Topic
- Select Track
- Compensation & Benefits
- Culture
- Employment Law & Regulations
- Global HR
- HR Department of One
- HR Technology and Data Analytics
- Inclusion & Diversity
- Leadership & Personal Growth
- Networking & Special Events
- Org. Effectiveness & Strategic Planning
- People & Talent Management
- Recruitment & Talent Acquisition
- Strategic HR & Organizational Design
- Student Track
- Workplace Strategy
Find Sessions by Credit Type
- Select Credit Type
SHRM PDCs
Find Sessions by Competency
- Select Competency
- Business (Behavioral)
- Business Acumen
- Communication
- Consultation
- Critical Evaluation
- Ethical Practice
- Global & Cultural Effectiveness
- HR Expertise
- HR Technical Expertise
- Interpersonal (Behavioral)
- Leadership & Navigation
- Leadership (Behavioral)
- Organization (Technical)
- People (Technical)
- Relationship Management
- Workplace (Technical)
Find Sessions by Intended Audience
- Select Intended Audience
- All Levels
- Mid-Level