The war for talent is brutal. And if you aren’t willing to put your competitors on the ropes, you better believe they are willing to do it to you, especially when A-level talent is a competitive differentiator.

Your business is only as good as the talent you hire, so be resourceful and be willing to get your hands dirty. Here are some innovative tactics to attract great talent:

- Competitor layoffs: watch for layoffs and downsizing trends from your competitors, and be ready to capitalize on them. You should be sourcing and hiring the great talent they’ve discarded.

- Hosting webinars: Most A-level talent is ‘plugged into’ current trends and thought-leadership within their industry and profession. You can swipe A-level talent from other companies by hosting webinars and building relationships with participants. Once they register for the webinar and indicate they are open to receiving further information from you, you may just have a list of potential candidates. Need an easy and inexpensive way to host your webinar? Check out GoToMeeting, SlideShare, WebEx or BrightTALK.

- Online referral programs: Online referral programs are a new twist on an old recruitment strategy. Websites like Zubka and HooJano allow you to plug into talent that has been referred and recommended by other working professionals. The sites allow your company to post positions and run referral programs for them. If you hire someone who’s been referred through the program, the person who made the referral receives a payment. Company referral programs continue to be another top source of quality hires. Have you re-energized your company’s employee referral program lately?

- Make your marketing mobile: With increasing sophistication and ubiquity, mobile web devices and smartphones make it easy for candidates to check your website for job information and company news. So, consider developing a free mobile application that makes it even easier for candidates to access information about you, and for you to market your employer brand.

Regardless of the employment tactics you decide to use, remember that the war for talent requires adaptability, determination and a fair amount of guile. To beat your competitors to top-notch talent, you have to outwit them, out-recruit them and out-tech them. If you do that, you’ll have a better chance of winning both the battle and the war.

This post is an excerpt of Plugging Into Talent Will Fry Your Mind, a white paper on new recruitment strategies.