How To Think Outside The Box With Recruitment Advertising

​We’ve all been in recruitment for quite a long time here at JobHoller and we remember when recruiting the very best was a lot easier than it is now. Gone are the days when you can simply place an advert online and get over 100 applications, with over 30% being from very strong candidates. It was more a case that creating a shortlist of less than 10 was a challenge. Those days are no longer and recruiters, both agency and in-house are either having to embrace different methods of recruiting and attraction, or are left with open vacancies that keep appearing on the job boards with little or no success.
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When it comes to hiring your next superstar, you have 2 choices, you instruct a recruitment agency who are experts in their field to find the very best people, or you utilise your in-house resources to recruit directly. But which is best?

Whilst there is still a place for a specialist recruiter, particularly within the IT sector, you need to make sure that you are partnering with a company that don’t simply advertise on the job boards and do a blanket mailshot to their database – that’s 1990’s recruitment! If you do partner with an agency, make sure that you really delve into their attraction methods and find out why they will be able to attract the people that you can’t.  Give our sister company Searchability a call and see that they are doing that’s enabled them to win multiple awards for their unique approach.

But what if you don’t want to pay another agency fee and you want to be able to hire directly? This is still perfectly possible! Here we give you some hints and tips you need to help you think outside the box with your Recruitment Advertising.

The market has changed, in fact the world has changed, and people look for work differently now than ever before. It’s not just about the job description and salary anymore and maybe this has a lot to do with the fact that standard recruitment advertising methods are no longer being as effective as they used to be. Millennials in particular need to know a lot more about a company before they either apply for a role or approach a company for work and you just can’t do that with as simple advert – there needs to be a lot more thought.

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Give your recruitment advertising meaning and purpose​

If you’re a social media user, you may have noticed the increase in the use of more conscientious hashtags like #purpose. There was an article about it this week in The Sunday Times which cited that 93% of students want a career where they can “make a difference”. So, what does that mean for businesses looking to increase their headcount? If you are not a charity and your “giving something back” isn’t obvious for someone outside of your company to see, then you need to start getting this message out onto social media.

It’s more important than ever to review your core values and communicate them to both current and potential employees and also current and potential clients too. It’s been proven that having a true purpose as a business, other than simply chasing a profit, gives you the competitive edge for both hiring and business development. It also helps increase employee retention, as a company with a shared mission and values will be more motivating to work for as people like to feel part of something that is making a difference.

How to communicate your purpose when it comes to recruitment advertising

Advertising, no matter what for, is all about getting the right message to the right people at the right time and this has never been more relevant in recruiting as it is today. Where do people spend most time online? Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter… that’s where everyone is and this is where you need to be too. It’s all about marketing yourself as an employer of choice, it’s your USP and will help ensure that your applications are relevant.

Here’s a quick list of 5 tips for increasing the effectiveness of your recruitment advertising

1. There’s still a place for job board advertising, but this is just the start of the candidate journey and it’s unlikely that you will get applications from the best applicants immediately. Like most things in life now, they will want to do some online research before deciding to apply.

2. Create yourself a social media plan for communicating your employer brand, with a focus on your values and purpose. Read our blog on How to Use Facebook to Recruit for more hints and tips for using social media as part of your recruitment advertising strategy.

3. Create and distribute relevant content across multiple channels. This needs a lot of thought before simply launching in and you need to make sure that you have a delineated strategy so that it doesn’t simply waste time and money.

4. Use social media not only to promote your brand, but also to manage your reputation. Social media relations is all about ensuring that you are on top of what is being said about you online. Nothing is more focused on this than Glassdoor. You really do need to be very close to this as one bad review that’s been ignored by management can make all the difference.  Read our blog Unlocking the Power of Glassdoor for more on this.
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5. Use video in your content plan. It doesn’t have to be a professionally directed video, although there is certainly a place for these. It can be a simple, short video or slideshow of stills that promote either an open vacancy, a key value or a recent social story. The level of engagement for video is much higher than a standard text and image post.