The most successful recruitment campaigns rely on you as the employer being able to choose from a great list of quality talent, who are suited to the role you are hiring for – and ultimately are a great fit for your team.
In order to achieve this high quality shortlist of applicants to choose from, it’s imperative that your advertising process – the way in which you attract potential applicants to apply for the role you are advertising – is targeted, aligned to your requirements and engaging to your ideal audience.
So how do you attract your ideal candidate?
Step 1: Know your target market and understand where they are ‘hanging out’ and looking for work.
Do you know who your target market is and where to find them? It’s important to understand this so you don’t waste precious advertising dollars in the wrong media, at the wrong time and in the wrong location. Think about:
- Who is your target market and what else do they do with their time?
- Aside from traditional online job boards, where else might they be looking for work? What publications do they read or subscribe to? Are they on social media and if so which platform? Are they at cafes, restaurants, playgrounds, university or the gym?
Step 2: Talk in their language.
If the wording of your advertising campaign sounds boring, dated or bland, you are not going to attract a cutting edge artistic type. Similarly, if you are using lingo or jargon which appeals to a younger audience, you are less likely to attract a professional or academic.
Step 3: Make it engaging and real.
There is absolutely no point putting a message out there that does not reflect your organisation and the type of culture the applicant would be joining. Whilst it may look impressive, it ultimately means you’ll be attracting the wrong people, resulting in disappointment for all parties. Applicants appreciate honesty, just as you do from them, so keep it real.
Step 4: Provide enough information.
Making your advertisement clear, easy to read and informative will ensure that not only do you have the great candidates interested in applying, but it also helps to ‘weed out’ those who are not suitable and don’t have the skills and experience you are looking for.
Whilst you don’t want it to be too lengthy, because you’ll lose their attention, it’s important to cover the key aspects and expectations of the role and the organisation.
Step 5: What’s in it for them?
Think about what’s in it for your target market and why they would want to join your team. Is there a challenge, autonomy, great location, state of the art offices, cutting edge technology? Whatever it is that will attract your target market, engage them in the vision and sell it to them!
Step 6: Call to action.
Make sure you tell them how to apply and what you expect from the application. Make it clear, concise and easy to follow. This then starts to form part of your selection process – if you have a clearly defined application procedure, you can begin to assess how well your applicant follow instruction and comply to your requirements.
