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THIS WEEK
Recruitment - Advertising to Attract Great Applicants
ALSO IN THIS EDITION
| Recruitment - Advertising to Attract Great Applicants |
You have a vacant position, you have worked out what sort of person you need to fill the role in both their skills at attitude and you have written it all down into a position description.
The next step when you are looking for someone to fill the role is to let people know of the position and attract the right person to the role. What you are doing is creating a marketing campaign - marketing your company to potential applicants.
What can you do to let people know you have a vacancy? There are multitudes of ways you can call out to the right candidate – here are just a few of them.
- run an ad online
- newspaper or magazine ad (local state or national)
- put a sign up in your store
- ask your employees
- school career counsellors
- put an ad in your newsletter or marketing material
- email your colleagues
- contact a recruitment agency
- check your applications on file
Online ads
Online ads are a relatively cheap method of recruitment advertising. In Australian seek.com.au and careerone.com.au are the main players and it pays to use both of them as they attract different candidates.
It is a fast form of advertising – you can have your ad up that same day and get applications coming in within hours. The bulk of online applications hit you within 24 hours – that said, try and lodge your ad late on a Thursday or a Friday as most job seekers already employed will look at the vacancies listed over a weekend. If you advertise earlier in the week your ad will appear lower down in the search listings and may be missed.
The other tip is unless you are willing to sponsor someone on a Visa from overseas, make sure you tick the box Australian residents only need apply. If you don't, your inbox will be flooded with overseas candidates which means additional admin as you spend time replying to them all.
All job ad sites have great free articles to help you get the most out of your advertising, so check out the resource sections before you lodge your ad.
 Newspaper ads
Newspaper ads used to be the only way to advertise vacancies. These days they are quite an expensive form of advertising and are a very slow process.
You need to select your paper carefully. If your job is unskilled, then the local papers are fine. If you are looking for a senior role then consider a state-wide paper. For more hard to fill or specialist roles, then look at advertising in a national publication.
Signs up in store
This is a great way to get casual and less experienced local employees. The next time you are in a KFC or McDonalds store have a look at their posters for ideas on how to make the most of this option. A traditional A4 white paper note just doesn't cut it these days – you need to make it attractive to the candidates who will fill the roles for you.
Ask your employees
Asking your employees can be a very effective strategy, particularly if you offer them a "spotter's fee" for any candidate that gets employed and is retained after their probation. By having your employees recommend people to apply you also get more "buy in" from your employees to help settle the person into the team and make sure the person performs to the best of their ability. However, if you get no referrals from team members you may want to consider whether you are providing a great place to work as this is often an indicator of morale issues.
School career counsellors
School counsellors and University counsellors are a great way to attract student casuals as well as people who may be looking for a traineeship in the future. Form some close alliances with your local high schools and universities for a long term mutual partnership.
Your own newsletter or marketing material
If you have a newsletter or regular marketing material, you can advertise in their to your customer base. Aldi does this really well. The back page of every brochure has an ad for employees to work with Aldi.
Email your colleagues
This is a great way to share people around the industry if someone is thinking of moving. If you have an employee who is moving to a new area, take the initiative and ask their permission to contact your colleagues in that area on their behalf. It also works the other way – let your colleagues know you have a vacancy and perhaps they have a suitable employee who wants to work closer to home or take the next step in their career ladder.
Recruitment agency
Recruitment agencies are very expensive but they can highlight hidden applicants. In a candidate poor market it pays to list with an agency or two as well as use your own processes.
Here are some tips for getting the best out of recruitment agents:
- Check the fine print – agency fees vary and rules for payment differ. Make sure you know how much and when it is paid
- Check for a refund clause - if the person doesn't work out in the first month usually you get a free replacement (which is only good if there are a lot of candidates on their books)
- Give them a detailed brief about you and your company – the more they know the better the match. Invite them to visit your premises and meet key people to help give them visual clues about your job.
Check your applicants on file
Good applicants often submit applications "on speck". It pays to check in with all candidates who have contacted you from the past 3 months to see if they are interested in being considered for the role.
Like any other form of marketing you need to use a few different channels to get your message across. Don't limit yourself to just one strategy such as an online ad – consider running a few different options to attract the best possible candidate for your vacancy.
| Copywriting Tip - Recruitment Headlines |
In copywriting we often spend as much time crafting the headline as we do crafting the rest of the copy. Headlines are what grabs people's attention, makes them want to keep reading and leads them into the rest of the copy.
The same is true with recruitment ad headlines. For print media you can be creative with your headline, using all of the tips and strategies from general copywriting including exciting interest, powerful words and open questions.
For online media you need your headline to include keywords that people will search for. Many people look for a particular type of role "Plumbing Sales - Brisbane" and have those terms keyed into an email alert system to notify them of new vacancies.
You need still be creative - but include these keywords in your headline to get maximum potential candidates clicking through to read your ads.
Business of the Week - PCYC
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 The PCYC (Police Citizens Youth Club) is a brilliant organisation that helps all members of the community through sport, fitness and other community activities.
They help at risk youth find an outlet for their energies through taking part in low cost physical activities that build team skills and a sense of community.
Many PCYC centres have low cost gyms (where else can you get a month of gym membership for just $45), yoga and pilates classes, mums and bubs classes as well as a whole range of team sports.
They are hidden gems in each community - stepping in to help during times of crisis. Our local PCYC in Arana Hills became the community emergency centre after the storms - helping the community with emergency relief, hot showers, food and as a hub for government and other assistance organisations.
For these reasons they are one of the groups I personally support. This year I will again be MCing the community Christmas Carols at the PCYC Arana Hills, Olearia St, Arana Hills on the 6th December 6.30pm-8.30pm.
It is a great night with the Band of Blue (a brilliant rock/contemporary band of serving police officers) who really rock the hall, as well many local artists and school music groups. The Carols are held indoors to protect against summer storms, followed by a great fireworks display outside on the nearby oval.
If you are on the northside of Brisbane put the night into your calendar and join us at the PCYC Arana Hills on the 6th December.
 As part of my PCYC MC role, I always bring along a swag of bad Xmas jokes - things like "What carol is heard in the desert? Camel ye faithful". Yes - I know they are bad, but they are funny and kids love them.
What are your favourite bad Xmas jokes?
Professional Profiles - Why it is So Hard to Write About Yourself
exuberantly yours
Ingrid
Heart Harmony
PS: This week's Small Business Tips blog also included posts about
Age has nothing to do with success, Still room for niche businesses at Christmas, Gratitude & Thanks
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