To catch a good employee, catch his eye
As we all know, recruiting in a recession can be a challenge. Business owners will have to do more with less and still be able to compete to recruit talent from a more intricate labor pool. There is an overwhelming number of unemployed people applying for work, which can make it difficult to find a qualified candidate among the stack of resumes your HR department receives. Adding to this challenge is a statistic quoted in recent news articles saying 60% of the unemployed in Maine are computer illiterate.
Even though the unemployment rate for Maine was recently reported at 8.3%, you can’t assume the talent you’re looking for is strictly unemployed. It is ever so important to access the “passive job seeker,” too, in your recruiting efforts — someone who may be thinking of a career change.
So here’s the situation: There’s an overwhelming pool of candidates, a high unemployment rate and a large percentage of those unemployed who lack the computer skills to even apply. How do you target your talent search and advertising in order to find the right, qualified candidates? You need to be everywhere to reach everyone. Now more than ever, job seekers vary in age, experience and income. They will rely on every outlet they know of — print, the Internet, job fairs, networking, etc. — to provide insight about companies and current employment opportunities. This means you must tap into multiple resources yourself to attract top talent, otherwise you run the risk of losing them to your competitors. Here is some advice regarding classified advertising:
Online classified ads
- Take advantage of the ability to post a lengthy job description and focus more on job duties and qualifications.
- How up to date is your company profile? Make sure it is current and provides insight into working for your company.
- Use specific criteria for a candidate and don’t be afraid to include a disclaimer that says, “Please do not apply if you do not meet these criteria.”
- Take advantage of all the online features your posting offers: Encourage people to apply online; have them answer questions to pre-qualify as candidates; read e-mail alerts from search agents.
- Think like a job seeker. How will they find you? Complete your job posting with a zip code for radius searches, proper industry or category and accurate keywords in your description and/or title.
- Don’t just refresh your job to move it to the top of search results. If you’re not getting qualified responses to your post, analyze your job requirements. You may find a simple adjustment in educational requirements goes a long way.
Print classified ads
- Your logo is your company’s most powerful image. Make it clear, crisp and large enough to be recognized by potential candidates.
- Make your job title big and bold. Potential candidates need to be able to immediately recognize the position you need to fill.
- Keep it simple. Add breathing room around the type and graphics so your ad will be more inviting to potential candidates.
- Avoid disappointment and confusion. Spell out job responsibilities and be clear about job requirements.
- Benefits are important to people in today’s economy. Highlight what’s offered.
- Provide as many ways as possible for candidates to apply — mail, fax, e-mail, website, etc. Convenience is key.
While this process of advertising in multiple media for job candidates may be challenging in today’s employers’ market, it can be advantageous. You want to ensure you get the best candidate for the job so you don’t have to fill that position again in the near future.
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