Recruiting is Marketing

If you ever find yourself thinking it’s hard to find good candidates for an open position, it’s time to look at your recruiting processes.

The truth is, most recruitment ads are not designed to attract the best candidates. They are too often designed to blend in with all the other opportunities out there.

Take a moment and look back at the last time you advertised an open position. Did your ad stand out from the competition? Would it have left your ideal candidate thinking they must know more about the opportunity?

Recruiting is simply marketing.

You have an opportunity (product) that you want to sell to the ideal candidate (leads). To look at recruiting as marketing:

• Know Your Candidates - It’s not enough to know who you want to attract. You must know them well enough to understand what motivates them. Why are they looking for a new opportunity? Why does your position/company attract them?
  
  From a marketing point of view, knowing your candidates helps you understand the selling points of the position and your company. It also helps you understand where they look for positions and where to place ads.
   
• Polish Your Message - Once you know your selling points, create the message that highlights the opportunity in a way that the ideal candidate would notice. Take the time to look at other ads. Do you stand out? Is it clear how your opportunity is a great fit for the ideal candidate?
  
  Just like in marketing, the message has to be from the candidate’s point of view. It must be designed to attract the candidates your business needs and positioned in a way the candidates would find attractive. Be willing to let your position and company stand out from the rest of the jobs out there.
   
• Pick the Right Channels - The best messaging in the world cannot overcome the obstacle of not being seen. In order to work, your recruiting efforts must be seen by the right candidates. If you truly know your candidates you’ll know where they get information, who they are connected to in the community, and where to find them.
  
  Just like in marketing, sometimes you have to step outside the box. Your ideal candidates might not be looking at job boards. That doesn’t mean you can’t find them. It just means you have to get a little creative.

Overall, you’ll find more success if you take a step back from your recruiting process and view it as marketing. Just don’t forget, the moment you get an application or resume, you must stop recruiting and focus on hiring, which is no longer about marketing.

Our Inspired Action Series training, Hiring for Success, is designed to take the pain out of finding the perfect candidate. Hiring for Success consists of three, one-hour training sessions. You’ll be given the framework, along with guided worksheets and tools to implement sourcing, hiring, and starting new employees.