Recruiting Strategy
Are creative job postings the key to sourcing top candidates?
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Creative job postings help your organisation to reach candidates. Your recruiting team can implement these easily when hiring, by keeping a few things in mind.
Job descriptions very often don't get the love and care they deserve in the recruiting process. They might be the first impression candidates get about your company, so you better make it good. With the wealth of online and social media platforms available to us, your only limit is your imagination and anything that sets you apart from the competition is a bonus. Here are a few tips and examples of creative ways of advertising jobs.
If you're looking for smart, creative industry experts, setting a little challenge can trigger the competitive streak in them and act as a call to action. A little bit of interactivity is a fun way of engaging the innovative or creative candidate.
When it is as difficult as it is to find candidates with specific skill sets, making an impact can set you apart from the rest
Setting a task can be a preliminary filter or a way of assessing general skills. Getting a candidate for a copywriting role to pick out five errors in a passage, or setting a mathematical problem for an engineering candidate can be a quick way of sifting out unsuitable candidates early on.
This graphic designer job advertisement hits the nail on the head here. If poor spelling and grammar rubs you up the wrong way, you won't be able to resist responding to this one.
Using industry terminology or inside jokes to communicate to candidates is another effective technique when posting jobs. Use your industry knowledge to speak to those on the same wavelength as yourself. When it is as difficult as it is to find candidates with specific skill sets, making an impact can set you apart from the rest. This is also a great way of making a good culture fit too – it's always nice to find someone who gets your jokes.
Microsoft UK used this to impressive effect in a recent campaign seeking software developers, who cut the problem solving mustard. Why not take a stab at it yourself?
Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat are not only fantastic ways of reaching the millennial workforce, they're a great way of creating a striking visual impact, with very little effort. Don’t just stop at a quick “WE’RE HIRING” post, though. Video, whether a longer format via YouTube, or something quick on Snapchat or Instagram, is an effective way of showcasing company culture or your team.
Lego get full marks for cuteness with these visual job advertisements from their careers Twitter account.
Choose your platform: this is basically carefully targeted advertising, but targeting based on stats doesn't have to be boring. Where you advertise is key to finding the right kind of candidates. Choosing your most significant source of traffic will get you the greatest reach and greatest talent pool.
Lyft took the whole “traffic” thing pretty literally and got very crafty with this billboard campaign. What better way to find drivers, than placing billboards on one of San Francisco’s busiest highways? 10/10 for creativity, Lyft.
Your job posting, no matter what media you use, should be compelling and difficult to say no to.
Here's a bit of inspiration from Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 ad, recruiting men for his expedition to the Antarctic.
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