Tantalising the Cream of the Crop.

The Irish economy has no doubt improved in the last 12 months and our clients particularly in the IT, engineering and medical devices industries are finding they are winning quality business but they cannot scale fast enough because of a shortage of quality candidates applying for vacant positions and the exorbitant cost of recruitment agencies.

So how does an organisation promote itself to recruit the best talent in the most cost effective way?

awareness

Building Brand Awareness

Many companies don’t recognise the importance of PR until a candidate informs them that they have read about the organisation and are aware of them from various news stories. Organisations can sometimes be too focused on building brand awareness amongst their customers that they ignore building brand recognition and recall in their sector amongst other stakeholders. Positive PR can be generated in the community in a variety of different ways.

Awards

  • Winning awards for work in your particular field is an important consideration for a candidate. Every job hunter wants to work for a company that is at the top of their game in their sector. Winning an award or getting shortlisted is a vindication of a benchmark against similar organisations.

Big Contracts

  • If you have won a significant contract chances are that you need to recruit new personnel. A PR plan should be devised to capitalise on this within industry and local press not only does it bring brand awareness to the local community but a sense of pride amongst staff for their accomplishment.

Expansion and Job Plans

  • In the recession any job announcement was treated as a good news story especially in local press. Even if there is a planned expansion of 20+ jobs over a 2 year period, if suitable candidates are aware of this they are more likely to apply directly through the organisation’s website. Candidates reading that they would not just be replacing someone but that it is a new role in a growing organisation adds extra credibility to the recruitment drive.

New Product Launch

  • A new product launch or any investment in R&D is a positive signal for a candidate, that this organisation is developing something new and unique. It gives reassurance that the organisation is investing in the future and therefore better job security.

All of the above PR exercises benefit from building positive brand knowledge and a strong digital footprint on the internet.

web

2. Website

It may seem obvious but your website will provide vital information and a positive impression of the organisation to potential prospects on the culture, scale, industry and organisational structure of the business that can entice quality candidates to apply for your vacant positions

Careers Section

  • A well designed careers section is crucial, one that lists all the positions with individual pages for detailed structured job specs. Like a dating website job specs should be about selling the best aspects of the organisation while communicating the role the successful candidate will play within the success of the organisation. If there are individual pages of job specs it will allow the web page to be found for very specific job titles and areas of specialisation in search and hence allowing people to apply directly. By having good job content on your website you are in a good position to be found for a plethora of job related search queries. Here are the volumes of some general searches:
Search Query Avg. Monthly Searches
accountancy jobs 590
engineering jobs 390
biomedical science jobs 210

Team Section

  • Culture within an organisation is very important to job satisfaction. One way of showcasing the culture within the organisation and the esteem of the personnel is with profiles of key management on a team page. Candidates want to know if the leaders are people they can aspire to be, if they could be good mentors and do these people have a good vision for the future of the organisation and for the sector that they operate in.  Check out the IMS Marketing team page https://www.imsmarketing.ie/why-ims/our-team/ as an example of a team module.

Graduate Programme

  • In a struggle to entice top experienced talent it is important to keep the the conveyor belt of talent running with new talent being introduced consistently that can be nurtured. Designing a graduate or entry level programme into the organisation is a very good way to attract raw talent entering the workforce for the first time. it also allows for collaborations with universities, colleges, Solas and other state agencies. A custom designed landing page is an excellent way to recruit raw talent by showcasing a journey and a commitment by the organisation to the entry level positions development.

linked-in

3. LinkedIn

There are over 380 million users of LinkedIn (LinkedIn July 2015). LinkedIn is used by 24% of Irish people (IPOS MRBI Poll 2014).  Posting a job on LinkedIn costs start from €139.95 for 30 days for the very basic package. However just posting a post announcing your job vacancy on your LinkedIn company page is free and can be sponsored as a newsfeed post which can sometimes work out much more effective. Building a quality LinkedIn page following is crucial in leveraging your following to promote job vacancies as they arise. This is a long term strategy, but benefits the brand perceptions of not just candidates but also potential customers as well. The number of followers on LinkedIn even for a small organisation is an indicator of the esteem an organisation is held.

These are just a few ways of building brand awareness and driving responses among potential employees, but overall the key message is that marketing is not just about building brand knowledge amongst your potential customers it is about building your brand footprint online and offline that will allow you to attract the best talent to aspire to work for your organisation

For more advice on your overall recruitment marketing ring Aoife on 091 739450 or email [email protected]

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