If you’re a recruiter, you know that the key to an excellent employee culture, productive workers, and reduced turnover is hiring well from the start. But you may not always see applicants who are perfectly suited for your company’s openings, which makes it difficult to nail that top, long-lasting topic your job posting deserves.
If you want a job to land in front of the right people, you have to promote it in an effective way. So you can’t stop at posting your job listing on Craigslist and hoping for the best. If you want to see better applicants, here are some job promotion tips to try.
1. Send an in-house memo first
Sometimes your best applicants may be people who have been with the company for years. Before you promote a job posting publicly, don’t neglect to send a memo throughout the firm. If your search turns up empty, then you can promote the job through other, external means.
2. Take a leaf from top digital marketing campaigns
Promoting your blog posts and marketing for your company digitally aren’t that different. It can’t hurt to take a look at some of the top digital marketing campaigns to see how they’re getting their content in front of the right people.
For example, Uber has built a multi-billion- dollar company over the last eight years through its use of word-of-mouth marketing — one of the most effective ways to market services to both drivers and riders. You can use the same tactic to promote your job openings.
3. Be more social
LinkedIn is a primary resource for companies who seek top talent. You can pay to post to its premium job boards, or simply post a link on your profile for free. Your followers will see it, and you’re likely to attract talent with experience in your field. You can also use Facebook. Though you don’t want to share aimlessly, you can post your opening in a job board group.
Often, there are groups specific to a certain area and field of expertise. Posting your opening in such a group will get it in front of the right people.
4. Post to niche-specific sites
It’s great to post to Craigslist, Monster, Indeed, and other employment sites for your area, but if you’re seeking top talent in a particular niche, you should post to a niche-specific site. For example, Problogger.net includes a job-posting board that’s dedicated to editing, writing, and content creation jobs.
Professionals experienced in these fields know Problogger is a great source for jobs in the industry, which pretty much guarantees you’ll get more niche-specific applicants.
5. Use print sources
Though the days of scouring newspaper classifieds for a good position are all but gone, some applicants still turn to this medium. Newspaper classifieds are especially useful if you think you’d prefer an older worker who has more experience.
Flyers, posters, and targeted mail also work for attracting attention. Just make sure you post these print ads where your highly qualified candidates are likely to spend their time.
6. Try video
There’s no rule of recruiting that says you have to use text only to promote a job. More and more recruiters are achieving success with multi-media, especially videos. Often, videos can make the parameters of your job listing more clear. You can talk about your firm, provide some insight into your company culture, state your expectations for the position, and describe the kind of people who perhaps should not apply for the job.
This not only clarifies the requirements, but makes your company stand out from the crowd when you’re trying to attract the most qualified people.
7. Market to educational institutions
Though some jobs require a few years of experience in a field, others are perfect for recent graduates. When you hire new grads, you can train them according to your way of doing things. You don’t have to break them of habits developed at other workplaces, and they can grow into highly useful employees within your business.
8. Hire employment agencies
Employment agencies are designed to link the best candidates to the best job openings. They screen for employee experience and send you only the most qualified candidates. It’s not a perfect system, and you often have to pay for the services, but an agency can bring you closer to the mark than if you try to handle all the recruiting yourself.
About the author: Larry Alton is an independent business consultant specializing in social media trends, business, and entrepreneurship. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.
