By Pete Denio, General Manager, EmploymentGuide.com, Pittsburgh, PAWhether you are a jobseeker or a recruiter there have never been more choices to make when deciding which tools to use in either finding your dream job or finding a million dollar candidate. According to Weddle’s (a “guide to resources for employment, personal development and career success”) who publishes an annual User’s Choice award for job boards (Top 30 sites), there are over 40,000 recruitment sites on the Internet today! Add in print, broadcast, billboards and even social networks (on and offline) and the choices become dizzying.
With so many choices how can a job seeker most efficiently use his or her time and how can a recruiter most efficiently spend precious recruiting dollars while still finding qualified candidates?
The answer lies with what any Marketing Director would advise an advertiser:
1) Do not Put All Your Eggs in One Basket, Diversify
Utilizing only one media outlet, say, the pop music radio station in your city, to launch an advertising campaign misses a large part of a products potential audience. Using a media mix that includes broadcast, print and Internet is going to greatly increase both the number of people reached as well as the number of times each person hears the message (frequency).
The same goes with a job search. Our best advice is to find one or two “mass audience” job boards you are most comfortable with but then include two or three “niche” job boards or specialty job boards that cater to the specific industry you are pursuing (Sales, Healthcare, truck driving, etc).
2) Don’t be afraid to try new things
The world of communication, branding and reaching consumers is constantly changing faster than at any time in history. The same goes for job seeking and recruitment. Although a consistent campaign is well advised (that is, the message you are trying to convey) never be happy with what you are getting for your return on investment (R.O.I.), whether your investment is your time or your company’s money. The very latest buzzword (which may be already passé by years end!) is social networking (Twitter, Facebook, etc.). Many job boards are incorporating social networking aspects into their websites.
3) Your Message Will Be the Single Largest Influence on Success
If you are a job seeker, being unhappy with results from a job board can easily be due to a poorly written resume. If you are a recruiter, poor results can be due to an ineffective or poorly written job posting. Seek advice from experts. Paying a resume service can mean the difference between getting the job you want sooner rather than later. For recruiters, carefully writing out job descriptions and reading them from a job seeker’s standpoint, or consulting with media professionals, will improve the quality of candidate regardless of which media is used. A media’s potential effectiveness is not only determined by how it reaches its target audience (or yours), but also in how well put together the message is.
4) BE PATIENT
No effective marketing campaign can be implemented in one or two weeks. Nor can a campaign’s results, or potential results, be determined in one or two weeks. Both job hunting and recruiting are processes, not events.
Using the advice presented here will help improve your results, whether you are the buyer or the seller. Develop your message, pick a mixture of media, always be looking for new opportunities in media choice and be patient. Good things will come!
1 comment:
Every applicant should look closely at their resume and make it stand out to be noticed by their prospective employer. To top the competition resume should be adequate and compelling.
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