• 
• Training
• Consulting
• Resources
• Store
• About Us

• » Articles
• › The Official Rules for Hiring Top Talent
• › Newsletters

Hot Tip #29 - Humongous Techniques to Boost Your Recruitment Advertising Efforts

By Lou Adler, September 18, 2007

I've just finished reading Dan and Chip Heath's Made to Stick - Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. This is a great book on marketing and how to influence others, and many of the ideas can be directly applied to recruiting in general and recruitment advertising in particular. When you combine this with Hire With Your Head you'll be finding more top candidates and making more placements before the week is out.

Read more articles by this author.

Related Topics:

Recruiter Hot Tips, Recruiter Training, Recruiting, Sourcing

Related Articles:

Hot Tip #28 - The Anatomy of a Great Ad

Hot Tip #27 - Double Your Placement Rate in Half the Time

Hot Tip #26 - A Partial List of the Ten Commandments of Recruiting Passive Candidates

Here are some ideas you might want to consider to boost your recruitment advertising efforts. If you combine them with our outrageous advertising challenge and send us your results you're sure to win our contest for best recruiting ad of 2007.

1. Focus on what's in it for the candidate. Stop writing ads that describe what your company wants. "We're looking for a highly motivated sales person with five years of experience selling plumbing products," is a stupid way of advertising. Instead, describe why a top person with multiple opportunities should finish reading the ad and spend time applying for the job. For a general manager it might be "Turn-around a leaderless division." A sales manager might be interested in "Build an all-star sales team and open up a major new territory." A CPA with 10 years of international experience would probably find something like "Implement a state-of-the-art global financial planning system" appealing. The key here is to find a core message that resonates with your target audience.


2. The first 10-15 seconds are the most important. Don't squander your title and first few lines of your ad copy with garbage. If your title is boring, and useless information is including in the first few lines of the ad copy, you're throwing away hundreds of thousands of dollars on wasted advertising. Eliminate req numbers and administrivia from the opening copy. You only have 10-15 seconds to capture the interest of someone reading your ad, so don't waste this valuable space.


3. One size doesn't fit all. Write your copy to meet the needs of your target audience. For college grads focus on the beginning of a great career, for mid-managers discuss the chance to lead bigger projects and to get their careers on a faster track, for entry-level jobs discuss the learning opportunities, and for seasoned pros discuss alternative career opportunities. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES start with qualifications! Attract the person first with some exciting reason to apply, then add the qualifications and conditions at the end. But even here, don't overdo it. High potential people won't apply if you overstate the qualifications. "We'd like five years in ASIC circuit design using Cadlogic 7.x, but if you can demonstrate you can lead a three-person design team of super-techies we'd still like to see your resume," will draw a bigger pool of high-potential candidates than the typical qualifications-intensive ad.


4. Do the unexpected. "Do not respond to this ad unless you want to change the world of customer service. While we need people who can juggle projects with all five hands, our customers will always come first. If you thrive in an environment of constant change and where your day is never done, you need to check this job out. But beware, you'll never be the same again. And your friends will want to be part of it." Enough said.


5. Be emotional. Stop being bureaucratic. A new job is a critical decision for every good person, from 17 to 70 years old, so be fun and be emotional. Emotional for a welder might be playing EA's Madden Football 2007, and for someone nearing retirement it might be leading a not-for-profit. But whatever it is, find it out and use it your next ad. "My Eyes Adored You" could be interesting ad title for an aging baby-boomer who wants one last fling, or just a place to get medical insurance as the night manager at the local McDonalds.


6. Tell stories. Here's one you might want to use for your next sales manager. Start with the title "Boston Territory Manager - Back to the Future" and place it on theladders.com and craigslist.com. Make the first line of the copy "Fast-forward One Year." Now write this as the primary copy:
   

   We'd like to thank you for turning around our under-performing Boston sales team. We thought our company needed five plus years in the insurance industry selling financial products to retired school administrators and a BS in Finance, with an MBA preferred. You proved this was hogwash. Instead it was your heart, desire, exceptional sales training and team development skills that added the spark to this highly qualified, but unmotivated team. We'd all like to thank you for recognizing our talent and pushing each of us to reach quota. It was an experience we all cherished, and we want to thank you for helping us get to this next level which we thought wasn't possible. We look forward to working with you next year, and we're dedicated that everyone of us will make Club with your help and guidance.
   
   
   
   The guys and gals from the Boston Super-star Unit

   
   Now make the next line of the copy "Now Back to Today" followed by:
   

   If you'd like this story to be yours send us your resume with a half-page write-up of your most significant sales management accomplishment. We'll be back to you within 24 hours. We can't wait to meet you.

   
   Now that's a story worth telling.
   

Be emotional, tell stories, focus on the needs of your candidate not your company, and do the unexpected. Then don't be surprised if something unexpected happens.