Recruitment Marketing Blog

What you’re relying on the most to pull in quality job candidates might in fact be doing the opposite of what you want it to do. It’s your job posting. To find out if you’re totally misusing your job postings, ask yourself if you’re doing this -

There are so many “We’re Hiring” posts on social media right now. While there are unique challenges for different industries, just about anyone who needs to hire workers is struggling with recruiting. Sharing your hiring needs with your network and community is definitely the right thing to do, but when you attract the attention of a potential applicant you might be sabotaging your success when they go to your website to learn more about you and can’t find what they’re looking for.

The Olympics are over but the images from the games are lingering in my mind. I watched a little bit of everything -- from water polo and climbing, to track and swimming, to bike racing and gymnastics. The picture that takes up the most my 2020 Olympics memory, however, isn’t anything that happened at one of the events. It’s a picture of Suni Lee’s front yard where the homemade balance beam that she practiced on as a child could be found.

What if you were interested in employment opportunities at a company but when you went to their career page, all you found was a list of open job positions? Job candidates have more questions than what can be answered in a job description. They want to know -- What’s it like to work here? Will I fit in? Who are these people? Why should I work here?

When it comes to communicating that you can do what you say you can do, your customers’ words carry a lot more weight than yours do. When you talk about yourself, it’s a platitude. When your customers talk about you, it’s credibility. That’s why it’s important to gather and use testimonials throughout all of your sales and marketing messages so that you can build trust with every interaction.

Customer success stories should be in your content marketing mix if you want to set yourself apart from your competition. When you tell the stories that only you can tell, you give prospects a tag to remember you by. If you take the reader up and over the dramatic arc with your story, an empathetic response is stimulated that can lead to action. This isn’t going to happen, however, if you don’t get your stories in front of your prospects.

There are a whole lot of employer brand stories in the making right now as companies are figuring out how they will respond to the continuing COVID-19 public health crisis. We’re hearing some of these stories already. Some companies are finding ways to enable employees so that they can work from home. Others have had to temporarily shut down. Still others are operating at a reduced level. Many are stepping up to help their communities at the same time that they’re creating their own coping strategy.

Sarah Olson joins her mom, Lori Creighton, as a writer at Homestead Media, helping companies communicate their reputation as a good employer through employee experience storytelling. 

​“Organizing a person’s thoughts and feelings into a story helps them find their voice,” said Sarah. “Writing isn’t something that everyone feels comfortable doing. It takes skill and practice. I love taking on the challenge to find the right words while I get a glimpse into what their life is like.”

When you hear the word “branding” your mind might think of logos, colors and design. While a consistent visual presence certainly plays a part in creating a positive impression to the job candidates that you want to attract, employer branding encompasses a whole lot more than your graphic style. It’s your reputation.