Top five tips for a successful recruitment campaign

However, while there may not be a shortage of Candidates seeking new employment at this time of the year, luring in the best and brightest from a bunch of hopeful job-seekers takes more than a few lines on a job ad. Whether you’re eager to grow your team in line with the goals you’ve set for Q1 or simply need to fill existing skills gaps, successfully attracting top talent demands a well-crafted campaign.

1. Put on your marketing hat

Any marketer worth their salt will know you can’t please all of the people all of the time: if you are charged with the task of enticing high-calibre Candidates to the company, the same rule applies. When it comes to your recruitment campaign, market research is the key to success.

Conducting interviews with existing Employees in similar roles for the one you’re recruiting for can be a great way to gain insight on what drew them to the company and which elements of the job and culture they enjoy. With a crystal-clear idea of exactly who your target audience is and a strong understanding of demographics and the goals and priorities of the Candidates you hope to attract, you can determine the most suitable approach in sparking their interest.

2. Write for your audience

The job description is the foundation of your recruitment campaign; it acts as both an anchor to steer you through your search for the most suitable Candidate and as a means to communicate expectations to potential applicants. With this foresight, hiring managers should ensure it is written with the ideal Candidate in mind; they must take care to speak the same language as the applicants and appeal to a Candidate by clearly highlighting the key benefits of the role.

3. Tighten up your messaging

Above all, your aim should be to engage your audience: writing an ad that achieves this is about imagining yourself in the shoes of the applicant and considering what would entice you were you in their position. Remember, when browsing job boards and social media for an opportunity, forgettable ads that have clearly been copied and pasted from a template and have made no effort to stand out are likely to be the ones you don’t get excited about. When developing your key messaging, focus on what makes your company special. Rather than simply telling Candidates that you are the best Employer, show them by incorporating quotes from existing Employees.

4. Treat applicants like customers

The success of your recruitment campaign will, to some extent, depend on your Employer brand. While improving your profile with Candidates is a long-term initiative, how you treat applicants during a recruitment drive can have a considerable impact on your reputation. Yet, all too often, hiring managers are so focused on the aesthetics of an ad and its performance on social media platforms that they forget to nurture prospective employees in a talent pipeline.

Just as in the world of sales and marketing, leaving a high-quality lead to go cold will inevitably cause the opinion an individual holds on your company to change. If you are to secure a high-quality Candidate, you should be prepared to create a great hiring experience that reflects well on your brand.

5. Take a multi-channel approach

Advertising your vacancy on job boards is essential but limiting yourself to this channel alone will see you miss a raft of talented but passive Candidates. Taking advantage of social media platforms will allow you to tap into this talent pool with your campaign and measure the outcome of your efforts all the while. By combining engaging content with eye-catching Pay-Per-Click job ads that highlight the advantages of the role and distributing them across a range of social media sites, you can widen your reach in your hunt for the ideal Candidate.

Over the last 20 years, we have grown as a business to become one of the leading independent Recruitment agencies in Oxfordshire, and in 2018 have opened our first London office, to service Clients in the capital.

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