A lot can go wrong when you’re communicating with candidates. An unprofessional or careless communication strategy not only leads to disgruntled applicants, but can also damage the company’s reputation in the long term. Here’s what HR Managers need to know. 

Every job applicant, regardless of whether they end up getting the job or not, is an ambassador for the company. The candidate’s experience of the application process may decide whether they speak positively or negatively about the company thereafter.

You might not think that one dissatisfied candidate could possibly ruin your employer brand, but when there are fundamental problems with candidate communication, negative sentiment starts to accrue. In the long run, this has an enormous effect on the company’s public image, and in turn, its attractiveness as an employer.

An applicant and their network

A study [in German] conducted by Meta HR Consultancy and stellenanzeigen.de found that 80% of applicants publicly share their experiences. They tell their friends and acquaintances in person, or share their experiences via Facebook,Twitter, or review portals like kununu or Glassdoor. The same study shows that only 17% of respondents felt that companies catered to their needs as candidates during the application process. Potentially, this could result in quite a few negative comments.

Ultimately, this underlines how important a professional candidate communication strategy is to employer branding. Maintaining a high level of communication through the application process isn’t all that difficult. Here are the essential elements.

A step-by-step guide to an ideal candidate communication strategy

1. Be available for questions

Before applications start to come in, HR should make themselves available for questions about the role, or the application process. The job description should state the relevant contact person, along with an email address, and a phone number. This adds a personal touch, regardless of whether the applicant makes contact or not.

2. Acknowledge receipt of applications

If the candidate hasn’t been in touch with questions, your first point of contact with them will be when you acknowledge receipt of their application. This can heavily influence the candidate’s perception of the whole process. Acknowledgement of receipt should of course confirm that they have successfully applied for the position, but also outline a basic timetable of how things will progress, e.g. when people will be called for interview, when people will find out if they got the job or not. That way, every candidate knows what to expect.

3. Give status updates

Like anything, the hiring process can be subject to delays. For example, sometimes you’ll receive many more applications than you were expecting. This delay can be a pain for applicants, but providing that you communicate this to them in a transparent way, you’ll maintain their interest in the role. Send them a brief notice about the delay, giving reasons as to why it occurred. However, make sure to avoid stalling candidates for weeks on end if, for example, your decision is still pending. Being staved off like that will leave a negative aftertaste with candidates, and you risk application withdrawals if they have to wait too long for a decision.

4. Send constructive rejections

The most sensitive aspect of candidate communication is obviously the rejection letter. It is, without a doubt, the biggest challenge for HR managers, so please don’t avoid the task altogether! That’s completely unacceptable.

In addition to providing them with a general ‘regret letter’, it is very helpful to the applicant if you give them some feedback as to why you made your decision. Constructive criticism is worth its weight in gold to a job seeker, as it gives them the chance to improve their next application. Ideally, you could offer a feedback session over the phone. If the candidate is still interesting – even if they don’t suit the current role on offer – you should invite them to apply again at a later date for a more suitable role within your organisation. The study shows that 84% of candidates would re-apply for a different role within a company if they have a good experience during their initial application process – even if they were rejected!

Communicate on the same level

Any method of communication with candidates should have a personal touch, instead of just anonymous mass mailings. Companies should never forget that candidates usually invest a lot of time and effort in their applications, and connect hopes and desires to them. Although in most cases you will be sending rejections, you need to treat each person with respect, and communicate in an open, honest and transparent way. Don’t leave anyone in the dark!

Republished from Jobspotting and updated November 29, 2017.

More and more, companies are using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Glassdoor to present themselves as attractive employers. While online presence is important, companies need to remember that it’s just one means of communication which should reflect their internal culture. Only when these two align, can employers win great talent.

The startup working environment can be a good model for more traditional companies when it comes to cultivating an innovative, authentic company culture. Cool, modern companies are hugely attractive, especially to young workers.

Companies that seek to present themselves as desirable employers often think they need to just follow the lead of the younger, hipper companies. But is that really true? In reality, having a foosball table, “beer Friday”, or team breakfast doesn’t necessarily make for a great company culture! The lived values of the organisation are what’s really important!

On-paper strategies don’t always translate to real life

I once worked with a company that had a foosball table. Breakfast was made for us once a month. They also had beanbags, Macbooks and flexible working hours. Many employees made use of the foosball table, but actually because they didn’t really want to work. The breakfast, which the CEO almost never took part in, was always left to the assistants to prepare. When I suggested the introduction of a little teamwork by having alternating teams of four or five people make breakfast, the Marketing Manager told me that people certainly wouldn’t have any interest in undertaking the work themselves. As well as that, hardly anyone felt able to leave work before 6pm, as it might look funny to their colleagues and supervisors.

This example shows that the policies and perks of a company might look great, but as long as values such as teamwork, respect, openness and flexibility aren’t lived in the business everyday, they don’t, by themselves, make for an attractive corporate culture.

The authors Ralph Meyer and Felix Dannegger underline this in their contribution to the book, War for Talents: “Authentic employer brands have sustained success when the intended company culture largely coincides with the lived culture of the organisation.”

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – Peter Drucker

Those who position themselves as attractive employers, who want to retain their employees and still attract new talent, must therefore not only have a great company culture on paper, but have to live these values authentically at all levels of the organisation.

Philippe von Borries, who founded the successful media company, refinery29 eleven years ago, takes a similar view:

“I believe it’s about (…) values. We simply think about how we live the brand, not only in addressing our audience, but also internally. The aim is to promote individuality, creativity and the use of opportunities within the business.”

Companies succeed at this when they develop a clear self-image, a firm position, their own defined set of values, and when they hire employees that share these exact views.

How can a company do this? Ralph Meyer and Felix Dannegger say that it can be achieved by simply selecting new employees not only based on their skill set – i.e. knowledge, skills, and experience – but also looking at their mindset.

The aim is to discover what motivates and drives employees, where they draw meaning from, and what values are important to them. If these are consistent with the corporate culture, then it’s likely that there will be a fruitful relationship between employer and employee that will stay strong throughout challenges.

Authenticity comes up trumps

It’s important to define the values that are important to the company, to live them in your internal as well as external actions, and to find employees who can identify with them. This doesn’t mean that you can’t also regularly go for team lunches, or provide childcare, or organise team events, but you need to be aware that these benefits are no longer the decisive factors when it comes to choosing an employer. What matters much more is that companies remain true to themselves, develop an authentic culture and live it within the company, through the managers, the team, and the product.

Here is a step-by-step how-to guide for writing the perfect vacancy announcement.

1. Write a descriptive job title

Always follow this golden rule: write a job title that is simple and engaging at the same time. While job titles like ‘Full-Stack Frontend Ninja’, ‘Content Creative’, or anything to do with superheroes are common, they aren’t actually fit for purpose, i.e. clarifying what exactly the position is. Avoid jargon and make sure to use relevant, searchable keywords. If you’re looking for an SEO-focused Online Marketer, you should clearly express this in the job title.

2. Positively introduce the company

Your company description needs to be short, snappy and interesting to capture the attention of potential candidates very quickly. More detailed company information should be moved to the end of the post for interested parties that want to learn more about the company. Always include the following information:

Who are you?

What is the company offering the position? What products or services do you offer? What is the company mission? Do you operate internationally? Make sure to list any awards, major achievements or anything that you think makes you an interesting employer.

Why are you hiring?

Clarify exactly why the company is hiring. Is the company expanding? Are you restructuring? Do you need cover for parental leave? Make sure that a potential candidate knows exactly what to expect.

3. Describe the position

In a short paragraph, briefly, describe the position being offered using positive language, but be realistic and avoid using hyperbole. Use bullet points to list the most important responsibilities and any relevant obligations to make it easier to scan. What kind of experience level will be expected of the candidate? Will they have to manage a team? Does this role report directly to the CEO? How big are the company and the team in which they’ll be working? Jargon is out of place here, so make sure to use common expressions that everyone can understand.

4. List specific skills and requirements

Now, switch your focus from the position to the candidate. What should the person bring to the position? It’s a good idea to divide this list into ‘must-haves’ and ‘good-to-haves’, e.g. perhaps fluent English is a must-have, and any other languages are a plus!

Any Visa or legal requirements should be listed here too, keeping in mind current legislation. For example, in many countries, it’s illegal to specify gender, ethnicity or any other detail that may be considered discriminatory. As an example, in Germany, it’s illegal to specify ‘Native German speaker’/’German as mother tongue’ as a requirement. The correct way to express the required language level is to say ‘Fluent German’/’Native-level German’. Make this list very brief and to the point.

What personal qualities would the ideal candidate have? Rather than just listing traits (e.g. good communicator) it’s a good idea to describe behaviour like, “As Comms Manager, you need to be able to write precise, print-ready texts under pressure”. Only list points that are relevant to the position, and don’t overdo it! Again, no ninjas required.

5. Describe what sets you apart as an employer

Candidates aren’t only looking for a suitable position, they’re also looking for a great company. In a short paragraph, describe what candidates can expect from you. What is the company culture like? What does a normal day look like at the office? What benefits do you offer to employees? What do you offer employees in terms of personal and professional development, including any seminars, workshops or training?

6. Give details on what happens next

Tell candidates how to apply for this position. How should they submit their documents? Who should they contact with any questions they might have? How exactly does the application process work, and what should they expect if they are called for an interview?

7. Include company background

If you wish, at the end you can add a few vital statistics about the company, e.g. foundation year, list of investors, name(s) of manager(s), etc.

So, it’s not rocket science! In as little text as possible, try to convey as much information as you can. The language that you write it in should, of course, depend on the position and the distribution channels that you use.

If you want to know exactly how successfully your job ads are performing, you can use our free employer’s’ tool which includes a company profile, job ads (also free!), performance and candidate analysis tools, and plenty of scope for employer branding.

Republished from Jobspotting and updated November 14, 2017.

Well-known companies rarely have a problem fielding enough applications for their vacancies. Smaller companies, startups, or even lesser-known medium-sized companies however, often do have a hard time trying to find suitable candidates for their open positions.

This is especially true when it comes to filling positions that require a high skill level, or very specific aptitudes – a problem that both large and small companies face. Most often, a headhunter is called in to find the right people which can cost a lot of money. The disadvantages lie in that employing a headhunter can burn a massive hole in the budget, and finding the right candidate, through the right network often largely relies on luck.

Companies that haven’t had much luck so far in attracting the right candidates can significantly increase their likelihood of getting a strong response by making some simple changes. One easy method is to actively position themselves as an attractive employer. A study from the Corporate Executive Board shows that companies can increase the “quality of hire” by 9%, just by implementing a strong employer brand.

Setting up a career site and writing clever vacancy announcements are important to strengthening the employer brand. But the decisive factor for lesser-known companies is about selecting the right channels by which to access suitable job seekers. It’s not a question of where to find the most people, but where to find the right ones.

A Clever Strategy is the Be-all and End-all

Recently, the question of how a largely unknown company might come by highly specialist staff haunted Emin Mahrt, founder of the events startup, Abend [German for ‘evening’]. He called us and said, “I need a Senior AngularJS Developer – what should I do?” To solve his problem, we planned the following strategy:

1. Position your job posting correctly

The first step is to write and design an optimal job posting. Because Abend doesn’t have its own career site, Emin unceremoniously posted the job ad on Facebook and after some consultation with us, implemented some elements of employer branding. Although we recommend that even smaller companies have their own career pages – you get to capture the candidate directly on your own page and save on third-party platforms – under the circumstances, we had to come up with a quick and targeted solution.

2. Customise an attractive company profile

The second step was to optimise their corporate presence on our platform. Companies can integrate their logo, a background image, a company description, links, an Instagram feed, and job openings into their Jobspotting company profile. The more compelling the design, the better for appealing to great candidates. After all, the users who land on a company profile are generally already candidates relevant to your vacancies.

3. Boost Brand Awareness

As Abend AG remains a largely unknown startup, we had to be mindful in the third step to cultivate a higher brand awareness. With a premium job posting, a highlighted company profile in user’s Jobfeeds, and highlighted posts in emails to relevant candidates, we continuously generated attention for the young company over a four week period. In addition, we promoted Abend to a selected audience on Facebook, thus increasing visibility and enabling a further reach.

The Results Speak for Themselves

The results of the campaign show that the strategy worked. 471 unique candidates saw the job posting a total of 2,947 times.

Of these, 50 candidates showed strong interest in the job post. The conversion rate thus lies at 11% which is about four times higher than the yield from other platforms. These candidates are also active job seekers – i.e. candidates that have already proactively started their job search using Jobspotting. At the same time, they already have the skills required for this vacancy.

Other candidates were reached through Facebook. Again, we ran a hyper-targeted campaign that not only increased the range and visibility of Abend, but managed to access qualified, relevant potential candidates that aren’t actively seeking a job, too.

Following that, we featured Abend AG’s Jobspotting profile, which generated extra visibility and resulted in 300 additional visits to the profile.

The result of the campaign: Emin had not only very good, but very relevant applications arriving on his desk. He could opt for an outstanding candidate who met the ideal requirements after a relatively short space of time. The job posting was not displayed through other channels or providers.

The Recipe for Success

While many platforms advertise with the goal of reaching a huge mass of job seekers, we take a different approach. We consider how many job seekers with the required skills are active where the company is looking. This means that candidate relevance is at the heart of our campaigns.

Companies are additionally invited to cohesively present themselves as an attractive employer not only in the job advertisement but through all their channels, such as their own website or other online platforms. The combination of premium job post displays, a highlighted company profile and targeted Facebook advertising provides a lesser-known company with the necessary coverage and attention.

Through this approach, Emin Mahrt of Abend AG received some great applications, and more importantly found a candidate who was the exact fit for the position!

Image credit: tec_estromberg, CC BY 2.0

As an employer, it can be hard to strike a balance. You want to present yourself as a great place to work to attract the best potential candidates, but you won’t always have lots of time to dedicate to the task.

Even if you already know how to write the perfect job ad, it needs to be presented as part of a strong, cohesive wider strategy of employer branding. How you introduce your company to potential hires should be a key part of your corporate communication plan.

It’s important to be proactive about communicating with interested candidates, and a very simple way to do this is through your company career page. Read on about why it’s important to have one, how much effort you need to put into it, and you can make the most of it to find the most talented people for your team!

What is the value of a career site?

Currently, job seekers can afford to be pretty optimistic about the jobs market, but companies now have to actively compete to attract the best talent. It’s not uncommon for those in high-demand fields – IT professionals are probably the best example – to be in the luxurious position of having their pick of the best job offers.

Web-savvy candidates are making more informed career decisions than ever before. They’re no longer just looking for a livelihood. They’re asking themselves questions like: ‘Is this a company where I would be happy to spend the next few years?’ ‘Do I share their objectives, ideas and vision?’ ‘Can I realise my personal goals here?’. Candidates can avail of a plethora of online resources to find out exactly what they need to know about the companies that interest them.

Through clever use of employer branding, companies can actively present themselves as they wish to be seen, instead of leaving candidates to do their own investigations. This saves the candidates time, and gives companies a golden opportunity to put their best foot forward.

One effective step towards great employer branding is to have a dedicated career page. The goal is to provide potential new employees with an authentic picture of the company and to make clear what you stand for.

A really good career site isn’t just about providing vacancy information – it’s even worthwhile for smaller companies that don’t have any jobs openings at the moment. Its purpose is to convey a sense of what it would be like to work for the company, and it doesn’t take a big investment to make this possible!

Of course, people who eventually apply will need to have the right skills and experience to be considered, but the primary goal of the career page is to encourage those who share the company’s vision and are motivated by the organisation’s goals to apply in the first place.

How to best structure your career site

Before you begin to build your career site, you should ask yourself some basic questions. Who are we looking for? Who is our target audience and what is important to them? Are they seeking job security or adventure? Do they place more value on flexible working hours or higher salaries?

It’s possible that you’ll end up with diverse target groups that need to be addressed differently. For example, career sites now often have sections specifically for tech candidates. At its most basic, the career site is an element of corporate communications that should be in line with the company’s presence on all channels including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and of course your company’s website.

The Basics

• Present your company’s vision and mission

What do we stand for? Where will our journey lead us? What values do we represent?

• Show off the office culture

What differentiates us from other companies? What makes us special? What kind of atmosphere do we have here? At this point, the motto is: “show, don’t tell”. Use photos, videos or your Instagram feed instead of bombarding people with reams of text.

• Brag about employee benefits

What do we have to offer? Are there flexible working hours, a company car, catering, gym memberships, internal or external training opportunities, etc.?

• Provide any pertinent company information

Who is the contact for applicants? Where is the office? Are there any other offices, and if so, where are they located? Who are the founders or managers? Has there been any relevant press coverage?

If you don’t have any current vacancies, you should briefly express that unsolicited applications are always welcome.

Nice-to-Haves

• FAQs

For those with time and resources who regularly advertise new positions, applicant FAQs can be worthwhile. There you can provide answers to common questions that potential candidates regularly ask. You can display information about who to contact for queries that arise, explain how the application process works, and what you want to see in the ideal application.

• Live Content

Live content is the icing on the career page cake. This content provides an insight into day-to-day work and the current state of play at the company. For example, Zalando has built a specific job portal for tech candidates which centres around a dedicated blog. The team reports there on their work, provides information on open source projects, offers tips and posts photos of team events.

However, not everyone has the opportunity to maintain a dedicated HR blog. A less time-consuming alternative is an integrated Instagram feed which provides an authentic insight into daily life at the company, and sticks to the aforementioned motto: show, don’t tell. However, if time and manpower are too tight to maintain such channels, they aren’t crucial. If you have the basics covered, you can leave them out.

A little goes a long way

Even just a little effort can really make a huge difference to creating an exciting, evocative career page. Ultimately, its most important goal is to get across an authentic picture of the company and the culture, in a way that suits the means at your disposal. Don’t forget to extend the influence of your company page through using supportive platforms like Kununu or Jobspotting so that you can reach great candidates wherever they’re hanging out online. Creating a fantastic career site doesn’t need a large budget, just a little careful planning, a few hours work, and a willingness to share a little info about your company!

Article republished from Jobspotting and updated Nov 14, 2017.