Employees’ investments in their organizations extend far past the commitment of most other stakeholders.  Employees invest most of their waking hours, and their intellectual capital, to forge their livelihoods. They hope to reap more than just a salary: they look to increase their value as they add value; they seek meaning and connection in their work; an employee’s association is a source of pride.

Potential employees, or candidates, are unique stakeholders. They are often members of the local community. They may be customers. They often are connected to other stakeholders, especially employees.

Those who want their human capital (employees) to drive competitive advantage think about their employer brand and pay close attention to the candidates’ experience in the hiring process. In this post, I offer a candidate experience mission statement:

We treat applicants as potential employees. We make it easy to find our openings, learn about our company, and apply for jobs. We describe our openings clearly, describe our hiring process, and let applicants know where they stand. We provide feedback to help improve job hunting skills, even if we decide not to hire someone. We value our employees and are committed to hiring the best to join us.

 

Guy Kawasaki, in his book, The Art of the Start, promotes the advantages of a mantra over a mission statement. Here is a mantra (maybe a bit long) that is easy to remember:

Applicants are people. Be kind, but honest. 

 

EndNote Commentary (this is a gut check—consider yourself forewarned):

A mission statement is nice. But, I often wonder, as I give applicants feedback on how they can improve their resume, or their interviewing skills, (for which they thank me profusely) why this is so hard for companies to do? I think it is because they are afraid of being sued for discriminatory hiring practices. But, if you hire fairly, basing your decision on knowledge, skills and abilities that are related to the job, you have nothing to fear. And, giving applicants feedback can indicate what a great workplace you have, where expectations are clear and feedback is frequent and fair. Of course, you have to have that kind of workplace, don’t you??

Pat Sharp, The Talent Architect blends strategy, technology tools, and assessment tools with marketing magic to create unique talent solutions. Past and current clients include: Motorola, Deloitte, TiVo, and Cloudscaling. Photo Credit EmpowerPeople

How can the Candidate Experience be Improved? Attend ”SmartUp: Candidate Experience” on Aug. 8 to create discussion with CEOs, influencers and candidates.

Panelists will be Co-Founder and CEO of Simply Hired Gautam Godhwani, Founder and CEO of SmartRecruiters Jerome Ternynck, HR and social media Author and Consultant Jessica Miller-Merrell, 2 Job Seeking Candidates, and of course, The Talent Architect Pat Sharp. Get your SmartUp Ticket Today!

Everybody’s too busy – far too busy – to wade through the volumes of applicants to find nuggets of talent. Hiring managers are doing their “real” jobs. Recruiters juggle between posting jobs, screening resumes, managing interviews, and other elements of a complicated hiring processes. Automation tools, designed to make things easier, often make things more complicated. Smart recruiters can focus on three elements to make things easier for everyone, applicants included.

Ask yourself: What do you need in a candidate?  How is candidate attracted to this opportunity? & Why would people want to work for my company?

To simplify your hiring, focus on:

1. The 3 critical factors that you need in a candidate.

2. The 3 reasons someone would want to be hired.

3. The 3 reasons people want to work at your company.

1. Focus on the candidate’s 3 (or as many as 5) critical factors.

This is essential. By focusing on the things you need in the person you will hire, you create clear messages that make it easy for qualified candidates to screen themselves in. You make it easy for employees, customers, and other stakeholders to refer people they know. You make it easy for applicants to highlight their qualifications and easy for hiring managers to interview them. You also make it easy for wannabes who are not qualified to see that applying for the position is a long shot at best. Clear messaging sets up a self-screening situation. Everybody wins.

2. Focus on 3 (or as many as 5) reasons why someone would want this job.

Many job messages focus on what the employer wants, but, you must bait the hook with something tasty if you want big fish to bite. The motivation needs to be job specific, not a broad based “my company is a great place to work” branding message. If you have a big mess for someone to clean up, you want to attract someone who loves cleaning up messes, who loves a huge challenge. Be creative with your words; sell the sizzle; but don’t be afraid to let people know the big things about the job.

3. Tell them the 3 (or as many as 5) best things about your company.

This is critical to your employer brand. Often company messages are muddied by an “inspired” HR leader who comes up with something that isn’t nearly as compelling to potential employees. This is a great opportunity to partner with your internal marketing geniuses. They can help.

Some companies don’t need anything more than their logo. Apple is one such company. That’s because everything they do communicates that it is a great place to work. The only way to have an employer brand like that is to BE a great place to work!  If that is your challenge, then it’s time to sit at the table with your company leaders and have a strategic conversation.

Focus on these three areas when making any decisions involving talent acquisition and see dramatic improvements in the quality of your applicants. Be a smart recruiter.

Pat Sharp, The Talent Architect blends strategy, technology tools, and assessment tools with marketing magic to create unique talent solutions. Past and current clients include: Motorola, Deloitte, TiVo, and Cloudscaling.

He wanted ideas on how older people (like me) could compete in the labor markets of college towns, where the competition for jobs can be quite youthful and fierce. I lived in San Rafael, CA, from 2003-2009. It is a college town (Dominican University of CA) in a region of academic abundance; USF, UC Berkeley, San Francisco State and Sonoma State are all within 30-40 minutes. I moved to the area when poor timing (slow execution, probably) led to the demise of my RPO startup. Since I was living like an expatriate – renting a room, away from my family – I decided to attend Dominican and finish my business degree. I chose to go through a traditional MBA program, rather than an executive program, which meant that many of my peers were in their early twenties. I was the oldest student in the program. This experience transformed how I see the talent landscape. It transformed me.

So, fellow boomers, this is what I learned. It may be tough to take, but I share because if you are looking for a job, be prepared to interview with and work for people who are young enough to be your kids. If your mindset sees them that way, you will likely come up short in your job search. And even if you get a job, this mindset will not help you gain satisfaction from work. I had a dear friend who was unemployed for over a year. She was hired by a non-profit in the green industry, but was hampered by this mindset. She couldn’t let go of the fact that her boss was her daughter’s age. It bothered her sense of order in the universe.

The first thing anyone over 40 needs to be able to do, if we want to compete successfully in the labor market, is let go of the idea that we are entitled to anything because of our wisdom and experience. We have to earn their respect. It is not a given. But, the truth is that these younger leaders “get” that they don’t know everything. They want our wisdom and experience. They just don’t want it delivered with heavy doses of condescension and disrespect.

It is really hard to make this transition. This is what helped me to do it.

First, I asked my kids for their advice. They gave me some really great insights. It changed how I related to them. If you don’t have kids, reach out to nieces, nephews, or your friends’ kids. Things you might ask about: cell phone text protocol, using twitter, using Facebook, when to use email vs. when to text, and any way of communication that you may think to be weird, fashionable, or pointless. What you will learn is that it is probably is a very efficient way to communicate certain information. Let go of preconceived judgements, and learn a different way to see your world.

Second, I worked on projects with much younger people. These were team projects for school, but other types of projects could be volunteer based, like Habitat for Humanity. This put me in a peer position. We had to work together to accomplish our goal. Working as peers enabled me to see with fresh eyes and realize how fortunate I was to work with such smart, capable people. We ate together. I learned about their world and they learned about mine. We became friends as well as colleagues. I didn’t realize how much I had changed until I was visiting my brother-in-law at Notre Dame University. He was hosting a brunch for some friends who brought their daughter who was in pre-med at a prestigious university. Jane* and I struck up a conversation which became quite lively, about school, travel, all kinds of things. I wasn’t talking to a pre-med student; I was talking to Jane. Later, her mom said to me, “you really know how to connect with her!” I wasn’t doing anything special. I just found Jane to be interesting and fun to talk with.

So called “young” people are pretty darned smart. They know tons of things and are great at ferreting out information. They can teach us. They want to share what they know. They want us to share what we know. This is wonderful.

The best thing a boomer can do to be competitive in this market is to make friends with the notion that we can collaborate, rather than compete, across generations. This mindset, combined with our knowledge and experience, will help us demonstrate our value and attract opportunities. When we see younger job seekers as potential friends and networking partners, we expand opportunities for everyone. There is nothing quite like the feeling one gets when hearing that a young friend refers to them as really smart, really cool and really valuable. Even better is being able to refer a great recent grad to a career opportunity. In fact, the 12% unemployment rate for those in their 20s and the 53% unemployment rate for recent grads, should tell you that the need for a better mindset in the job search is not limited by age.

To sum this up, the best way for Baby Boomers (like me) to find jobs in a college town is to make friends with students, learn from them, and leverage our experience and wisdom to work with, not against, them. When you go into the the interview, the hiring manager is thinking, what would this person be like to work with. Continue the best tested job search strategies (i.e., networking, informational interviews, and consider building up your social profile/s), but with this new mindset. It may be counter intuitive, but in my experience, it works.

Pat Sharp, The Talent Architect blends strategy, technology tools, and assessment tools with marketing magic to create unique talent solutions. Past and current clients include: Motorola, Deloitte, TiVo, and Cloudscaling. Visit The Talent Architect. Photo Credit New Yorker / Work Coach Cafe.

*named changed for sake of privacy

When I come in and start working with a client on recruitment processes, the first to embrace me are the overwhelmed HR and recruiting staff. The first to resist me are the hiring managers, because I make them sit down and talk to me. I want to know what is going on in their hiring experience. Then, things start to change. They get excited because they see activity and have hope that jobs that have been open for months will be filled. The resistance recedes. My 16 year old son made the comment one time when I was remarking on this, “They love you, Mom, because you make their lives easier!” Funny, but I’d never looked at it that way.

Facilitation means things easier. Automation makes things faster. Technology should focus on facilitating hiring as opposed to automating recruiting.

In the recruiting process most metrics relate to speed, quantity, cost, and other things that equate to hard work for everyone. We make it hard for applicants to be interviewed. We make it hard for hiring managers to hire. We throw a lot of obstacles in the hiring path to slow things down so that we don’t “mishire,” because then, we will have to figure out how to fire without being sued. We do this in the name of “compliance and fairness,” but what happens to finding great talent?

Without naming names, some of the biggest offenders, with the most arduous hiring processes, are exceptionally well known innovators with thousands of employees and even more thousands of people trying to get their resumes reviewed.

Why is there a problem? What is the problem?

We have focused on automating flawed processes. Our automation serves our need to comply with employment laws but it doesn’t facilitate the hiring process. We have more stuff coming in faster, but the process to hire great people is harder. We need to make it easier, or we will never be able to connect people with opportunity.

It is time to put “ease of hire” at the top of the long list of staffing metrics. In future posts, I will discuss some ways to make things easier for everyone.

Pat Sharp, The Talent Architect blends strategy, technology tools, and assessment tools with marketing magic to create unique talent solutions. Past and current clients include: Motorola, Deloitte, TiVo, and Cloudscaling. Visit The Talent Architect. Photo Credit DevCentral.

I don’t share his definition, by the way, but I do think his definition is how those of us involved in any form of recruitment, staffing, hiring, or talent acquisition, should think about what we do.

There are plenty of people thinking about the opportunity side of the equation; that’s where the money is. But far too few of us really stop to consider the poor schmuck who is looking for a job. I am talking about the new college grad who has to start repaying loans in 6 months, and the single mom who needs someone to watch her kids while she goes to a networking event, and the 58 year old guy who was laid off after 20 years because he was too naive to read the signals that he needed to upgrade his skills, and the highly educated administrative assistant (premed at Stanford) who, although highly engaged with and committed to the company’s business, neglected to negotiate a fair salary and demand appreciation for her value to the firm.

There is a shortage of people who have the requisite skills for many positions open in this country. In this article, I will look specifically at jobs in IT, because I know it well. I believe the same issues occur in areas such as healthcare, skilled manufacturing, and services.

In my area, middle TN, specialized IT jobs are open for months. Employers wrestle with relocation and work visa challenges while those doing the work of IT wonder if they will be able to take a vacation. Those who lack skills try to find a way to get them, but the educational institutions teach dated and irrelevant skills. What is wrong with this picture?

In the meantime, “staffing” firms, internal recruiters, and agencies chase the same resumes on job boards and LinkedIn. They post positions everywhere they can think of. They make calls to people in their databases and ask for candidate referrals. Local candidates play musical cubicle and nothing really changes.

Many, if not most, would say that this is just a result of simple supply and demand. But, if there are plenty of people of average intelligence (the majority of us) who are willing and able to work, we should be able to acquire enough skills to do this work. When nearly everyone who is near a public library can access the internet, it should be easy to find out where we can go to learn something new that will help us get paid a reasonable wage.

Companies have contributed to this shortage. When some realized they could find cheap help desk talent in India and decided to outsource in droves, this dried up one avenue of apprenticeships or ways that people could learn on the job. It also discouraged people from pursuing these jobs because of concerns that once they did acquire the skills, they would be laid off anyway.

Now, one of my clients has international help desk support in the US, Europe and backup support in India. It’s a model that works well and the help desk is the primary entry point for people with minimal technical experience (a year or so) to get into a global company, build skills, and move into more demanding roles. This is great, but more entry points are needed. This scenario is what every IT manager I know goes through each time a key person leaves.

What are companies doing to address this problem?

They are forming talent communities to try and connect talent with their culture. I am not sure this is working as well as intended, but it is an interesting development.

There have always been college internships and entry level positions for recent grads.

But, what about people who aren’t in college? Many are able to do these jobs, with a little training.

What are staffing firms doing to address this problem? Could they partner with community colleges and/or training companies to train and test potential workers, then place them in entry level positions to gain some work experience?

All parties would have to give a little. Employees would need to accept lower wages than those with experience. Staffing companies would need to accept lower margins. Companies would need to invest in training people who aren’t actual employees, but, they could cherry pick the best and the brightest with minimal risks.

I’ve had discussions with local thought leaders who proclaim that the colleges in our area aren’t doing enough to provide relevant education. But, education is not the same as training. Someone pursuing a computer science degree is on a bit of a different path than someone who wants to learn how to maintain a computer network. I think the gap is in training opportunities. Companies aren’t training workers the way they used to.

When it comes to the build or buy decision, they’d rather buy. It’s perceived to be faster. But, as long as there is a huge gap between the demand for skills and the supply, the buy decision will work best for those with vast resources. The rest of us need to be resourceful and innovative as we find ways to equip people to become the talent we need to compete.

Those of us who comprise the “industry” need to propose and promote practical and workable solutions. One thing that will help is the educate job seekers on what they can do to be more competitive. No one is helpless; we are just woefully naïve and unaware of what our options might be. Since I am on my high horse here, I will put a stake in the ground and offer a series of three free one-hour Career Catalyst Audio Conferences to help job seekers. I would love to actually have a practical panel of experts. Who would like to partner with me on this?

I think most people are aware of the Pareto’s Principle, commonly referred to as the 80/20 rule. To greatly simplify it, 80% of results comes from 20% of effort.  When I ran a sales team, we used it to prioritize our efforts because 80% of our sales came from 20% of our products. When I ran a recruitment agency, 80% of our fees came from 20% of our recruiters. The idea is to dramatically improve productivity by focusing on the 20%, rather than waste resources on the 80%.

As a sales manager, I was able to dramatically impact my sales staff’s production when I forced them to whittle down their lead list from thousands to 50. Talk about resistance! It was like trying to take a beef bone from my dog! But, when the sales people were able to focus on what mattered, their sales numbers started ramping up. They were energized by their productivity. They were working smart, not hard.

Why do we use Pareto’s Principle?

The biggest reason is to make sure the cost of the sale doesn’t outweigh profit margins.

In recruiting, especially internally, there is a high cost to source talent. Most staffing metrics look at the grosser costs, such as salaries, job board posts, agency fees, etc. It is just as critical to look at opportunity costs.

As a talent acquisition process improvement consultant, I have seen recruiting teams spend too much time pouring over LinkedIn profiles that might fit a position and route them to hiring managers without ever making contact. One major company tasks their sourcing team to do this, without even having an opening. It’s called “profile harvesting.” Harvesting (for those of us who garden or farm) means tilling the ground, fertilizing, sowing seeds, and ongoing care BEFORE we reap the rewards. This practice is really no different than going through a bunch of business cards gathered at a conference. Unless you connect with the person behind the profile, the activity is a waste of time. I’ve seen fillable jobs stay vacant for months. Leela might respond that the wise recruiter should pay for a job post on LinkedIn. And, I agree. But, the person who responds to a job post is NOT a passive candidate. They might not be shopping their resume, but they have more than a passing interest in making a change, or they wouldn’t even notice the posting.

I think smart companies will focus on finding the 20% of the talent that can make a difference to their organizations. They will invest in their visibility as an employer (a marketing activity) so that appropriate talent will think of them first when they feel dissatisfied at work. They will focus their recruiters on activities that help convert mild interest into passion for a new challenge. The really smart ones will leverage their internal networks by having an employee friendly referral program, one that makes it easy for employees to refer talent, get prompt feedback and a meaningful financial reward.

Focusing on 80% of a disinterested labor pool is a waste of resources. It slows down the hiring process. I have seen fillable positions (help desk, systems administrators, software developers) stay open for many months. I’ve had qualified people (who were eventually hired) tell me that they had submitted their resumes six months earlier and received no response other than the “We got your resume. Don’t call us. We’ll call you when we get around to it.”  (It may be worded differently, but the message is the same.)

The right people in the right job will give a company a real edge in the market. It’s called “competitive advantage.” But, often the pursuit of “talent,” distracts managers from finding good people who can deliver, because they are looking for the “perfect” candidate. Good people “on the market” get snapped up while corporate recruiters look for the perfect passive candidate.

It is our job as recruiters to know the available talent in our markets and industries and advise on the most effective talent acquisition strategy for our companies. It is our job to make sure we focus on activities that will provide the greatest return on our time. We need to talk to real candidates, not waste time harvesting profiles. We need to get out and mix with our employees and let them know how they can get that referral fee. That’s where I spend 80% of my time. But I know when to make the call to the person who isn’t looking and sell them on making a move. That’s the 20% I want to be sure pays off.

Pat Sharp, The Talent Architect blends strategy, technology tools, and assessment tools with marketing magic to create unique talent solutions. Past and current clients include: Motorola, Deloitte, TiVo, and Cloudscaling. Visit The Talent Architect or drop her a line at pat@thetalentarchitect.com. 

Editor’s Note: To source the best talent from all channels, Join the Free Social Recruiting Revolution.

Today, it’s a different story.

Behind the idea of the passive candidate is the notion is that if someone is happy, they are engaged in their work. This may not be the case. Perhaps they are comfortable and in a cushy situation, which is why they don’t want to leave. Sometimes (in my experience, often) someone who fits the “passive” profile is not the most engaged employee. Passive doesn’t necessarily mean better.

Active job seekers (like much of the LinkedIn crowd, except for the recruiters) may be looking because they don’t feel valued. Many people on LinkedIn are actively interested in making a job change; having an impressive profile is an alternative to shopping their resumes. Does this mean they are truly passive candidates? They may be bored. They may feel their talent is wasted. I know of a data architect who left her last job because she felt the leadership team didn’t have its act together. She decided they were wasting her time! She is now “unemployed,” but, not for long. She’s the real deal!

Unemployed doesn’t mean inferior. It may mean that the employer is unimaginative about how to effectively deploy talent or worse, perhaps the managers, who have been there too long, are incompetent. Depending on your generation, you may see Greg Smith (“Why I’m Leaving Goldman Sachs” ) as a hero or a rat, but I very much doubt that he is incompetent.

When companies have massive layoffs, do you think it’s the employees who are incompetent, or those who are responsible for developing and implementing a competitive strategy? What does it say about talent innovation when companies choose to outsource rather than invest in their people? We can do better.

While passive candidates are not a “bad” thing, they are not necessarily superior candidates for employment. Many players in the talent acquisition ecosystem have economic incentives to promote passive candidates as the preferred choice. Recruiters who get paid for placing talent have less competition when presenting someone who isn’t actively looking, but wise employers will use objective measures to assess ALL applicants to choose the best. They will cast a wide net and seek out diverse sources of talent.

Pat Sharp, The Talent Architect blends strategy, technology tools, and assessment tools with marketing magic to create unique talent solutions. Past and current clients include: Motorola, Deloitte, TiVo, and Cloudscaling. Visit The Talent Architect or drop her a line at pat@thetalentarchitect.com. Photo Credit MyPencil.
 

Since football season is over and the daffodils are popping up everywhere, it’s only natural to think about fishing. As I fantasized about fishing, I realized how similar recruiting is to fishing. Recruiters have distinct styles that correlate to 4 types of fishers: Noodlers, Opportunists, Net fishers, and Fly fishers. What type best describes your recruiting style?

The Noodlers (Catfish)

Noodlers wade right into the mud. They get down and dirty. Using their hands as bait, they go after the biggest catfish they can find and wrestle them out of the lake and onto the shore. This sport is not for the faint of heart. And, while you might think this sport is only for men, there are women who are formidably fearless in their pursuit of big game cats (catfish, that is!).

Recruiters who seek out the most impressive LinkedIn profiles, who lure those people with enticing bits of company information, and who stop at nothing to get them onboard, remind me of noodlers.

Casting a Wide Net

Net fishers make a living from the quality of their catch. They go to the best site (ocean, bay, farm) and cast the widest net possible. Their biggest dilemma is how to handle the unwanted catch. Sometimes they catch a dolphin when they wanted a tuna. How do they save the dolphin without losing the tuna which will pay the bills? Then there are the tiny fish that just get lost in the shuffle. Do they get tossed or used as bait?

Recruiters who have to tackle volumes of openings (retail, contact centers, truck drivers, etc.) have to constantly think of creative ways to attract talent. They not only have to attract good ones, they have to find civil and legal ways to throw back the ones who don’t fit. And, when you have lots of fish flopping all about, that’s not an easy task. These recruiters have to be as adept at using recruiting technology as they are at being charming at job fairs. The pace is exhausting and many times their catch is rejected when applicants’ drug screens or background checks don’t make the grade.

Fly Fishers

While they don’t make movies about noodlers, A River Runs Through It won an Oscar for best cinematography in the 90s. There is even a “Zen and the Art of Fly Fishing.” Watching an expert fly fishing is almost like watching ballet. It seems more art than sport. Masters are experts on every element: fly tying, fish habitat, casting technique, etc. They remind me of the sophisticated executive search consultant who knows how to source and seduce the highest paid executives. However, I suspect there is often more mystique than technique.

Opportunistic Anglers

These are opportunistic fishers who make a practice of knowing when and where the desired type of fish is. For example, when I was a young girl, I went trout fishing the morning after the stocking truck had dumped a load off the bridge. Guess where I cast my line? That’s right.  A few yards from the bridge is a nice little pool. Always caught my limit of trout in less than an hour.

This is my preferred recruiting style. Fish in open waters. I like to work smart, not hard, or maybe I’m just lazy. Opportunists know where the best candidates hang out and how to get their attention with a compelling message. They offer bait using nets, traps, poles, or employee referrals.

Now you know what makes a noodler, fly fisher, net fisher, and opportunistic angler. What type are you?

Lessons I’ve learned from fishing that work for recruiting:

• Know where the fish are:
  • Habitat
  • Bait preferences
  • Best times to catch

   

• Have a plan. Match your strategy (bait, technique, etc.) to your objective. Don’t use a net when you need a hand tied lure. Don’t get down in the mud and noodle for catfish when you are hoping to find a small mouth bass. Choose the recruiting strategy for the conditions.

• Put yourself out there. Don’t be afraid to get out and mix with the fish. As they say down here, either fish or cut bait!

• Be patient. If you’ve done your homework, you will have success.

• Don’t rule out Lady Luck. Keep your eyes open because often, the biggest fish are where you least expect them. I have filled many jobs when someone popped up who was perfect, but if I hadn’t kept my eyes open, I would have missed. Don’t be too proud to use your luck.

• Most of all don’t obsess about the one that got away.

Happy fishing and recruiting!

Video Credits National Geographic, Creeksprinter17, OnlineFlyFishingShop, and Pixelopolis

Pat Sharp, The Talent Architect blends strategy, technology tools, and assessment tools with marketing magic to create unique talent solutions. Past and current clients include: Motorola, Deloitte, TiVo, and Cloudscaling. Visit The Talent Architect or drop her a line at pat@thetalentarchitect.com.

Editor’s Note: To fish – ahem, recruit – from all channels, SignUp for SmartRecruiters free social recruiting platform.

John Sumser “published” an HRxaminer article, Star Candidate Experience in 17 steps on Jan 25.

I clicked to read it right away – intrigued – for candidate experience is not usually the focus of articles on recruiting strategy. The article was as you would expect from one of the oldest and most respected voices in Internet recruiting, John Sumser. But, 17 steps is a lot to remember. In fact, the 18^th step of the article reads, “and so on.” Then John wrote, “If this list seems familiar, it might be because it’s a seven year old piece,” which links back to a post published in July 2006.

Can’t we be more direct? Can’t we make it simpler? Can’t we make it EEEasier?

The three Es to create a great candidate experience on a careers page are: easy navigation, engage the visitor, and educate.

1. Easy navigation

All kinds of people visit your careers page.  Customers, investors, students, teachers, competitors, and, oh yes, people checking out your company to see if it’s a good place to work. Anyone who visits your corporate website may decide to check out your jobs. So, put the Careers link right up front. Don’t make people have to search for it. Don’t bury it in your “about” link, or “contact” link. If you have a great company, then, let your visitors know it’s a great place to work.

Your jobs should be searchable or listed by location, job title and job function. It should be easy to get to a specific job. Each job should have its own page ID, so that all those people who visit, are just “shopping,” but, then see the perfect job for their next door neighbor or cousin or boss and can email the URL and spread the word. Ideally your job ads should have one click sharing features to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. It’s a key component of viral marketing. Don’t miss this opportunity to leverage web of mouth advertising.

2. Engage the visitor

The best way to engage people is with a story. We want to hear stories about real people who work there. In fact, we want to see real people. It’s easy to post videos of real employees talking about what they do and why they love working there. If you don’t have such employees, your problems won’t be solved by a great career page. Candidates want to see your people philosophy and strategy, what HR Influencers are currently called “talent management.”

Now, how do you get great stories? Engage your marketing department because recruitment is a marketing problem (to be discussed in a future article) and they understand how to connect the message to the receiver. Ask your employees to volunteer their stories. We live in a reality television age and everyone seems to be friends with the camera. Can you think of a better employee recognition program? Plus it’ll be fun (if you think making a company video can’t be fun, you haven’t seen Twitter’s Join the Flock viral video…)

Prospective employees also want to know about your products and strategy, so consider including interesting tidbits about a best selling product. Steve Jobs was a master at this. That’s why Apple’s employees are so engaged. They have a common goal of delivering game changing products.

In stories about your company’s leadership, toss the suits. Lose the formality. Theory X is passé, anyway. Show their human side with pictures and videos of them talking to employees in a real work environment. If you have great managers, let your employees brag about how much they get from their managers. If the number one reason people leave is their manager (some say, “People don’t quit jobs, they quit managers.”), what do you think is one of the biggest motivators to join a team?

3. Educate

 

This is a best practice for careers sites, and job ads. Be transparent.

It will save you lots of time later and get them on the right track, even before they get their badge. What to teach?

• Your values and culture, key for new hires to know.

• Something about your industry and the competitive environment is good, too. Yes, of course, the highly motivated job seeker will do their homework be viewing your Social Media Footprint and your annual report via Yahoo! Finance, but you need to think about what any new employee needs to know to be successful. It amazes me to walk into a client’s facility and discover an employee who knows exactly how his or her job contributes to the company’s goals.

• Keep your topics employee-centric, with information about benefits and career options.

• Information about the hiring process (don’t lie!) is great, too, so that people know what to expect.

The overall goal is to communicate why great people want to work at your company. Don’t muddy the message with HR compliance speak such as “we are committed to a diverse work environment” and “we are an equal opportunity employer.” If your HR exec insists on such messages, put it in the fine print at the bottom of the page. If you want a diverse workforce, then show pictures that prove your commitment to diversity. When candidates read the “commitment to diversity” blurb, then go to the “leaders” page and see and read little to no diversity, candidates will think the company is lying. If you want to attract the right kinds of people, then look for ways to broaden this depiction of your company culture. Don’t be afirad to ask your marketing department for help.

Pat Sharp, The Talent Architect blends strategy, technology tools, and assessment tools with marketing magic to create unique talent solutions. Past and current clients include: Motorola, Deloitte, TiVo, and Cloudscaling. Visit The Talent Architect or drop her a line at pat@thetalentarchitect.com.