“In a world where they had completely different goals and yet shared cubicle walls, comes a story of two departments that worked together to build a great brand…”

With today’s unemployment rate it is tempting to approach recruiting for positions as, “If I post it, they will come”.  Certainly during these economic times you will get a greater number of job applicants than when things are rolling.  That doesn’t mean that you are attracting the best possible talent.

“In a world where they had completely different goals and yet shared cubicle walls, comes a story of two departments that worked together to build a great brand…”

With today’s unemployment rate it is tempting to approach recruiting for positions as, “If I post it, they will come”.  Certainly during these economic times you will get a greater number of job applicants than when things are rolling.  That doesn’t mean that you are attracting the best possible talent.

Most top-flight professionals these days are members of LinkedIn and likely also receive an automated e-mail job feed from Indeed.com, tweetmyjobs.com or other job board focused on their profession.  Jobs posted on their LinkedIn group pages and ones come across their e-mail feed get the usual triage view.  If the job description or the company itself doesn’t capture their attention then it’s on to the message in their inbox about tomorrow’s tortuous budget meeting.

As an HR professional you know the importance of putting the right people in the right positions.  Would you hire a marketer to handle delicate personnel issues?  As my son’s favorite saying these days goes, “Epic Fail”.  By the same token you shouldn’t try to market (recruit for) a position without marketing input.  Here are three ways a marketing and HR partnership can improve your employment branding today:

1.  Connect Effectively on LinkedIn - Have your corporate recruiters find the appropriate professional groups for the jobs they are recruiting for and join them.  Once they are part of the group they can post positions for the group to see.  Most groups send out auto e-mail updates daily that will include your job posting.

To find the groups that are applicable for your positions, type the job profession category – i.e. “accountants” in the search box and select “groups” from the drop down at the left.

2.  Partner with Marketing to write compelling job posting headlines and descriptions for your posts.  Which of these is more compelling?

• Staff Accountant needed to service 125 southwest retail locations for national flip flop retail chain.

OR

• Regional VP of Operations looking for accounting partner to contribute to the success of a dynamic and innovative retailer as it changes the way people shop for footwear.

3.  Make the “Careers” section of your website/Facebook page rock!  Once your compelling job description has driven a candidate to the website, close the deal with compelling content about how great a place it is to work.  Ideas for improving your employment branding on your website/Facebook page:

• Videos featuring your employees
• Employee Blogs
• Podcasts with senior executives

Takeaways

• To create the best possible employment branding content that gets the attention your target recruit, partner with marketing to utilize their creative expertise and knowledge of your brand.
• Have your recruiters join applicable professional LinkedIn groups and post jobs.
• Make the most of the three chances you have to drive top candidate interest in a position
  • Create compelling headlines for a job postings
  • Write an interest inducing, enthusiastic job description
  • Invest in employment branding of your company featuring current employees on your website/Facebook page

- Chad Gretzema Find Me On LinkedIN