Recruitment Branding is Company Branding / Reputation in Business and at Work

During an initial intake meeting with a new client several years ago, the client didn’t know why they could not attract good bookkeeper candidates.  I asked to see the ad they were using.  It read as follows:

Our firm is looking for an Entry-Level Bookkeeper. Interested candidates should send their résumé to:  (Insert Name)@gmail.com.

And it was a print ad.

“We never get a good response,” they lamented.  “During the Great Recession, we’d post that ad on Craiglist and get at least 10 good candidates.  Now – nothing.”

In advance of my meeting with New Client, I had also Googled them and looked them up on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.  Not much there. “Part of the issue is that there’s very little information about your company on the web, and you have a very bare-bones website with basically just your company name, address and phone number, ” I responded. “For job candidates, no news is bad news.  If they can’t find good news about your company, job candidates will often conclude – mistakenly –  that your company is not doing well.”

New Client paused, and nodded. “We definitely need to do more marketing and public relations,” they agreed.  “It’s not our strong spot, and we just don’t have the time to do it. We’re lucky – we get almost of our business from referrals.”

“You are lucky,” I continued. “Consider hiring outsourced or in-house marketing and PR help to start to get the word out about how well your company is doing. Not only will it beef up your company brand and help spread the word about your reputation when your referral pipeline has a dry spell – it will also let candidates know that your company’s success is a good career investment.”

New Client nodded. “How about our current Bookkeeper ad?”

We looked at their ad together on the computer screen. “Frankly, it’s a bit dry,” I observed. “Aside from not mentioning anything about how well the company is doing, it’s missing information on how your job will meet a candidate’s needs and/or solve their problem / pain-point – not unlike what also makes a good client ad.”

“Can you show me an example of an ad that did bring in qualified candidates?” New Client asked. “Yes,” I replied, bringing up a document on the computer screen. “This ad attracted great candidates in a tight auditor candidate market:”

Internal Auditor Wanted

– No Travel Required!

• Salary / Bonus

• One of Inc.’s List of the Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies!

• Opportunity for Advancement!

“Most talented auditor candidates travel up to 5 days a week,” I continued. “Once they get married and have children, or have similar ties which drive them to want to work where their home is, their pain-point is too much travel. Our new Internal Audit function did not require travel; the company’s growth at the time was amazing; and because Internal Audit was a new department, there were truly some great opportunities for advancement. We attracted top talent, which filled our hiring needs quickly.”

How will you beef up your company’s branding and reputation, to in turn ramp up your recruitment branding to attract, hire and retain top talent, in business and at work?