Hire Strategies Blog

Job seekers own your employer brand

Remember when employer brand was something the employer/ad agency controlled?  Not any more.

2010 New Year predictions for social recruiting et al

I know it is a bit early but I thought I'd get this one done before I retire for the rest of this year.  My last post of 2009 and hopefully my last day of work for 2009.

So what are my predictions for 2010?

How job boards killed job ad creativity and how Twitter brings it back (maybe)

When I was a young recruiter we used the local press to attract staff using semi-display ads.  For those that have never heard of these, or have just forget, we paid by the line.  The more lines, the more cost and the less our bonus would be that month. 

Will the job advert ever get Twittered?

I did a quick search on a big job board for a few jobs and still find that the job advert content is as dull as ever.  I'm not sure if the job boards should limit the amount of characters similar to the way Twitter does so that content would need to be VERY focused on the key message.  Or are job adverts never going to change?

Problem is, I'm not really sure of the answer on this one!

Next time you want a lower fee watch this!

How will the Kindle DX change job advertising?

I remember when Peoplebank positioned their ability to display online job adverts that looked like a print advert as a real USP (which it was at the time).  Was if of any value?  Some liked it but as online has moved on fewer (but not all) people expect an online job advert to look/behave like a print advert.

But if the Kindle DX is going to change this then maybe the advertising agencies need to beef up their creative skills once again.

Bad landing page?

Google are pushing Adwords for recruitment quite hard these days which I am in support of.  But, one of the biggest errors I still see from job boards to (a few) corporates are bad landing pages.

Do recruitment advertising agencies deliver?

In my experience, I have seen very few advertising agencies that actually know much about online yet so many of then have a Head of Digital.  That's a bit like me calling myself Head of Gardening just because I mow the lawn and any overhanging plants that dare to venture into my domain!

So is it up to HR to manage the agency like a Buyer, or is it up to the Agency to deliver?  I've started a post on the Talent Management Network raising this issue which you are welcome to join:

Can HR learn from Buyers?  Join the discussion.