No man's land
Recruitment reflected, pt 4
Back to that CEO from the last edition.
He recognised his team’s adverts were generic, based on job descriptions, and also made the point they worked well enough for most vacancies.
They fill many vacancies directly.
Why fix what isn’t broken?
We talked about two points.
One that he accepts there are vacancies where adverts don’t work so well - for his business these are operator / engineer roles, and key hires where the business context is crucial.
For those they rely on agencies and headhunters.
The second, flipped the conversation.
“If you saw a generic advert, as a high capability candidate, would you apply?”
He said it would depend on how much he needs a job.
“If you were suitably employed, would a generic advert turn you off?”
He said yes, because it would take something special to gain his interest.
“Given you are looking for a new role, would you put your best foot forward and tailor your applications?”
Yes, of course.
“How would you tailor it, if you needed a job, yet the advert was generic?”
He’d probably use the terminology in their adverts.
“What, like strategic thinker, stakeholder management, communicate at all levels?”
He laughed.
“How many CVs do you see that are really generic?”
Most CVs are poor, they aren’t good documents to make a decision from.
“Do you think they tailored their CV against your adverts?”
…
“How about the agency and headhunter CVs?”
The CVs are generally generic, but they rely on the advice of their suppliers.
“How’s that working?”
He laughed, mixed. They interview too many candidates that aren’t suitable, and not enough that are.
“Have you checked out their adverts, if they advertise on your behalf?”
Why would he do that?
“To see how they advocate on your behalf.”
That’s something he’ll do.
“If you saw a CV that talked to your needs, in the way that you would apply for a job, would they be more appealing, particularly for a key hire?”
Yes.
“If you were you, which you are, just thinking about a move, how would you respond to an advert that spoke to your needs. Would it be more appealing?”
Yes.
“And if you had a process that produced appealing adverts for difficult vacancies, would it work against you for simple vacancies?”
He expects it would help, probably not so easy to do though!
“Would you say it’s the bit in the middle that’s lacking?”
How do you mean?
“Interpretation. Showing why a vacancy should appeal, and how an application should appeal.”
That’s your job! How would we do that?
How can candidates interpret your words to find the right meaning?
How can you interpret theirs to do the same?
You have to give meaning, for others to find it.
For employers it can be the unknown unknown, if you don’t know how to bridge the perception gap.
How can you know what will appeal to your readers?
What meaning matters?
No man’s land.
By owning that gap, putting yourselves in the shoes of your ideal candidates, and showing with meaning who should apply, you give them agency to make the right decsion.
A decision that might be to contact you, apply, or even not apply for the right reasons.
The big myth of ‘better advertising’ is that employers don’t need more applicants, so why bother?
Yet better adverts attract more suitable candidates, while enabling unsuitable readers not to apply.
There will always be ‘shoot your shot’ applications of course - treat them kindly!
If you’re stuck in your trenches, it may feel a safe place, with plenty of ammunition flying over the sides.
No reason to do anything differently if you’re in a safe space, and staying still is the priority.
Yet even then you have a ready resource that can make your message more appealing - the people fighting with you in the trenches - those you already employ.
What challenges make them tick?
Why do they enjoy working for you?
What do their achievements looks like?
How do they experience your culture and colleagues?
Why did they leave their last jobs to work for you instead?
How do you invest in and reward their contributions?
What are you doing that makes their lives better?
How do you enable their success sustainably?
What are their intrinsic motivations?
The reason they work for you, may well be the meaning that helps others go over the top, or at least want to talk to you, rather than remain hidden on their side.
If they find that meaning appealing for the right reasons, they may offer the same opportunity your people already do.
Isn’t that a good reason to write more effective adverts?
For that CEO, the lesson too is for his developing job search. How can he bridge that gap and show ideal employers why he should be their pick for the top job?
Thanks for reading.
Regards,
Greg
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