We talk a lot about what makes a good employer. In my preview for 2014 I wrote, the matter of identity will be of more importance. Employers will have to (re)think their position and perception. The 'finding of employer brand' plays a particular role as well.
Yesterday, I read an interesting article in the newest edition of Markenbrand (a magazine about Employer Branding) about perception of employers at job websites. In 2012 more than half of all job-seekers used online-job markets. For companies these job-websites offer a wide range of possibilities of job-ads, also. Why it is not wondrous that the number of offers increase continously. Yet, this causes piling problems because the result when searching becomes an unstructured mind map of googillion possible matches. For Users, especially career-starters, it faster gets difficult to distinguish between all different offers - a true information overload.
When checking the hits of a search it more and more turns into pabulum - or as the German would translate literally 'unit goo'. All phrases are on repete. Honestly, it is no fun to continue reading. Maybe you know the following phrases:
"We offer a challenging and exciting job in a growing firm", or "we offer an attractive work place in the heart of (city xy)", or "a motivated team awaits you". All of this has got nada to do with poyitioning an employer brand!
Have job-websites reached their limits? Do companies have to think of other more expedient channels in order to reach candidates better and to be recognized? Will companies drift away from job-portals?
Redesigning the concept job-ads on websites
The answer is no. Job-websites offer so many possibilities to create job-ads exciting and attention-grabbing, differing from other companies. Of course here are creative heads asked - in graphic design as well as writing. It starts with the job-title which is the first point of contact of a job-ad. Do you remember the campaign by Axel Springer which showed "applicants" with self-ironic and funny job-titles? Remember to put in enough buzz words so the proper search result is shown.
Have job-websites reached their limits? Do companies have to think of other more expedient channels in order to reach candidates better and to be recognized? Will companies drift away from job-portals?
Redesigning the concept job-ads on websites
The answer is no. Job-websites offer so many possibilities to create job-ads exciting and attention-grabbing, differing from other companies. Of course here are creative heads asked - in graphic design as well as writing. It starts with the job-title which is the first point of contact of a job-ad. Do you remember the campaign by Axel Springer which showed "applicants" with self-ironic and funny job-titles? Remember to put in enough buzz words so the proper search result is shown.
Further possibilities are offered by design and within the display text. Important and often underestimated is the time of publishing. There are peaks where job-searchers are most active - working days between 6 and 8 AM, around noontime and in the very evening. On top of that, the job-ads published on job-sites should be shown on the companys websites as well. Another factor is the kind of application. Offer an online-mask with option to upload files or ask for an application by eMail. Figure out how your target group ticks and after which criterias the job-ads are regarded - and optimize your online presence in the jungle of job-websites.
Ralf
