Snag the best talent through employee content marketing.
Note: This article is part of a series on B2E Content Marketing.
A position opens up at your company. You need to fill it quickly, but you also need more than a body to warm a chair. Job listings offer your best resource to find top talent, but you must treat them with a high-level content marketing approach.
Most job listings are boring.
There, I said it. True, a job listing shouldn’t read like the latest bodice-ripper to hit the shelves at your local airport bookstore, but neither should it put you to sleep. Not if you want to get more interest in your open positions, that is.
Generic job listings might deliver all the pertinent information, but they’re less engaging than your car’s owner’s manual. Why would you want to start an employer-employee relationship that way?
Responsibilities, qualifications, expectations — blech. Have you ever read a list of educational requirements and thought, “Yes! This is a company I want to work for!”?
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
This doesn’t mean you should forego the accepted job listing format. I’m suggesting that you improve upon it using proven content marketing strategies.
A job listing should be transformative.
In other words, when a prospective candidate reads it, he or she should feel something. Even if it’s revulsion, you’ve elicited a response.
How do you write transformative job listings?
Start with a brainstorming session. Grab the nearest magic marker, then fish an old receipt out of your pocket and turn it over. All set.
Now here’s the question I want your brain to storm:
Why should the best [insert job title here] in your industry want to join your team?
Wait, though, because I have a few rules I want you to follow:
- You can’t use any of the currently fashionable buzzwords to describe your company. Innovative, creative, synergistic, scaleable — these words have no place here.
- Each benefit on your brainstorming list should come from a place of emotion instead of logic. We’re trying to capture your company culture and connect with candidates on a deeper level.
- The reasons you list should have something to do with other members of your team. Imagine that you’re inviting a stranger to join your family. What would you want him or her to know before you sat down to your first Thanksgiving dinner together?
Got that? Wonderful. Ready…set…brainstorm!
This is how we turn ho-hum job listings into transformative content.
Once you have your list of words and phrases, pluck to or three of the best items and open your job description with a gripping narrative. Tell a story that a prospect will want to participate in.
Each job listing must say something momentous.
Momentous job listings are both of-the-moment and forward-thinking. That might sound like a contradiction, but it makes sense. You’re hiring someone to fill a position right now, but you want him or her to stay with your company for many years to come.
Timely, long-term opportunities always catch the best fish. Job seekers want both stability and immediacy, as do employers.
In your B2B or B2C content marketing campaigns, you probably use urgency to persuade buyers into making split-second decisions. Limited-time offers are like catnip for today’s consumers.
FOMO is real, guys. Use it to your advantage.
Let prospects know that you’re only accepting applications through a certain date. Mention future rewards that might tempt ladder climbers to give your open position a shot.
I saw this a lot between 2008 and 2010. Companies chose buzzwords like “job stability” to lure in top talent because they knew that job seekers were hungry for long-term opportunities.
You don’t, however, need to wait for an economic crisis to write more momentous job postings.
Don’t be afraid to use opportunism for job listings.
Just as in B2B and B2C content marketing, B2E (business-to-employee) communication goes through trends. Don’t ignore them.
Right now, for instance, we’re seeing more dynamic C-suites. You still have your CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CTOs, and CMOs. However. chiefs go by other names, as well:
- CRO: Chief Relationship Officer
- CIO: Chief Information Officer or Chief Inspiration Officer
- CCO: Chief Communications Officer or Chief Curation Officer
- CAO: Chief Amazement Officer
You get the picture.
If you know about this trend in advance, you can capitalize on it to attract more prospects.
Perhaps, for instance, you could give an old job title a new spin.
The best job listings build on one another.
You’ve heard the phrase “don’t try to reinvent the wheel.” It applies to job listings and content marketing in equal measure.
Once you find a job listing style that works, don’t change it. Keep your employment branding as consistent as possible.
Here’s the thing:
Job seekers will likely see your listings more than once.
Mixed messages will send them right into the arms of your competition.
Why? Because job seekers aren’t stupid. If they sense dissonance, they’ll lose interest — or worse, think you’re being disingenuous with your job descriptions.
I’m not advocating a copy-and-paste approach to job listings. Each position is unique. However, using the same language, tone, and personality helps your employment brand stand out.
Windmill content works for job listings.
We’ve addressed all four blades of the Windmill Content model. Now we have to put them together.
- Let applicants know why you’re the best game in town. Make the position irresistible to potential candidates.
- Hit a pain point. How can your company resolve a problem for the candidate or help him or her with career advancement?
- Make the job opening timely and future-oriented. Build up the candidate’s confidence in your organization.
- Lather, rinse, and repeat. Use formulas that work for your company
Have you written particularly effective job descriptions? What worked for you? And do any of these strategies ring true?