Focusing on Candidate Experience

The candidate experience is based on how the candidate reacts to each step of the process, and effectively how they interact with the overall recruitment process.

A candidate experience should begin even before the candidate knows they’re applying, and branding is the foundation and facade of your candidate experience.

A strong brand or reputation means that recruitment companies can find it easier to attract more clients and more candidates, the knock-on effect of this is that a strong brand/reputation can also influence how well you engage with those audiences. This process invariably has an impact on the profitability of the business, and is contrary to the view that a ‘brand’ lacks any intrinsic value.

This is now more important than ever as agencies across the UK fight to represent the top candidates, and in order to succeed Recruitment companies must stand up against stiff competition by using great branding.

A brand also conveys a certain assurance as to the nature of the product or service, and is therefore usually reflective of the brands own industry reputation.

Strong recruitment agency branding can be memorable –  helping win more candidates and more placements, by implementing a sense of credibility. It can also persuade prospective clients by providing a trustworthy relationship, and particularly for our company help define our business and its specialities.

These methods both articulate a company’s strengths and support a strong engagement with their audiences.

Moreover, by being visible on social media, you are able to promote your image and commit to responding and communicating with prospective candidates.

To entice use job ads as an opportunity to market the company culture, and the details of the jobs. If a candidate has visited the page, they are interested, therefore make the journey from interest to application as easy and pain-free as possible. By making it as easy to apply as possible, you avoid the risk of losing candidates unnecessarily.

 www.technicalresources.co.uk

Promoting and driving traffic to Job Listings

Aside from the commonplace methods that many recruitment companies employ in order to promote their job listings, there are other ways to drive traffic and interest to job advertisements.

Making use of existing traffic can be a good way to channel potential candidates to your listings through referral. The company website or inbuilt blog should enhance your listings by including relevant keyword rich content, and an up to date listing of the active jobs.

Press Releases can also encourage referrals. Writing press releases announcing your new open position/s and submitting this to a free PR distribution site is another method of increasing overall exposure back to your original listing or vacancy page, but also acts as another form of marketing that promotes the role itself.

Forum posting can increase overall exposure, and in general recruitment marketing campaigns often require posting to relevant forums and communities. There are community forums setup online for virtually every niche, industry, or topic. This can also be implemented within LinkedIn who have thousands of niche groups and forums that discuss jobs and topics. These can be a good place to find highly skilled niche candidates.

Organic Search Traffic is a means which has been mentioned previously in this blog, but shouldn’t be overlooked when promoting job listings. As in ‘Optimising Job advertisements’ it is vital that listings are optimised for search engines. SEO optimised job posting requires page titles, heading, and META tags to ensure they target the keywords for the job opening that you’re looking to rank highest for.

Driving Social Media traffic through Social Sharing can be started through Twitter and Facebook. On Twitter, tweet your job listings out with the hashtag relevant to the job opening. Many recruiters use this method through Broadbean which posts to multiple job boards and listings via Social networking sites.

As with free promotion and advertising there is also paid Search. Although Google Adwords and BingAds are typically utilised to entice consumers, PPC has a place in recruiting. Assuming the job listings are optimised for organic search, your quality score for your job listings will be high and costs will be down. Refer to ‘PPC for Recruiters’.

Email Traffic can also be driven through regular email marketing. This can be done within regular candidate specific mail shots, but also through weekly/monthly newsletters.

www.technicalresources.co.uk

Enhancing a mobile Recruitment strategy

Mobile Recruitment is now more important than ever. Rises and improvements in technology have made smartphones capable of enhancing the candidate job experience for the better, making jobs boards accessible in multiple locations, and CVs and profiles transportable.

Here is some revealing data…

◦91% of employees use a smartphone for work

◦21% of searches performed on Google are through mobile devices

◦Mobile web users will grow by 16.6% per year between 2010 and 2015 (IDC)

Mobile enables employers to reach the millions of job seekers who use mobile devices to search for jobs, research companies and connect with referrals.

1. Understand your candidates: In order to successfully recruit candidates, you have to be able to understand them, their behaviour, and their needs. Tune into the ‘Candidate Experience’

2. Engage! Candidates are drawn to brands and organisations that offer compelling content and engage in conversation. Position your company as a resource for job seekers; job seekers tend to engage with companies that have content that helps them with their job search and career-related questions. Social recruiting can also include having conversations with your users about company culture and industry news. Engaging discussions will build and create long term relationships with candidates.

3. Integrate other recruitment channels: Like any other recruitment strategy, mobile is not a one size fits all solution. Completely eliminating other channels like job boards and career sites will not produce the desired results. It is important for agencies to understand how mobile can enhance – not replace – other recruitment channels.

Mobile provides recruiters the opportunity to connect and engage with candidates at any time, any place, and still provide them with the most personal experience. Mobile is how candidates are connecting with brands, friends, family, and peers constantly.

www.technicalresources.co.uk

Building a Recruitment brand via Social Media

The main responsibility of the Social Media sphere is to interact and engage with prospective and current candidates. By becoming a valuable resource for the candidates you want to attract it is easy to build relationships and present yourself as an organisation that does more than just recruiting. Perhaps the principle way to do this is by sharing insightful and interesting content, but in order to do this you must also generate the right kind of exposure and promote your brand in order to attract followers.

This activity can start and also be centred around a general and active engagement in all aspects of Social Media. Following active and engaged users is a very effective way of getting their attention and having them look at your profile and follow you back. This is especially effective when engaging with users who are interested in the types of content that you’ll be sharing, i.e. Recruitment in your particular industry and sector.

Current and prospective Clients can be easily found and followed, whilst hunting for candidates who are active in the niche sectors you serve may be more complex, yet yields a more positive rerun over time as these users will have a high propensity to follow you back, be interested in what you’re sharing and inclined to retweet you. This can also provide a great opportunity to personally interact with those that follow you, and whenever someone comments on your tweet, replies to you, re-tweets you, it is important to take this as an opportunity to turn that into a discussion.

Social Media has engulfed many areas of business, and hijacked commonly traditional methods of communication, although perhaps none as much as Recruitment. Twitter provides a platform for over 500m users and Facebook over 1.1bn – this no doubt makes it an extremely powerful platform through which to communicate, network and socialise.

At the foundation of any recruitment process lies all three of these attributes, and Social Media is not just an invaluable tool within networking and communication: its also a free and effective marketing and promotion tool and the ideal place for advertising to millions of potential customers.

As social media technology continues to evolve and become more widespread, it presents an exciting opportunity for the recruitment industry over the coming years.

We utilise Facebook at our page Technical Resources Twitter by using both a main account @JobsTecRes and Job/Business specific accounts that frequently publish active jobs – for Fire and Security Jobs @FireSecurityJob and Telecoms @TelecomJobUK, and with Google+.

www.technicalresources.co.uk 

Recruitment PPC Campaign mistakes

As illustrated in an earlier piece: ‘PPC for Recruiters’ PPC advertising is a powerful mechanism for creating new customers or any business. It is; however, one that is closely fought within Recruitment.

Search Engine rankings are the battlegrounds of the recruitment world. In order to place themselves at the top, recruiters utilise Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertisements in order to dominate the first pages of search engines, and win over Candidates and Clients.

Most companies, including our site: technicalresources.co.uk employ organic Search Engine Optimisation, which encourages (free) traffic to the website. Equally, we make use of Pay-per-Click (PPC), which works as a means of placing keyword related adverts on search engines like Google, via Google Adwords and some other search engine specific platforms.

Below are some common areas which must be addressed in order to succeed within Recruitment PPC Marketing campaigns.

As with Job advertising, as per ‘Optimising Job Advertisements’ geographical targeting is hugely important. Like optimising Job posts, you want to attract the best quality candidates, but the most suited, therefore advertising a London Job to regions in the North East would likely attract a wide talent pool but would provide candidates that were actually not relevant to the initial search properties. In the case of PPC, the correct targeting is just as important. Not only are you potentially advertising to the incorrect demographic, you are also wasting time and resources. By only targeting the areas that offer maximum ROI and relevancy, PPC can eventually be a rewarding form of advertising.

Match Types should not be ignored…

Keyword match types are often ‘key’ to PPC perfomance. Selecting the correct type for your chosen Recruitment-related keywords is important in order to trigger the right Ads to the right users.

An exact match can be used to triggers ads when that exact phrase is queried. A phrase match can be used to trigger an Ad when a user searches with an exact match coupled with a word or phrase which surrounds the context of the keyword. Whilst a broad match can be used to trigger Ads with a wider reach and range of keywords, that may only loosely match the context of he keyword. Pinpointing the correct match type for each keyword phrase can often make the difference between a low quality keyword and a high quality one, and it the high quality scoring keywords which make the difference for the eventual ROI.

Neglecting Negative Keywords

Negative keywords are vital for campaigns that are under performing due to their overall relevancy. This is because regardless of match type, negative keywords prevent Ads from being displayed when irrelevant or unattractive words appear alongside broad and phrase match terms. This is a relatively simple aspect to modify by carrying out some detailed keyword research, and then adding those unattractive/irrelevant words to your Campaign or Ad level Negative keyword list.

Ignoring Adwords’ competitors

Google Adwords are not the only option for PPC Search engine advertising. MSN and Bing also offer virtually identical services, albeit with a notably lower market share. They do however take up the rest of the market you have already chosen to occupy, so creating other accounts elsewhere can be a good way to increase your overall exposure across multiple Search Engines.

Selecting ‘Key’words

Many companies make the mistake of targeting keywords that are too broad. Quality and specificity is paramount in PPC, as broadness directly correlates with saturation, low match rates and ultimately a negative ROI.

Using industry specific keywords is a method of predicting the potential search queries of clients and candidates, and like geographical targeting consider location specific search queries or searches that avoid predictable keywords, terms and phrases.

Paying attention to User experience

User experience is an easy element that can be controlled after PPC Ads and the conversions they create after each impression.  Research via Analytics can ensure that you control the journey of the customer. Try to avoid where possible, letting the user control their own experience by sending them to the homepage of the site. This can cause user bouncing, and ultimately determine how quickly a user gets frustrated with their experience of your product (or in the case of Recruiters, a Job post or Client page). It is therefore commonplace to use specific landing pages for individual Ads, in order to relate to the users initial search intent.

www.technicalresources.co.uk

Job Spotlight: Network Support Roles

Technical Resources have developed a particular expertise at filling a range of IT Support roles including Network Support Jobs within the IT Industry. These are roles that many organisations typically find difficult to fill with the right calibre of candidate within a reasonable time frame. We are particularly skilled at efficiently filling these roles and we have provided effective recruitment solutions for all of the critical IT Support Jobs in just about every type of IT support environment.

We are able to provide both permanent and contract recruitment solutions for both clients and candidates looking to fill network support and IT based roles. Our capabilities include Contingency (Database) Recruitment, Advertising Campaigns, Response Management, Search & Selection and Head hunting.

We’re recruiting for a range of IT positions including:

• IT Helpdesk Jobs
• Network Support Jobs
• Technical Support Jobs
• Call Loggers
• Technical Helpdesk Support
• Cisco CCNA Jobs

We understand the value that front line support roles can typically add for our client organisations and we maintain a strong and increasing database of both permanent and contract candidates who are qualified to work in a range of network support roles. We can source candidates who have worked in specific industry sectors, who have particular qualifications or have worked in particular software environments.

Whether you are looking for your next permanent vacancy or contract position in a Network Support role or if you are a client curious to find out more about our excellent recruitment solutions, please call in and speak to our helpful IT Recruitment Consultants on how we can help your next career move or compliment your business needs.

To see the current Network Support Jobs and Technical Support Jobs that we are handling use our vacancy search facility. We are not just people you can talk to, but people in whom you can trust and relate.

@JobsTecRes is our main Twitter page posting daily jobs, and industry specific information for roles in IT, and is our primary account for www.technicalresources.co.uk

How do Candidates use LinkedIn

LinkedIn is perhaps now known as the number-one professional networking site. Since its launch in 2003, it has grown to incorporate 200 million registered users making it hard for both professionals and recruiters to avoid LinkedIn and its dominance.

The biggest jump in recent years, apart from the networking and the job board capabilities it was founded on, is its simple pairing with mobile recruitment. LinkedIn allows candidates to create and build profiles that are easily transportable, thus removing the previous issues candidates had with applying for jobs quickly. There is also a greater opportunity for recruiters to view the profiles of candidates and the flip side of this is that they can also be found by potential recruitment agencies and employers. The referral system that LinkedIn employs also enables recruiters/employers to gain assurance of the potential candidate by consulting shared contacts. As well as this, the interactive CV includes a record of their applications, further helping the vetting process.

These processes are both appealing to recruiters and professional job seekers. Top candidates are learning how to improve and optimise their profiles to use in place of or as a precursor to CV’s.

Just as a good CV is essential for a candidate looking for a job, a good company profile on LinkedIn is essential for a business looking to attract the right candidates. Include your mission statement, details about your latest ventures and projects, testimonials from employees and most importantly your contact details.

When you need to search for the most suitable candidates, LinkedIn is key. LinkedIn gives the opportunity to search using a wide range of criteria such as specific job experience, technical skills, interests, education and much more.

LinkedIn it seems has revolutionised many elements of the jobs market, changing the ways we recruit and are recruited.

www.technicalresources.co.uk

 

The process of Email marketing

Email marketing has developed its value to the marketing process of many Recruitment companies. Despite this, many companies still fail to target specific objectives that can improve responses and potential leads.

It is important to harness a particular theme or objective within each campaign. Wide ranging categories typically for recruitment brands include candidate-centered aims such as building up a CV database via a send out, or perhaps targeting clients to send in jobs.

There is also the need to within both these to build and sustain the company brand. Audience-specific campaigns are for course essential, and being targeted is key. Building up a detailed list of targeted subscribers can harness the power of relevance.

Content is king

Well written, intriguing content is still important. You only have one chance per campaign to target your client/candidate with your message, so it is vital that content is succinct and compelling. If you are wanting to ask your recipient to perform actions such as clicking links, or asking questions, make these requests clear, simple and again relevant enough to make your recipient believe he/she is not wasting his or her’s own time. These are conversion techniques that should be supported by the correct links to your website or page.

Further to this, integrate your social platforms, alongside linking back to your site and your conventional contact details. – technicalresources.co.uk

Facebook LinkedIn Twitter

Consider the amount of text, and also your use of images and surveys etc. If so make sure these look great on mobile platforms, as it is increasingly obvious that recipients are much more likely to open your email with their smartphones.

After sending, monitor responses. Often through third party software you are able to check conversions, locate the subscribers who click on your links, and track bounce rates and the total amount of recipients who have actively opened and read your email. Use this information wisely, and reflect on how influential and successful your campaigns are.

www.technicalresources.co.uk

Investing in a great website

Alongside both the implementation of traffic generation methods, and social media integration, those Recruitment companies that are to succeed digitally must invest in a user-friendly, highly functional yet aesthetically pleasing website. It is the latter part of this point that has perhaps become more important over the past three years. Branding and design are important and becoming more so. Websites are increasingly reliant on positive judgements and good first impressions from visitors.

However, good looks aren’t ‘the be all and end all’. So-called: ‘Responsive design’ has inevitably become more important for all sites, particularly the now mobile dominated sphere of recruitment. Being responsive means being accessible and functional – and basically effective on any device, namely desktop, laptop, tablet and smart phone.

These aims are now fundamental to any website development strategy. There are however many other attributes that should be considered specifically for the Recruitment industry. These are now recognised as Recruitment attributes as they are targeted specifically to ensure some level of ROI. Candidates specifications such as an in-built Vacancy database, Candidate application / registration system, Job alert by email, Job / Job reference search facility, RSS feeds, Candidate CV library / drop and mail to a friend function – are all now recognised as essential Recruitment website specifications.

We are currently part way through our own website re-development/re-build of technicalresources.co.uk and are targeting methods of integrating our Broadbean system and our social media pages:

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Google+

www.technicalresources.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

The Value of Social Media to the Recruitment company

Social Media has engulfed many areas of business, and hijacked commonly traditional methods of communication, although perhaps none as much as Recruitment. Twitter provides a platform for over 500m users and Facebook over 1.1bn – this no doubt makes it an extremely powerful platform through which to communicate, network and socialise.

At the foundation of any recruitment process lies all three of these attributes, and Social Media is not just an invaluable tool within networking and communication: its also a free and effective marketing and promotion tool and the ideal place for advertising to millions of potential customers.

As social media technology continues to evolve and become more widespread, it presents an exciting opportunity for the recruitment industry over the next decade.

We utilise Twitter by using both a main account @JobsTecRes and Job/Business specific accounts that frequently publish active jobs – for Fire and Security Jobs @FireSecurityJob and Telecoms @TelecomJobUK.

www.technicalresources.co.uk