Recruitment advertising

An integrated approach

Joint advertising campaigns between recruitment consultancies and their clients are on the increase. We look at some of the reasons why.

The race for the best candidates to take the leading companies into the new millennium is on and continues to hot up. Most recruiters are aware that they have to spread their net as wide as possible in order to find the best candidates available within the market place. All recognise that advertising plays a crucial role. However such campaigns have to remain cost effective and all too often companies find themselves conducting a failed advertising campaign, paying for it yet still incurring additional costs through the usage of a recruitment company.

Advertising copy  

One of the best arguments for recruitment advertising rather than relying on a file search or alternatively running your own ad campaign is that candidates often need to be attracted to the market. It is frequently the case that high flyers are not necessarily active in looking for a new role, so therefore they may well not be registered with a recruitment consultancy. Such individuals scan through the advertising columns and only respond if they see something that excites them. However in the initial phase they may only be looking for further information and that is where advertising through a recruitment consultancy can play a vital role in the conversion process. It is far easier for a candidate to discuss the job role with a third party, confidentially and with no feeling of obligation than it is for him at this stage to speak to the recruiting company directly.

Such nurturing is all part of the process. At Hays we will invite the individual in for a career discussion and sell the benefits of the post and the company independently.

Thus a final shortlist can include candidates encountered via a file search and those who have responded directly from an advert. When confidentiality needs to be maintained the recruitment consultancy has the benefit of placing an anonymous advert with only the recruitment consultancy being mentioned that again is liable to receive a wider response than a “suspicious” Box Number.

Costs  

The process often costs less than you might think, particularly when considering the time wasted in processing the response of a wasted advert. This can be the best way to recruit senior staff without having to resort to the more expensive and often risky exercise of search and selection.