Career change is a big decision. This is why candidates today check multiple sources to research your company before deciding whether or not to apply for your job or accept your offer.
These touchpoints along the modern candidate’s journey are important channels where you can: 1) share your employer brand messaging, and 2) provide candidates with the information they need to decide if your company is the right fit for them. But which ones should you focus on?
Here are 4 recruiting channels where candidates will look when researching your company (and some tips on what you should share on each!):
#1: Your Careers Website
According to The Talent Board, your careers page is the #1 place candidates go to research your company. This is the most important recruiting channel you have, so it’s worth dedicating the resources to building the most attractive, informative and personalized careers site that you can and updating the content regularly.
What to share with candidates here:
Your careers site should explain your company’s mission, vision and purpose so candidates can get a full picture of what your company is all about. In addition to that, your careers site content should provide candidates with “Your Why” – why they would want to work with you.
If you want the full scoop on what candidates want from your careers site, take a look at the new Rally™ Lookbook, 12 Features of an Appealing Careers Page. This will also give you some inspiration on how to communicate your “why” to candidates!
#2: Your Employer Profile on Job Boards & Talent Communities
Candidates naturally will check out your profile on job boards and talent communities, especially after seeing one of your jobs advertised there. In addition to popular sites, like Indeed, Glassdoor, LinkedIn and The Muse, where candidates expect companies of a certain size to have a profile, you might also consider what specialty or niche job sites you might want to maintain a profile on to reach candidates. To do this, consider which sites appeal to the target demographic of candidates you’re looking to attract.
For instance, if you work for a startup or a company targeting developers you might want to create and maintain a profile on AngelList or Github. If you’re looking to attract female candidates, consider Fairygodboss.
What to share with candidates here:
Candidates often look to your profile on job sites and talent communities for information about your company’s culture and work environment, beyond what they’ll get in your job description and as a complement to employee reviews. Upload or embed photos and videos of your employee stories inside your company profiles to give candidates the details they’re looking for.
Additionally, a best practice is to encourage your employees to leave honest feedback on employer review sites to give candidates the inside scoop. We share a few ideas of how to ask for reviews in the Rally blog, Top 3 Tips to Manage Your Glassdoor Reputation. If you need to know about what employer review sites are out there, we’ve listed them for you here: 18 Employer Review Sites to Put on Your Radar.
Pro tip: Make sure your messaging is consistent across all of these platforms and your careers site. If you update your EVP on your careers site, don’t forget to make the same update on each of your profiles. If candidates are receiving mixed messages, it could make them more hesitant to trust your employer brand messages.
#3: Your Social Media Profiles
For some companies, their social media profiles are just as important if not more so than their careers page. Candidates want to feel like a real insider, seeing what your culture is like not only according to what you say but also what your employees say (see #4 below). Some popular social media platforms where you might consider maintaining a presence and publishing content to are Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, but of course it all depends on your company and your target audience.
As with the job sites, there are many other social media sites that exist and that could be a great fit depending on the demographic you’re looking to communicate with. If you want to connect with a UX, design or marketing audience, Pinterest is the obvious choice. But a newer option is Are.na specifically for creatives.
What to share with candidates here:
Share your culture and career progression stories to gather interest and drive traffic back to your careers page and job descriptions. Pin key employer branding posts to the top of your feed, where applicable. These pinned posts should spotlight the top reasons why people would want to join your company, based on authentic conversations you have with your employees.
If social is an area you’ve yet to use for your recruiting efforts, don’t be afraid to jump in. It is a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be intimidating. We’ve put together a guide for you that explains how to get started: Social Media Recruiting for Beginners.
#4: Your Employees’ Social Media Profiles
Often overlooked, your employees’ social profiles are a spot where candidates might find out about your company and the type of work that people on your team do. The biggest one to focus on is LinkedIn, but there may be other types of social profiles to consider, depending on what line of work you’re recruiting for.
What to share here:
Your employees can help attract candidates to your company by how they describe their role and your company on their social profiles. Ensure they have your latest messaging for use on their LinkedIn profiles and provide them with training on how to optimize their accounts.
If you still need to figure out “Your Why” to refine the messaging you share with employees, I’d suggest taking a look at the new Rally How-to Guide: 5 Steps to Fast-Track Your Employer Brand, which shows how to uncover your employer brand messaging in 5 quick and easy steps. This resource also shares some additional tips on how to empower and activate your employees on social.
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Need help creating more content to share on all of these channels? The Rally team is offering several in-person workshops this fall to help you create a Recruitment Marketing Content Playbook, so that you’ll never be left scrambling for content again! You can take a look at the details and register on the Rally Workshop page.
