Picture this: you’re excited because you have the funds and the need to fill another position in your business. Now comes the challenging part… filling the position with a qualified candidate that works well with you and your team! This is where unique job ads can help.
Sounds like a pretty big ask, and it is. Many employers find that they want to do more than post a job online or ask their network for suggestions.
Unique job ad ideas help you think outside the box on how to get the word out about your listing. Thinking outside of the standard ads can also help your business as a whole stand out from the crowd, attracting innovative and interesting thinkers.
Ready to get started? Keep reading to learn how to hire employees with creative & unique job ads.
Unique Job Ads Start with the Fundamentals
Want to get creative with your job posting? First start with the basics
Before we jump into the “fun” stuff, let’s talk fundamentals.
You want to make sure you have your bases covered before starting on the creative stuff. This means setting up a career page for your listings, getting fully optimized job postings onto Google for Jobs & other job boards, speaking with your network, etc.
If Google schema is intimidating or time-consuming for you, third-party programs can automate the process. For instance, Jobiak’s tech uses AI and machine learning technology to optimize your job listings to target your intended audience and get them up on Google for Jobs, one of the most popular job platforms on the Internet.
Once you’ve got these fundamentals of online recruitment set up, it doesn’t hurt to think outside the box with unique job ads. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
1. Print Advertising
Is print dead? No. It’s actually a very trusted source of information.
Print advertising once ruled the recruitment marketing industry (remember the newspaper classifieds?), but with the rise of the digital age, it’s fallen out of favor.
A common problem for online listings is that many find they’re spammy or untrustworthy. Print as a medium, on the other hand, is the most trusted type of ad.
A print ad for a position in a newspaper or direct mail would stand out amongst the crowd of online-only ads. You can even combine the two with QR codes that would send the job seeker to your career site or online job listing.
This is also a great opportunity to target passive candidates who aren’t necessarily looking for a new job but would be open to one. Try leaving flyers or postcards advertising positions at incubators, coworking spaces, lobbies of startups, at industry events & conventions, etc.
2. Contests or Competitions
A contest targets just who you want: go-getters and innovators
Common in creative fields as well as in programming, some employers will host contests or competitions with the winner receiving either a job, a contract, or prize money.
Take Prana’s “Dream Job Contest”, for example. This outdoor company set up a contest: they would pay someone a six-figure salary to pursue their dream job and document it via video that Prana could then use on their site for advertising, employer branding, and more.
This position provided PR and branding opportunities for the employer while also getting the company’s mission & values widely known. It also targets a very specific audience: go-getters, innovators, and creatives, which is exactly who Prana wanted to attract.
Learn more about the importance of employer branding.
3. Widen Your Geographic Target Range
Standard job listings usually limit the audience they’re targeting by indicating where the job is and limit how far geographically they want to target job seekers.
As remote and flexible job opportunities become more common, a way to get creative and break out of the standard recruitment process is to open up your geographical target range. Google for Jobs has included a space for employers who are hiring remote workers, so if that’s the case with your position, make sure you take note.
Pushing your job listings to a wider geographic range greatly broadens your audience and potential candidates. You could even go international!
Jobiak’s AI recruitment technology can optimize your listings for you targeting however small or large a geographic range you want.
Learn more about how our technology can make your hiring process more efficient here.
4. Social Media Recruitment
Using social media platforms to advertise your jobs can greatly increase the number of eyes on your job listings along with the demographics of those potential candidates as well.
Like print marketing options, social media recruitment can get your jobs in front of passive candidates who would be open to new employment opportunities but might not necessarily be searching for them on Google for Jobs or other job boards.
Social media job ads also allow you to get a bit more creative and try out different mediums like videos, graphics, photos, etc. Show off your company’s values & style with these job listings to really attract candidates who reflect those things as well.
Social media recruitment can be great… but it can also be tough.
Learn the pros and cons of social media recruiting in one of our latest blog posts.
How to Hire Employees with Unique Job Ads: Think Outside the Box!
Once you have your fundamentals covered, unique job ads can help you broaden your audience and branch out from the standard recruitment processes.
This can also help your organization stand out from the crowd and bolster your reputation as an innovative and interesting place to work.
Like we said earlier, though, make sure your fundamentals are in place first! Contact us to learn how our tech can solidify your presence on Google for Jobs so you can get to thinking creatively.
