When Marketing and Recruiting Overlap

The worlds of marketing and recruiting are converging. Savvy talent acquisition teams are becoming more and more like the marketing team daily tapping into the consumer brand and aligning it to the employer brand. 

Recruiters are learning that the market is changing along with the interests of the next generation of workforce. Effective job descriptions need to be written with a marketer’s eye and offer something different than the other countless ads for the position. What does the job description say about the company culture? Does the description explain what the candidate will actually be doing? Lou Adler, author of Hire with Your Head: Using Performance-Based Hiring to Build Great Teams, suggests, “Define the job, not the person. Define success, not the skills. It’s best to separate the job from the person. This allows for a more objective appraisal of true competency.”

Firms also need to have an actual person attached to social media accounts. There have been some scary stories regarding automated bots that do more harm than good.  When done right like Taco Bell, Red or Nike, the market is engaged and inspired. Firms need to carefully select and coach brand ambassadors who will be transparent, honest, and genuine to develop the relationships that will grow into future great hires. Great brand experiences also translate into great PR for the company as candidates share their stories with their peers.

Join HCI December 17, 2013 at 2pm ET for the webcast Before the First Connection: The Role of Employer Branding and hear the director of digital strategy at Marriott Hotels, Jessica Lee, share her experience of managing multiple competitive brands. Lee explores why the employer brand is important, what role it should play, and how firms can get started or improve their current brand.