My presentation from Digi HR conference in Athens in Nov 16 on how to create an effective digital recruitment strategy

1. Digital Recruitment strategies to
attract and win top talent
www.interview-coach.co.uk
www.connectDG.com

2. Why digital recruitment
strategy?
● Social media has changed the way companies approach talent
search - the world of recruiting has gone nearly 100% digital
(online resumes, social media, webcam interviews etc)
● The best people will measure your suitability as a potential
employer by looking at your presence and activity on various
digital media channels
● Companies with a strong employment brand attract at least 3.5
times more applications per job postings than do other companies
in the same industry

3. Your digital recruitment
strategy
• Strong employment brand
• Positive candidate experience
• Using social media effectively to engage and attract talent

4. ➢ Interview & Career Coach with 10 years of
coaching experience and 11 years of
international, recruitment experience
➢ Recruited for Microsoft, VMware, Expedia,
Yieldify, now Head of Digital Recruitment at
ConnectDG
➢ Qualified Personal Performance, Corporate &
Executive Coach
➢ Author of ‘Land That Job!’
e-book
About Me - Margaret Buj

6. It’s all about digital
"Twenty years ago, the résumé was a piece of
paper. Now, it's a collection of all [candidate]
data that can be found online, like participation
in online communities, conferences and meet-
ups. Recruiters can assess whether a person will
fit, and learn if he or she has the right skills for a
job.”
Jon Bischke, CEO of Entelo

7. Your employment brand

8. Define your proposition to
attract the best
• Your "employment brand" is a key selling point and is
critical to your ability to attract and retain talent, especially
in today’s tough economy.
• What do the actions of your organization tell the rest of the
world about your company?
• Benefits of a strong employment brand: improved quality of
candidates, more passive candidates, fewer costs
associated with turnover, with recruitment, your employees
as brand advocates/

9. Assessing your employment
brand
Before you can work to strengthen your employment brand, it is
critical that you first understand how your organization is perceived
as a place to work.
1. Does your company have a reputation as collegial or cutthroat?
1. Is the atmosphere casual or formal?
1. Do employees and target talent see it as a place where one can
grow and advance, or as a place to get some experience and
quickly move on?
In order to know truly know what your employment brand is, you
need to listen to what job seekers and current employees are saying
about you.

10. What do people think of you?
Respondents to a survey from CR Magazine and Allegis Talent2
say that what they hear about an organization affects their job
decisions:
• 75% wouldn’t work for a company with a bad reputation
even if they were unemployed
And for those who would say yes? Many of them would only
accept a job at a company with a poor reputation for
significantly more money:
• One-quarter said they would need more than a 50% pay
raise
• 15% said they would need more than double their salary

11. What do applicants think of
you?
It’s not only a recruiter who makes an impression on the
applicant. Many applicants share bad experiences:
1. Over three-fourths would tell family and friends
2. 17% would post on social media
3. 6% would blog about it
Poor communication during the application process, a rude
interviewer — it could all end up being shared with the online
world at large, free to be read by someone you might want to
hire.

12. What do employees think of
you?
• According to a CareerXroads report, employee referrals
are the single most significant source of hires, right
above career websites.
• What your people say to their friends and colleagues can
shape the future of your organization.
• If your employees are unhappy and telling potential
candidates about it, you could lose out on the talent you
want to hire.

13. What do employees think of
you?
• Give your employees a chance to give you feedback, and
then act on their concerns before unhappiness has a chance
to fester.
• In addition to less formal posts about work culture, you can
set up a website specifically for potential employees.
• You have to sell your company to future employees in the
same way you sell your products and services to
customers—by determining how you can benefit them and
making that clear.

14. Employee referral programs are another effective way to
communicate your company’s employment brand, whilst at the
same time identifying job candidates.
Often, the best way to recruit qualified employees is through
word of mouth, and satisfied employees are the best
messengers.
Research demonstrates that word of mouth is perceived as at
least twice as credible as advertisements.
Your employees matter

15. LinkedIn Recruiting Trends 2016 report.

16. Ensure your proposition is
competitive
• What makes your vacancies attractive?
• Why would a top performer choose you?
• What are your longer-term opportunities?
Include the above in your careers site. The best employers
career portals have:
• case studies
• career plans / roadmaps
• interview and assessment center advice
• interview process details and key dates

17. The push for employer brand is
paying off
LinkedIn Recruiting Trends 2016 report states:
1. Employer brand re-emerges as a top priority.
1. Spending on employer brand has significantly increased
over the past two years.
1. As a result, organizations are creating more proactive
strategies and using more outbound channels, like online
professional networks and social media.

20. • What are your strengths as an employer? Your weaknesses?
• How does top talent rate you against your competitors?
• What do your competitors offer that you do not?
• What do you offer that your competitors do not?
• What do employees like about coming to work for you?
• What do employees dislike about coming to work for you?
• What drives job seekers to apply to your jobs?
• What prevents job seekers from applying to your jobs?
• Are you offering competitive pay?
• How could you better position yourself as an employer of choice?
• Where should you be advertising your jobs?
Key questions for defining
your message

22. Examples of great career
sites

23. Starbucks
• http://blog.ongig.com/company-career-site/20-of-the-best-
company-career-sites
• Or
• http://www.starbucks.com/careers

24. Starbucks
• http://blog.ongig.com/company-career-site/20-of-the-best-
company-career-sites
• Or
• http://www.starbucks.com/careers

25. Starbucks
• Great pic of a barista smiling on home page.
• Brand reinforced with the black and green and white
Starbucks colors in their headline, search button,
background color of search box.
• A very comprehensive Search Drop-Down - you can search
a drop down for either their Stores or Corporate - you can
search All rather than force them to pick one category.
(they don’t offer this for their Store job search (likely
because of the complexity of 10,000+ store job openings).

26. Accenture

27. Accenture

28. • Full Screen Video on their career home page behind their job
search box.
• They ask the candidate “What do you want to do?” with some
sections like “Search Jobs”, “Stay in Touch (talent community)
and a list of key teams/departments (Consulting, Tech,
Operations, Corporate).
• Self-Selection — Accenture tells the candidate that if they’re “not
sure where to begin” they can use an easy drop-down menu to
self-identify as a student, intern, professional, veteran, or alumni.
• Employee Profile Timeline
• A dedicated Accenture Alumni page - this says to new candidates
that you will find benefits from Accenture even if you leave the
company one day.
Accenture

29. Amazon

30. Amazon
• Amazon’s careers home page begins with one of the fastest job
searches (especially with 16,000+ job openings)
• Pioneers Section — They include a Pioneers section which briefly
profiles 60+ Amazon employees. Each of those profiles leads to job
families and job sub-families as well
• Comprehensive Job Family and Sub-Job Family Microsites — every
department, team and location appears to be represented by its own
pages e.g.: https://www.amazon.jobs/en/pioneers/tiffany-n
• When you view those job family/microsite pages you will typically see
a description and list of job openings (with volume) related to the
position, team or location.

31. Amazon

32. Hootsuite

33. Hootsuite

34. Hootsuite

35. Hootsuite
• Easy to Find Job Descriptions — Hootsuite’s main call to action is a
link to their job openings at the bottom of their career home
page)
• 5 Themes/Video Vignettes — the first thing you see is a partial-
screen video playing with part 1 of 5 things that Hootsuite is
looking for in the candidate (the first is called “You’re social”). The
next 4 qualities are “You’re proud to be quirky”, “You’re curious”,
“You’re quick on your feet” and “You’re passionate”
• 4 Quick-hit Videos — they have videos of 4 employees in different
departments. The videos are each 16 seconds which is way short
but just as effective. (Tip: Career site videos should be less
than 60 seconds because data shows nearly all candidates drop
off after a minute).

36. Expedia

37. Expedia
• Dedicated URL (LifeatExpedia.com).
• Effective Theme — The theme of adventure/journey is
consistent across their career site.
• Nice combo of pics and video with minimal text.
• Breakdown of brands (most people don’t know that Expedia
owns Hotwire, Hotels.com and CarRentals.co). Any one of
those might draw a candidate in.

38. Expedia

39. Expedia

40. Adidas

41. Adidas
• Eye-Catching Headline — not many websites have a clear headline
to hook and engage the reader. Adidas nails this one in 3 words:
“Make Your Move”.
• Full Screen Video — There is one background pic and then a video
to play over it that takes up the whole screen.
• Section Videos – They use a separate video for each main section
of their career site.
• Contrarian navigation — Candidates scroll left and right (not
down) to navigate. If you want to show you’re different, this is
one way to do it.

42. Evaluating your brand
effectiveness
What gets measured gets done.
Below are metrics you need to track to test the effectiveness of your
employment brand:
Attraction:
• Number of job applicants per dollar spent advertising the job
• Quality of job applicants per dollar spent
• Candidate acceptance rate per dollar spent
• Cost per hire
• Length of time to fill job openings
Retention:
• Turnover of new hires
• Turnover of veteran employees
• Employee satisfaction and engagement

43. Positive candidate experience

44. Ensuring a positive candidate
experience
Candidates expect a fast, easy application process
"Talent acquisition has become a seller's market. For
employers, it's all about maximizing the candidate experience
through the job application process.”
Laura Kerekes, chief knowledge officer of ThinkHR, a provider
of human resources solutions

45. These days’ candidates know their worth and are attentive
of the competitive landscape.
If an employer does not respond properly OR makes the
application process difficult, they quickly move on to the
next company.
Candidate experience is defined by how well the interaction
goes between the employer and job seeker in the
recruitment process.
Candidate approach

46. Ensuring a positive candidate
experience
1. Make the process engaging & simple
1. Give the candidate a realistic overview of the job, the
working environment in your team and your organisation’s
culture to try and attract them to you.
1. Especially important if you are recruiting in a highly
competitive candidate-driven market such as digital and
tech.

47. Help create a positive
candidate experience by:
• providing information about the job, team and the
organisation
• responding to candidate enquiries and applications quickly
and courteously
• ensuring that candidates don’t spend a disproportionate
amount of time and effort applying for the role e.g. try not
to use an overly complex application form or a
excessive selection procedures
• familiarising yourself with each application and asking
specific, relevant questions
• providing accurate, timely feedback after the selection
process is completed

48. Ensuring a positive candidate
experience
• Treat potential employees as customers to create a lasting
impression.
• Create a positive experience of openness and transparency -it can
go a long way in attracting quality applicants to your company.
• When using different social and media channels in getting your
content out, make sure that your brand message is
consistent across all of these platforms.

49. Remember, a satisfied candidate might tell a friend about
their positive experience.
Disgruntled candidate will tell at least 10 friends how
appalled they were with their interview experience.
And there’s no stopping the damage they could bring to
your reputation when they begin their social media tirade.
Importance of positive
candidate experience

50. Hootsuite case study

51. Hootsuite case study
https://blog.hootsuite.com/rethinking-candidate-experience-with-hoothros/

52. Goals and Expected Outcomes
• Develop a better understanding of a candidate’s experience
in their interview process
• Help applicants find and engage their social recruiting
channels, and better understand their culture
• Proactively inform applicants about their interview process
and timeline
• Make their job descriptions more compelling, reflective of
their culture, informative, and mobile-friendly
• Offer resources and support to applicants who were not
hired but took the time to apply
Hootsuite case study

53. Hootsuite case study – how
they did it
• Re-Imagining the Job description
• Re-designing our application response
• Re-thinking our rejection template
• Expanding our Candidate Experience survey

54. Part 1– re-imagining job
description
• Job descriptions are typically a static laundry list of
responsibilities and qualifications. They’re often written
from an employer’s point of view, and rarely help a
prospect really understand how being in that role will
benefit them or what success will look like.
• The goal was to create something more visual/branded
(header) and dynamic (hyperlinks), but also to reframe
the content to speak directly to the reader (you), rather
than the traditional framing around the org (we).
• They also wanted to be tighter and more efficient with their
copy to better support a mobile viewing experience.

57. Part 2: Redesigning the
Application Response
Most companies have a static email they send automatically
confirming receipt of a new job application.
They’re often nothing more than a message:
“We’ve received your resume – thank you for applying”

58. Part 2: Redesigning the
Application Response
Behind The Redesign
Hootsuite wanted to set that stage for applicants to have a
better idea of what to expect when applying at Hootsuite by
proactively addressing FAQ’s about the process.

59. • Visuals – Most recruiting emails are text-only. They wanted to
add some life with a branded header
• Interview Process – Hootsuite wanted to bring transparency to
things like applicant volume, review approach, interview process,
and timeframe.
• Timing – Set expectations for when applicants will hear back.
• Personality & Tone – Add personality and warmth to to their
applicant communications.
• Culture & Connection – They wanted to make it easy for
applicants to connect with all of their social recruiting and culture
channels.
• Access – They built and shared a Twitter list for their recruiting
team in an effort to make them more accessible and easier to
engage.
• View full email at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/08/ApplicationAutoresponse.pdf
Part 2: Redesigning the Application Response

60. • View example at:
• https://blog.hootsuite.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/08/Applic
ationAutoresponse.pdf
Part 2: Redesigning the Application
Response

61. Part 3: Rethinking rejection
Option 1. The rejection email never comes (the unfortunate
‘black hole’). Your enthusiastic application is greeted with
silence and you’re left to wonder if your resume was even
seen.
Option 2. You receive a standard rejection template that
conveys a message you will not be considered for the job.
Could organizations do more to help job seekers
beyond their application?

62. More Than “We Regret To Inform You…”
Hootsuite wanted to help job seekers outside of their
application with Hootsuite. They revised their candidate emails
to include additional resources they can draw from e.g. job
search strategies, networking, company research, resume
writing, LinkedIn tips, interview prep, interview feedback, and
more.
You can see the full email at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/08/RejectionTemplate.pdf
Part 3: Rethinking rejection

64. Social media recruiting
Digital recruitment extends your reach
and maximizes your advertising spend
– when you get it right!

65. Social media provides a great platform for companies to
communicate with employees and candidates about
everything from announcing new opportunities to discussing
the benefits of working at their company.
Make sure you are utilizing your profiles on social
networking sites in the most effective way.
Social media recruiting

66. Social media recruiting
• Jobvite found that social media has been used by 73% of
recruiters to hire candidates.
• 44% of recruiters say that social recruiting has increased both the
quantity and quality of candidates
• Socially engaged companies are 58% more likely to attract top
talent
• Social media lets you learn more about prospective employees
than a resume on its own, whether it’s because you can see their
endorsements on LinkedIn, or their personality on Facebook helps
you gauge their potential fit with your company culture.
• As for candidates, getting to know a company’s culture through
social media can be a powerful draw.

67. Best practices for engaging both
current and potential employees using
social media
Create An Exclusive User Experience
Use your social networking profile page (eg.Facebook page) to post
compelling content (such as videos, photos, article links or status
updates) that provides insight into what it’s like to work at your
organization.
Highlight Specific Jobs
Provide information beyond just a job description e.g. employee
testimonials of others who hold that position and want to be
advocates for the company and the job.

68. Best practices for engaging both
current and potential employees using
social media.
Listen, Learn and Engage
This is an ongoing process. Once you have a profile and are active
on the site, you can start to listen to the conversations about your
brand. Allow employees and job seekers to post questions about
the company.
Dedicate Time and Effort
Keep at it - it takes time to build a following and generate
engagement

69. How to ensure success of
your social media
recruitment strategy

70. Step 1: Building your team
Your team will vary depending on how your company is
structured and the resources you have to work with.
Will they be using company social media handles or will they be
posting and recruiting through their personal account? What
types of language will they be using? Answering these questions
ahead of time will save you a load of stress down the road.

71. Step 2: Building your content
• Your content needs to sell jobs, not a product.
• What types of content can you post to attract potential
candidates?
• Employee testimonials – Interview your employees and let
them speak honestly about their experiences working at your
company. The more you can showcase real stories from real
employees, the more transparency you can build with
potential candidates.
• Company “wow” factor – Do talk about why your company is
awesome, but don’t over do it. You might talk about how you’ve
been listed as a best place to work for 5 years in a row.
• Values showcase – Candidates want to know what your
company stands for. They want to see that you have a clear vision
and more importantly, they want to see how it’s carried out day-

72. Step 3: Decide what platform to
be on
Every social media platform has its own prevailing
demographic. Ask yourself where your candidates are.
If you’re just starting out, a solid strategy would be to get on
The Big 3:
1. Facebook
2. LinkedIn
3. Twitter

74. • Consider the type of content you’ll be posting e.g. if you’ll
be primarily posting long-form, text-based content like
White Papers, LinkedIn is best.
• If you’re using a platform with a younger audience like
SnapChat and Instagram, how can your brand come across
as young and hip, but still display and communicate the
proper branding? Will your messaging resonate with
followers?
• If you’re on several platforms, are you educating your
follower bases in slightly different ways? (change the copy)
Step 3: Decide what
platform to be on

75. Step 4: Targeting your audience
Now that you know whom to target, you need to find those
candidates.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a form of internet
marketing that can help you target specific users through
optimization and advertising.

76. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all provide opportunities for
paid promotion and targeting. Deciding how to target your
social posts is based on a variety of factors, including:
• Goal of each post
• Example post goals: To get more clicks to your job listing
• Demographics in relation to goal
• Example demographics: 25-30, French speakers, living in
London
• Psychographics in relation to goal
• Example psychographics: Those interested in technology,
enjoy nightlife
• Behaviors in relation to goal
• Example behaviors: Use mobile devices, give to charity
• In addition to your target labels, you can’t underestimate
the power of your post copy.
Step 4: Targeting your audience

77. Step 5: Proving your ROI
• Shares, ‘Likes’ and retweets are great for engagement, but do
they actually lead to clicks, applications and hires? Proving the
ROI of social media is difficult, but it’s not impossible.
• Success of your social media effort is also driving people one step
closer to application. Those “micro-conversions” create awareness
of your company. Getting a user to subscribe to your
newsletter, or having them visit your career site, content
pages and job descriptions create awareness of your
company.

78. How to leverage Twitter
1. Make use of your network
• If you have a great job, ask your followers to share it out. Just
don’t do it too often. That gets annoying.
2. Rejoice in hashtags
• Those little “#” symbols before every word count. Use them. If
you’re posting about a marketing job in London consider
#Marketing #Job in #London. And if you need a little guidance
with which hashtags to use, try a tool like Hashtracking.
3. Search for colloquialisms
• If you want to do outreach to potential recruits, know the local
lingo. For instance, while a developer on LinkedIn might say
Ruby on Rails, on Twitter expect RoR. Or they might use Jet City
instead of Seattle.

79. How to leverage Facebook
1. Try out Facebook ads
• People share so much on Facebook — use it to target them. Do you
need someone with a certain degree, someone that lives in a
particular city? etc Facebook’s robust ad platform lets you target
exactly who you want and remove anyone you don’t.
2. Create a jobs tab
• There are countless apps that let you add a Jobs tab to the top of
your Company page to help put your open jobs in front of people e.g.
LinkUp
3. Create a job-specific page
• L’Oréal’s Facebook pages are an model of recruitment success. It has
almost 215,000 Likes and has become a dedicated hub to post job
openings, answer questions from candidates, and share behind-the-
scenes photos to give a sense of the company culture.

80. How to leverage LinkedIn
1. Test LinkedIn Recruiter or Recruiter Lite
• Gives you access to the entire network of professionals on
LinkedIn
2. Target candidates with ads
• Use this shared information to target individuals at specific
companies and with specific job titles.
3. Take advantage of Groups
• Let’s say you’re looking to recruit an inbound marketer. You’d
want to join the Inbound Marketers Group, which has nearly
115,000 members! Groups can get pretty niche, which is great
when you’re searching for a very particular type of individual.

81. How to measure success of your
digital recruitment strategy
• Create unique pages in your web site for the same job.
Then use different links on different platforms or mailing lists.
That way you can see which platform / approach drives the most
hits to your site.
• Ensure you have analytics or some sort of traffic
measurement tool set-up on your web site so you can track
hits to certain pages and understand what job seekers click on
when on your site.
• Use social media buttons such as’ Tweet’ and ‘Share’ so you can
track how many times a particular post or page is shared via
social media.

82. Social media – final tips
• Leverage social media to reach a vast pool of potential
applicants.
• Encourage your employees to promote job openings on
their personal pages.
• Consider creating a video describing your organization’s
culture and what makes it a great place to work. Post the
video on your company’s website and YouTube, and ask
employees to promote it through social media as well.

84. Why Does Any of this Matter?
“I’m a small business, and don’t have nearly the consumer
following or name recognition that bigger businesses have. Why
even bother investing in my employment brand?”
You just answered your own question. Having a strong
employment brand helps small- and medium-sized businesses
stay competitive by increasing their exposure among both
consumers and top talent that can easily be swayed by larger
company brands.
Smaller companies can leverage the increased exposure to
communicate the unique qualities that make them an employer of
choice.

85. “We’re not hiring right now and don’t have immediate plans
to do so. How is employment branding relevant to me?”
Even if you’re not hiring, it will save you time and money in
the long run to plan ahead by building your employment
brand.
The effort will increase your exposure and help you build a
pipeline of enthusiastic, engaged talent from which you can
draw when you find yourself with an open position later on.
Additionally, you’ll be creating something your current
employees can rally behind.
Why Does Any of this Matter?