Wave undertook its first Talent Matters webinar on Thursday 9th July. Hosted by Dave Jenkins (CEO) and Tom Mehmet (Senior Account Manager), we discussed job board advertising during and post Covid-19 and what strategies recruitment agencies should be implementing with their job board contracts now.
At Wave, our focus has always been to create a world where talent is never missed and that is more important now than ever before. With reduced budgets but increased competition, smarter strategies are needed to navigate this post-lockdown world and we wanted to share our knowledge and expertise to help recruiters with job boards and plan their marketing game plan.
Key takeaways
- Talk to the job boards. If you have found yourself stuck in a 12-month contract without the volume of jobs to make the plan viable, it is worth talking to job boards and your account managers. There may be nothing they can do but extended payment terms and contract extensions are all possible options.
- Don’t waste your credits. Ride out the storm by fully utilising your contracts in other ways. You may have limited jobs but there is an influx of candidates so consider reposting the jobs you do have on a weekly basis with the credits you have. With nationwide redundancies ongoing, new talent is joining the pool on a regular basis. Reposting jobs keeps them fresh at the top of the list.
- Build a candidate bank. You might not have the numbers of jobs now but use the jobs you do have to reach out to quality candidates. They might apply for a job that’s not right for them but don’t end the conversation there. When jobs start to pick up again a bank of top talent is just what will be needed.
- Be agile. Think about diversifying into markets that have boomed during Covid and therefore have a plethora of jobs. Open up a dialogue with account managers as they know where the jobs are. Utilise the collective experience your team has to break into a market that desperately needs candidates to fill jobs.
- Protect your brand. The way you conduct business now will be remembered in the future. Remember that all businesses are facing challenges – including both recruitment agencies and job board – so be understanding and it will stand you in good stead for the future.
- Change contract type. Job boards incentivise 12-month contracts so it is likely that you will be hit with higher rates for shorter terms. However, a reduced usage is a way to lower costs. A smaller inventory over those 12 months with pre-determined usage rates to bulk up credits should the market pick up would make sense on both sides.
- Quality adverts. Now more than ever it is essential that your job adverts are well constructed with quality copy. You want to attract talent but, given the huge pool of candidates currently out there, also filter candidates to ensure you are only receiving quality applications.
- Opportunities are out there. In some ways, this strange time has been a leveller. Those companies that have thus far struggled to attract top talent now have the opportunity to do so as the influx of candidates on the market means they will be looking at multiple agencies. Get it right and you can leapfrog the competition. Reach out to clients, talk to them and reassure them. Highlight ways they can recruit now.
If you didn’t manage to catch it you can watch the replay here. Stay tuned for details of further webinars in the coming weeks.
