- The 3 Ws – the Where, When & What of candidate attraction
- The ‘What’ is the most challenging of them all
- Knowing when to post is gold dust
- The ‘where’ isn’t just about job boards
- What’s in your job ads (and what’s not) is vital
- Stick to text and images in job adverts
- Data is key to the 3 Ws – but it isn’t everything
Following the release of our Candidate Attraction Playbook, Wave Founder and CEO Dave Jenkins appeared as a guest on UK Recruiter’s Recruitment Smarts live podcast with Louise Triance. They spoke about the central tenet of our playbook, the 3 Ws of candidate attraction (the Where, When & What when it comes to sourcing quality candidates) – and how following these can eliminate recruitment FOMO for good.
It’s an insight-packed chat, including exclusive Wave data on where and when to find the candidates you need, plus what you should include in your job advert to reach, attract and compel candidates to apply. It’s well worth 30 minutes of your time – and you can watch it here – but we’ve compiled the top takeaways from the chat so you don’t need pen and paper at the ready.
The 3 Ws – the Where, When & What of candidate attraction
Attracting quality candidates that are a good match for your jobs is hard in any market. Ultimately, if you don’t get your strategies right, you’re going to miss out on candidates, which will lead to missing out on clients in the long run. The central challenge is there are a huge number of factors to consider. That’s why Wave has broken it down to the 3 Ws – where to source candidates, when to post your jobs, and what to include in your jobs adverts. Armed with the knowledge of all 3 Ws can genuinely make the difference between getting no candidates (or unqualified candidates) and reaching candidates you can place in jobs.
The ‘What’ is the most challenging of them all
Based on the sector you’re recruiting in and your job details, data can tell you when and where to post your jobs and that will likely remain fairly consistent. The ‘what’ can be harder as that involves a combination of formula-based rules and creativity and the creative part shouldn’t be the same every time. Crafting a good advert is one of the hardest tasks a recruiter has to do and yet it is one of the most important. Including the right information in the right fields so that search engines index it and job boards match it to relevant candidates, understanding what to include to make it compelling and what to leave until further down the line, getting the word length right – all of this can be hugely challenging. And this is why data is key.
Knowing when to post is gold dust
Knowing the day and the time to post your jobs on job boards for maximum reach and therefore maximum response makes the biggest difference between success and failure. Wave data pegs the best day to post as either a Monday or a Tuesday as the highest percentage of applications are received on a Tuesday. As these days are when candidates are most active, to get the most amount of eyes on your jobs you need to be posting them then, so that they are fresh on the boards when they’re searching.
In terms of time, the highest percentage of applications come in between 9 and 3pm, peaking at midday. Why is timing so important? Every job you post has a finite time, both for which it will be live and when it will be fresh and therefore prioritised in the job board algorithms. Further Wave data shows that a third of applications are received within the first 48 hours or posting, with the levels rapidly diminishing following that time. So if you’re posting jobs on a Thursday, you’re not going to get the same response because you don’t have the same level of candidates looking during that key time.
The ‘where’ isn’t just about job boards
While job boards prove a popular choice among recruiters – 85% of jobs are posted to job boards – they are not the only option and we always recommend a varied approach for the best reach. What is essential, and yet often neglected, is to search your own CRM first. By avoiding posting jobs only to get candidates applying that already exist in your database, the savings in both time and money can be staggering. Research from the Marketing junction shows that recruitment agencies could save a whopping £17k a year by checking their CRM first. It involves both a mindset and a process change – and a change to your CRM if it’s not working for you. It should be easy to search for those candidates, not clunky.
Your website also offers a great, and cost-free, way to advertise your jobs. The assumption can be that no-one looks on a recruitment website so jobs are posted to it when the recruiter has time – or not at all. However, if you have good SEO and your jobs are optimised for Google for Jobs correctly, you could be reaching candidates that you wouldn’t by not posting jobs to your website. Wave data shows that 68% of applications to recruitment websites and 54% of CV uploads originate from organic (ie free) traffic.
What’s in your job ads (and what’s not) is vital
The quality of your job adverts is absolutely crucial to the success or otherwise of your candidate attraction campaigns. There are elements – including a standardised job title, location, and salary – that you must include for indexing. A job board’s job is to match candidates to suitable job adverts based on their keyword search so ensuring that you have entered a job title that’s recognisable is vital. This also means not adding anything extra in the title field (hybrid/great opportunity/sector/extra characters, etc).
Job advert length is also important. We see most responses coming from 300-350 words. Of course, those words have to be well written and compelling but ensuring the advert is not too long or too short makes a huge difference. Wave data shows that doubling the optimum length results in a massive drop off in applications so it really is vital to get the length right. Remember, it’s an advert, not a full job description, so not every detail needs to be included. With a huge number of jobseekers searching on their mobiles, this becomes even more important. No-one wants to endlessly scroll through an advert to get to the end – that’s a surefire way to lose candidates at the very beginning of the process.
Stick to text and images in job adverts
Video adverts surged a few years ago but we’re definitely not there yet with video as a medium for job ads. Video can be great for interviewing but in job adverts it can pose challenges. It can be intensive on websites and slow to load. If searching on public transport, video may not be ideal. Text gets indexed by both Google and the job boards, plus job boards will be matching the keyword searches to the ad copy. Copy still reigns as king when it comes to job adverts.
Data is key to the 3 Ws – but it isn’t everything
The size of the market is so big, data is essential to understand what’s going on. Recruiters need to follow data, trends and patterns to gain a true understanding of the market and adjust their strategies accordingly. It’s like the analogy of the man digging for gold – he puts an incredible amount of effort into it, digging deeper and deeper, but the gold is a foot to the side of where he’s digging. You could be so close to multiple placements but if you miss because you’re posting at the wrong time, in the wrong place, or including the wrong content in your ads, you might as well be miles off.
What’s also important to note though, is that jobs aren’t filled by data alone. You need your recruiter instinct too. Use data on a macro level but it’s also about your network, your soft skills, your ability to influence candidates and clients and your ability to know the market you’re working in. It’s a combination of the two – you can have great gut instinct but it will be difficult to successfully find, attract and place candidates if you’re recruiting blindfolded.
Want access to all the data mentioned here (plus much more)? Download the Candidate Attraction Playbook here.
