Modern national security recruiting to fill the jobs that safeguard our nation is more complex and cutthroat than ever. The newest jobs report even reveals veteran unemployment rate was 2.9% last month, down from 3.6% in September. Add in the impossible requirements, including high security clearance, and a recruiter’s job may seem like an impossible feat.
Marketing 101 for Talent Acquisition Professionals
Recruiting has changed over the years, and in today’s market, talent acquisition professionals MUST be incredible marketers – marketing an organization’s positions, benefits, programs, and the leadership. As the year winds down, it’s time to do a little marketing 101 to help you attract more candidates.
1. Optimize your website for users with a careers page.
When writing your job description, you should think about potential search terms that candidates would use as they navigate job listings. They aren’t likely typing in similar words to what your Statement of Work (SOW) notes for labor categories, so it’s up to your recruitment team to make the best decision in terms of titles of job requisitions so you catch the most potential candidate’s searches.
2. Showcase your brand organically on social media.
It always surprises me when I look up a company, and they don’t have ANY social media presence. That is a channel to reach potential candidates and customers. After creating your pages, you will want to link them on your website and on any newsletters that you send out to your listserv.
3. Reach new candidate audiences with social media advertising / targeting.
When Facebook was first created, there certainly wasn’t any algorithm attached to more people seeing your content with higher engagement. In today’s social media world, the best way to be seen is to fork over some money. Ensure that your recruitment manager ads a budget line item for social media boosting and boost the highest engaging posts on your company pages.
4. Manage your employer brand on review sites.
It’s the way humans operate these days – check out the amazon review before you purchase a product, the google review before you pay for a service, and even writing a negative yelp review if you’ve had a horrible experience with a business. One of the first thing a candidate does when they move through the recruiting funnel and seriously start to entertain offers is look up employee reviews on site like Glassdoor. Be sure you don’t have any embellished horror stories on your page and encourage employees who have had a good experience to write a positive review.
5. Promote your company on job boards.
Sure, ClearanceJobs is obviously your number one source for cleared candidates, but in the event that you are also hiring for non-cleared roles, ensure that your position is posted everywhere it should be online.
6. Create viral social media content.
As a recruiter, you should also have a presence on social media. With a passive candidate market, they aren’t always looking for a hard sell on a role, and are sometimes more interested in helpful tips or entertainment. If the country is watching a former president’s house being raided in Florida, share one of our articles on classified materialsin hopes of starting a discussion thread with potential candidates that have worked in the SCIF. Or if Joe Rogan shows a meme worthy reaction to Leon Edwards knocking out Kamaru Usman, make that meme on how a cleared candidate will look while working at your company.
7. Use AI for where you can automate tasks.
Chatbots are a great way to engage with people who visit your careers pages. Automated communication with candidates you aren’t moving forward with is a way to avoid ghosting and tarnishing your reputation. Looking for some help on coming up with copy for your next social media post (or writing job descrptions)? ChatGPT is at your service – but check your work 😉
8. Have a recruitment marketing software connected to your ATS.
Recruitment marketing and branding is critical in cleared talent acquisition. If you don’t have a recruitment marketing software to manage your communications with candidates in your pipeline, you better start looking for one.
THE CLEARED RECRUITING CHRONICLES: YOUR WEEKLY DoD RECRUITING TIPS TO OUT COMPETE THE NEXT NATIONAL SECURITY STAFFER.
