One of my clients, a chiropractor, recently decided it was time to hire an Administrative Assistant for his growing business. When it came time to announce the job, I asked him to send me the ad first so we could review what he’d come up with. Here’s what the ad said:

So, will this ad work? Well, he’ll certainly get responses. In fact, in this day and age, he might get 100 responses.

But the question is: will it get the right responses?

He'll probably end up with applicants who are indeed capable of typing medical reports and so on, but there's nothing about this ad that speaks to the personality of his company or of his ideal candidate. Therefore, he’s going to have to spend far too much time and resources reading resumes and interviewing people to find the right employee. And time and resources mean spending money which means a hit to his bottom line.

Now, anyone who’s ever written a job description for the purpose of hiring a new employee knows that it’s no piece of cake. Even if you think you have the job function outlined pretty well, it can be challenging to get it right (especially if it’s your first hire and many of the responsibilities of the role are now owned by you.)

If at all possible, once you’ve made the decision to hire, take your time. Finding the right people to staff your expanding organization is very important. In fact, there’s no more important expenditure you can make than the time and money it takes to recruit the right people.

Use a Marketing Approach

At E-Myth we encourage our client’s to approach recruiting as a form of marketing and lead generation. Because finding the right employees for your company is like finding the right customers, the same principles apply to the recruiting process. You’ve got a product you want to sell (employment in your company) and you need to generate “leads” (applicants) that you can eventually convert into “customers” (new employees).

Before you post your job announcement, here are some things to consider:

• What is the product you are selling? In other words, what is the idea behind your business? We like to call it “the game worth playing.” What makes your product (the company) unique? What makes it a game worth playing? What sets you apart from the competition in the eyes of potential employees?
• What are the specifics of the job? Define the results you want the position to deliver and responsibilities expected of the position.
• Who is the customer for this product? Who is the ideal candidate for this position? What personality traits will the right person have to fit into our company culture? You need to identify the perfect person for the job so that when they walk through the door, you’re ready. What personality are you looking for? Gregarious or introverted? Do you need somebody capable of doing many things, or somebody with laser-like focus?
• Where are the customers (geographically)? Is this a telecommuting position? Is this an on site position? What’s the acceptable radius for an on site employee?
• What message will attract them? If you’ve defined everything above, you should be able to determine what message will attract the ideal person you’re looking for.
• What channel will best reach them? Where you place your ad will make a huge difference. Is it appropriate for Craig’s List, your local newspaper, LinkedIn? Again, your research into the ideal customer should inform where you can reach them best.

One of the ways to differentiate your recruitment ad is to have the ad carry the promise of emotional gratification. By giving your ads some emotional appeal, you will attract better candidates because not only will they be technically qualified (as you will ascertain in the process) but they will likely be nice people that desire to work with nice people! 

What would happen if my client replaced his ad with something like this?

You’ll notice that this ad is written more like a traditional marketing message. The emphasis is on the quality of the work, not just the skills and it’s more about personality and company culture than just the tasks associated with the position. It’s really about making an emotional connection with the right person.

In many companies, hiring is one of the most volatile and least effective processes in the business. Job descriptions are vague, managers have preconceived ideas about what kinds of people they need to hire (and don’t understand the interplay between skills and personal qualities), and the whole process of attracting and processing candidates is haphazard and inefficient. But like your lead generation process, your recruiting process can be broken out into component systems that fit together to create reliable results. Take the time to construct, quantify, and test them so you can fine-tune your recruiting efforts to your hiring needs whenever they arise. Remember, your people are a long-term investment, and you don’t want to make long-term commitments with short-term methods.