Youíre looking for the best employee, right? You might think itís just a question of writing a great job ad, sticking it up on the internet and then waiting for the crme de la crme to write in. But you would be wrong. A large part of the skill of getting good applicants for your jobs lies in correctly targeting your audience, thinking creatively about that audience, making them aware of the jobs on offer and getting them to apply.
Getting seen
The most important place to start is with your target audience. Companies can spend ages on getting the job spec right and donít think about who they want to recruit. This depends on the kind of skills you need for the job, which industry sectors this covers and which companies might be relevant. Many employers miss a huge range of talent by not even considering whether their jobs can be offered on a flexible basis. There are a growing army of well-qualified women who could enhance any office as long as the work offered can fit in with their family responsibilities. Maybe you could think creatively about whether the job could be done four days a week instead of five, or with some home working for things like planning and research. With just a little bit of flexibility, you might open up a whole new pool of skilled workers. Jobsboard WorkingMums.co.uk works with employers who are offering flexible work and it has hundreds of women on its books who have many yearsí experience ñ from barristers to managing directors of finance companies to editors. If your firm is a small one, you might be able, for instance, to offer a four- or three-day-a week post as a human resources manager. Contract work may also be ideal for working mothers.
Alex Cheatle, managing director of lifestyle management company Ten UK, says he has built his business around flexible workers, many of whom are working mothers based across the UK who work for him from home.
He says: ìFor us time management is critical as is the ability to multi-task. Mums are great at managing time as they are used to keeping unmovable deadlines and to doing many things at once. Additionally working from home works for us, it means we can get someone with local knowledge cost effectively and efficiently.î
Once you know who your target audience is, there are two others things you need to consider:
- how they are likely to search for jobs
- how you can get them to see your jobs
Keywords
Most potential candidates will search on something generic to a job,for instance, working mothers who are looking for flexible work will search on terms like flexibility, work life balance, etc. Accordiong to WorkingMums.co.uk, the top five search terms used by working mums seeking jobs are part-time job, part-time work, women back into the workplace, women back to work and mothers back to work.
After flexibility, their main concerns tend to be where the job is, what the job involves and career progression and pay. Only after this will they be interested in who the employer is and which industry sector it covers. If you are looking to open the field to working mums, ensure you advertise the possibility of flexible or part-time work in your advert so it can be found easily on a keyword search. The keywords need to include all of the word that your target audience might type into a search engine, such as part-time work. Make sure you put in a range of keywords to ensure you get all possible variations of what they might search on for that particular post. And most important of all, ensure that the keywords are inserted in the body of the advert.
Selling the job
Once you have your information and search terms clear, it is important to sell the job to potential employees. Make sure the job title and description looks inviting and stands out. Always include a contact email and phone number at the end of the job advert and make the process as simple as possible so they can apply direct from the advert rather than clicking through to another site. For target audiences such as working mums, consider linking to or advertising on a website such as WorkingMums.co.uk which is specifically directed at working mothers.
Youíre looking for the best employee, right?
You might think itís just a question of writing a great job ad, sticking it up on the internet and then waiting for the crme de la crme to write in
