Does News Print Advertising Really Deliver

This week I was the presenter for one of my company's webinars called Active Sourcing.  During this webinar the audience and I discussed the different types of sourcing typically done noting the difference between active and passive sourcing.  Of course the number one passive sourcing strategy was advertising in newspapers.

When I look at today's job market I see the need for jobseekers to be as productive as possible.  So online job hunting makes sense, saves time, and saves gas.  Why would anyone want to pay for an ad in a newspaper?  At one time I worked as a recruiter for a large healthcare system.  When I joined this organization it was spending over $250,000 per year in paper advertising.  After three years I had reduced the advertising to less than $60k and even increased the amount of jobseekers applying.

How did I do this?  First I listened to what other people were doing.  Next, we purchased an ATS from a company called Jobscience.  We had to provide a lot of education to the hiring managers who felt recruitment wasn't doing their job if they didn't see the job in the newspaper.  If you are still using newsprint as a means for sourcing, take that money and invest in Google Ads or Job Boards.  You're just throwing away money if you continue.

What Are Recruiting Functins Not Doing

I was reading an article today on a need for a paradigm shift from a Sales role to more of a Marketing role. The idea promotes a turn from selling the organization to developing an employment brand based on employment satisfaction. APQC and Kennedy performed a survey asking the respondents if they every measured the satisfaction of the recruitment experience. Sixty-two percent said they did not.


The article also implied that recruiters are pressured into a sales role because of the desparate need for qualified resources. In addition, the sales roles focuses on the internal needs of the facility to fill a position and not necessarily the needs of the individuals. I'm not sure I completely agree wth this due to the nature of the competitive market. More often than not we accommodate as much of the jobseekers desires as we are able to afford (politically speaking).


I do see the advantages of employment branding. It is effective and sells the organization's goals, mission, beliefs, etc. Branding is not dating; it's commitment. I learned a lesson when I was recruiting in healthcare. If you sell a brand new facility, you'll receive candidates who want the newest and the best and will leave when someone else has built a new facility. If you sell comp and benefits they'll leave when someone pays more or offers better benefits. We tend to sell for the short term.

If you sell your employment brand then you will attract candidates who are looking for the same values, goals and business objectives. This could be more of a match made in heaven. If you are trying to recruit for the long-haul, employment branding may be your best bet.

Helping Employees Refer Applicants

I was watching a marketing video today and a great idea hit me. How about creating some links so your employees can put them in their Facebook accounts. Let them recruit for you. This way they can let their friends know about "hot" jobs that need to be filled. This sounds like a great idea.

I'm going to look on my Facebook account and learn more about the features of this social network. I'll keep you posted on what I find out.. Happy New Year!