How Should You Segment Talent Personas for Recruitment Marketing

How Should You Segment Talent Personas for Recruitment Marketing The first rule for any business, for anywhere in the world, is to know your clientele. And the same can be said for recruitment. The creation of talent personas isnt anything new in fact they were first introduced in the 1980s. This week our panel of experts tell you how talent personas can work with your recruitment marketing. Have a read and see what you think. Joe Shaker There should always be one EVP, but that message is going to be tailored based on the audience.   The same company is going to speak to an IT candidate different than a nurse or a cashier, but the articulation of those value propositions must stem from the same EVP. In order to do this effectively, you also must know each of your audiences’ unique needs. Joe Shaker is the President of Shaker Recruitment Marketing. Maren Hogan Um, I could talk about this all dayand have. I believe firmly in building talent personas for every department you own. Once you get into the habit, it’s truly not that difficult and building these personas can change everything about the recruitment process, from the way you word the ad to where you place your virtual help wanted sign AND everything about the job, from the schedule to the benefits your offer to potentially outdated requirements. It could be argued that personas are more important to recruitment marketing than employer branding. Maren Hogan  is CEO and Founder of Red Branch Media. Jared Nypen I think you need to create and segment talent personas in a way that makes sense for your company. I would do the research, looking at the data on current employees and then surveying employees to find out what traits make them successful in their jobs. The last time I did this for a company, we created personas that I wouldn’t have expected. For example, one persona was about employees who leave our industry altogether and then come back. We can create content that is geared to this persona! Jared Nypen  is the Vice-President of talent at Great Clips inc. Lisa Jones Around their issues.  What problems can be solved? Lisa Jones is the  Founder and Director of Barclay Jones. Mark Cavanagh Skills, Skills, Skills. First and foremost, recruitment and recruitment marketing are designed to bring together a skill-set and job that requires that skill-set, so it makes sense to start there, building your network based on skill-set not only makes your talent pool more searchable, but it also enables you to build a profile of candidates that you don’t already know. Combine this with location, history and digital behaviour attribution, this will provide you with the information you need to target similar profiles using recruitment marketing activity. Mark Cavanagh is the Marketing Manager at The One Group. Charlotte Jones Talent personas  are the target markets of recruitment marketing. Personas can be defined by critical talent or functions required for the business, hard to fill talent, or large scale hiring functions. Personas may be segmented by type of function such as engineering or finance.   They may be segmented further by type of engineering: software engineering, specifically defined by the job requirements.  Personas may encompass your target audience behaviors, preferences, job seeker behavior, demographic and psychographic profile. With the profiles, you may experience vastly different behaviors, therefore segmentation of the personas may need to occur â€" by location, by experience level. Charlotte  Jones is the Recruitment Marketing Manager at Lockheed Martin. Phil Strazzulla I think of it from the candidates perspective. What is the group of people would they like to sit down with at your company to learn about working there? Maybe its geographically based, or by function, or by their gender/age/race. For some candidates its probably a few different groups maybe they want to talk to software engineers, people in New York, and Women in Tech. Whatever the case may be, it makes sense to segment these groups. Youve never have a marketer sending the same messaging to the VP of HR and the VP of Engineering! Phil Strazzulla  is the Founder of NextWave Hire. Shelby Burghardt Segmenting talent personas will vary depending on the size, location, target audience, and the hiring goals/needs of your organization. If you have offices all over the world, a talent persona for a technologist located in California may not be the same as a talent persona for a technologist located in Hyderabad, India, because they may have different career motivators/drivers. You need to understand who you are marketing to, where they are located, what motivates them in their career, and what matters to them. For example, we focus on the top 3 job families we hire for: technology, sales, and research. We then look at the top regions where we’re hiring for those roles, such as US, UK, and Canada. We’ll then look at our organization goals, such as hiring more women in tech, and then we will build out personas for each role within each region. Shelby Burghardt is the Global Talent Brand Manager at Thomson Reuters. Rebecca Drew It’s essential businesses understand their target audiences, to make sure the content they are producing will appeal to and engage them. Of course, no business will have a single type of person they want to attract, which is why segmentation is so important. This process needs to be driven by empirical market research rather than anecdotal assumptions. To make this information useful, a persona must then be contextualised to help understand their values and the motivations in switching jobs. For example, if a bank is going through a process of digitisation, it needs to think about the kind of skills and personas it needs to make these adaptations and change its recruitment marketing strategy accordingly.  By generating this deeper understanding of a talent persona, a business is also setting itself up for a more effective hiring process. Rebecca Drew is a Manager at LinkedIn Talent Solutions. Bennett Sung Like with consumer buyer personas, segmentation of talent personas is a critical tactic to deliver personalized content at the right time and through the right channel, thus optimizing engagement and hiring success. One common talent segmentation practice is by job family (e.g., marketing, engineering, sales, C-Suite, etc). Through active interview-based research, you will begin to validate what the talent segmentation needs are, uncover what marketing channels the segment engages with, how they make decisions to accept an offer, and more. Certainly, you can slice and dice a talent network across many demographic factors. Bennett Sung is the Head of Marketing at Allyo.

5 Instances its OK to Say No to Clients

5 Instances its OK to Say No to Clients As recruiters it’s in our DNA to say ‘yes’ to clients. We want to please them because their business is our livelihood, at the end of the day. But if you’ve been doing this for a while, you’ll know that the most fulfilling client relationships come about when the client can rely on you for your opinion and judgement. We are experts at what we do, and it is our advice and consultation that they also pay us for. Being able to give honest advice â€" even if it’s not what they want to hear â€" is part of the deal if you want to secure a truly long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationship. Saying ‘no’ wisely often garners increased respect, heightened value in our services and ultimately may well lead to choosing us over a competitor. While we want to please our clients we must choose those moments wisely. These are some of those occasions: 1. Competing with agencies I’d love to say that we only work on exclusive business but that wouldn’t be true. But there’s something to be said from walking away from a job that has every agency in town working on it. When you drill down on time spent vs the chance of return, it’s just not worth it. I will usually assess how many agencies are recruiting the role and make a judgment on whether or not it’s worth my time to do so. 2. Pushing down candidates’ salaries Understandably, many clients wish to negotiate candidate salaries. Their reasons for doing so may vary: budget, room for progression etc., but my view is that (in this market particularly) they should be willing to pay for them if they feel they’re the right person. I would be concerned that if I convinced a candidate to unwillingly negotiate, I’d find myself replacing them a few months later when they receive a better offer. 3. Management of expectations Clients who are not as familiar with the market may have a wish list as long as the job description. As part of the briefing process it’s important to manage those expectations early on and let them know if they’re not realistic. 4. Long shortlists If you’re good at what you do, you shouldn’t need to give the client tens of CVs to choose from. A small shortlist should suffice and in some cases, just one should be enough! If they request more options, it could be a sign that they’re unsure of what they want. In that case, I’d take the conversation back to briefing stage and go over the details of the role again to ensure you’re both on the same page. 5. The role is outside of your remit I’ve (happily) won the trust of many clients and they’ll often ask if I can help with roles that are outside the scope of our specialism. If I don’t think we can do a good job, I’ll say ‘no’. The value of the client relationship is simply not worth the risk. About the author: David Morel is the CEO/Founder of Tiger Recruitment, one of London’s leading secretarial/administrative recruitment agencies. David founded Tiger in 2001 and has written extensively in the press and wider media advising both employers and job seekers on best recruitment practice.

What Hiring Managers Want In A Good Job Candidate - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

What Hiring Managers Want In A Good Job Candidate - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Even in a tight job market, hiring managers are having a tough time finding the right candidates. According to the Career Advisory Board’s 2012 Job Preparedness Indicator, only 17% of the 516 hiring managers polled said job seekers possess the skills the companies are actually looking for. “Despite a poor job market there are all these open positions,” says Alexandra Levit, business and workplace consultant and Career Advisory Board member. “Companies might interview 15 or 20 people, but they are not finding the right kind of talent.” According to the survey, which also interviewed 540 job seekers, one of those must have skills, especially for senior level managers that job seekers don’t have or aren’t promoting, is a global perspective of business, says Levit. They want candidates that understand business is conducted differently in different cultures, says Levit, noting that companies increasingly want senior level candidates to have some sort of global perspective whether it’s working for a multi-national company or one that does business overseas. Another skill that’s becoming a requirement: social media acumen. “Everybody has to have a good handle on social media,” says Levit. “It’s particularly applicable to people who are older and don’t have a handle on social media.” Levit says it behooves job seekers to learn how to use social media and how it can be applied to business. Of the survey respondents who are responsible for senior level candidates, about one in five or 18% said that very few of the job seekers have the needed skills compared to 13% of hiring managers in charge of entry level or mid-level candidates. The survey also found that while hiring managers are placing the greatest emphasis on global perspective and business acumen, job seekers are more likely to focus on attributes like strong work ethic and self-motivation, which are more important for lower level positions. Although job seekers are facing an extremely tough job market, the survey also discovered that more than half are reluctant to seek help in finding a job. In fact, 58% of job seekers said they rely on their own knowledge and experience to decide what information they should include on applications, resumes and cover letters rather than get the input and advice from career counselors. What’s more senior level job seekers look at how a position could fit with them instead of how they can fit with the position. “In a lot of cases people are unaware these skills are important and haven’t taken the time to develop them. In other cases people have these skills but they aren’t the ones they reference,” says Levit. “A lot of people have studied abroad, done volunteer work overseas or took a trip on behalf of their company and they aren’t mentioning it.” In addition to having a global perspective and social media know-how, to stay relevant during the next five years, Levit says job seekers need to have the ability to be cross functional. That means the days of having a niche and becoming an expert in a very specific area are gone. “This survey found the opposite. Hiring managers want you to go in and do the job of two or three people, they want to know you can work in different departments and have a good set of transferrable skills,” says Levit. She says job seekers need to show they have experience in a wide variety of areas and skills. That could mean conveying you have experience in marketing as well and finance and sales. “Companies down sized to such a degree they don’t have people specialized,” she adds. Being technologically savvy is another trait hiring managers want to see from job candidates, according to the survey. It’s not enough to know how to use a PC and the Internet anymore, but now you have to be on top of technology changes that affect your job. So if you are an accountant, for example, you need to know what the latest software is and how to use it, says Levit. “While gaps continue to exist, if job seekers more proactively engage in professional development and guidance during the job search, they will be more successful in delivering what hiring managers and companies are seeking,” says Levit. Author: Donna Fuscaldo is a freelance journalist hailing out of Long Island, New York. Donna writes for numerous online publications including FoxBusiness.com, Bankrate.com, AARP.com, Insurance.com and Houselogic.com. As a personal finance reporter for years, Donna provides invaluable advice on everything from saving money to landing that dream job. She also writes a weekly column for FoxBusiness.com focused on technology for small businesses. Previously, Donna was an equities reporter for Dow Jones Newswires and a special contributor to the Wall Street Journal. Through the Glassdoor Blog, Donna will provide tips on how to find a job and more importantly keep it.

Top 5 Challenges Facing new Businesses

Top 5 Challenges Facing new Businesses As a new business owner, you can appreciate the hard work and determination needed to keep it running smoothly. There will always be surprises, but if you plan well, you should not be affected too badly. Unfortunately, sometimes things happen that you are not prepared for or have the experience to understand. In these cases, you need to consult a specialized business litigation attorney to help you through. Here are the top 5 challenges that small businesses face today. Market Research Conducting proper market research is the key to growing your business. This includes knowing your target audience and making sure they see your marketing. Sometimes, however, the marketing strategy you have created, doesn’t work as well as you hoped. It can make things hard for a new business to build new leads. Reviewing your marketing strategy is vital to ensure you are always on top of any problems. If you are targeting a particular group, maybe changing to another group will yield better results. Business Plan Is your business plan working? Some new companies try to grow too quickly and lose their focus. You have to concentrate on one market initially so you can make that successful. Once you have done that, you can move on to other ideas. You need to know how much your company will make and how much capital you will need to do it. These are the things that will give your business the direction it needs. Capital Many new businesses fail because they underestimate how much money they need to survive initially. Most of the time, it can take two years or more before you start to see a profit. This means you need to have the funds available to get you through that time. It also means avoiding buying expensive office equipment until you have the spare cash to do so. Litigation A big problem with new businesses is litigation. There might be a challenge to copyright or patents, or you may have a partner that wants to leave the company. Having a business litigation attorney is a good idea because they can help you deal with these issues and hopefully resolve them quickly. You need to get a lawyer who has the experience in business litigation so that they understand the laws and conditions of this type of case. Pricing When you first start your company, you will have to price your products or services at a fair price. If you try to cut your prices, you might not be able to cover the cost of manufacture. Until you have an established customer base and a good relationship with your clients, you need to charge what the product is worth. These issues can all be resolved fairly quickly, so you should be able to get your company back on track. The best thing to remember is to do all this work before you start your business. That way, you will not lose any money making these mistakes.

Are You a Giver, Taker, or Matcher - Career Pivot

Are You a Giver, Taker, or Matcher - Career Pivot Giver, Taker, or Matcher Are you a giver, taker, or matcher? Think about it! This is my second blog post based on the book Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant. My last post, Weak Ties versus Strong Ties in your Job Search, came directly from this book. Givers Adam Grant wrote: In the workplace, givers are a relatively rare breed. They tilt reciprocity in the other direction, preferring to give more than they get. Whereas takers tend to be self-focused, evaluating what other people can offer them, givers are other-focused, paying more attention to what other people need from them. These preferences aren’t about money: givers and takers aren’t distinguished by how much they donate to charity or the compensation that they command from their employers. Rather, givers and takers differ in their attitudes and actions toward other people. If you’re a taker, you help others strategically, when the benefits to you outweigh the personal costs. If you’re a giver, you might use a different cost-benefit analysis: you help whenever the benefits to others exceed the personal costs. Alternatively, you might not think about the personal costs at all, helping others without expecting anything in return. If you’re a giver at work, you simply strive to be generous i n sharing your time, energy, knowledge, skills, ideas, and connections with other people who can benefit from them. Hmm…do you know some givers? Takers Adam Grant wrote: Takers have a distinctive signature: they like to get more than they give. They tilt reciprocity in their own favor, putting their own interests ahead of others’ needs. Takers believe that the world is a competitive, dog-eat-dog place. They feel that to succeed, they need to be better than others. To prove their competence, they self-promote and make sure they get plenty of credit for their efforts. Garden-variety takers aren’t cruel or cutthroat; they’re just cautious and self-protective. Matchers Adam Grant wrote: We become matchers, striving to preserve an equal balance of giving and getting. Matchers operate on the principle of fairness: when they help others, they protect themselves by seeking reciprocity. If you’re matcher, you believe in tit for tat, and your relationships are governed by even exchanges. Listen to the most recent episode Matchers are the most common in our workplace. If I help you, you will help me. If you help me, I will help you. Tit for tat. The lines between these styles are not hard and fast. You have probably worked with all three. Networking and Givers, Takers, or Matchers One of the easiest places to spot differences is at a networking event. Takers are those who will readily go from person to person handing out their business cards and asking for yours. You get a LinkedIn connection request that evening, even though you barely talked with them. For them, it is a numbers game. The differences between Givers and Matchers can be subtle. They are the ones who engage in the art of conversation. They want to learn more about you. A giver will usually end the conversation with the question, “How can I help you?” Think about the people you work with. What reciprocity model do they use? Are you a giver, taker, or matcher? Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...

Avoiding the elephant traps - dont make these common CV blunders at interview - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

Avoiding the elephant traps - dont make these common CV blunders at interview There is a wealth of advice out there when it comes to CV writing. A google search will reveal literally hundreds of pages of advice on how to create a killer CV  that will wow potential employees. Yet time and again, job applicants make the mistake of writing a CV that gets all the right attention from the employer, only to flush it all away when they get to the interview stage. Here are some tips for making sure you don’t fall into a trap of your own making and that the interviewer will be just as impressed with the real thing as with the impression you created on paper. Take a copy with you What can be worse than sitting opposite an interviewer as they look at your CV, being asked a question and responding with a blank stare as you try to read whatever it is they are referring to upside down? This might be described by some as a paperless age, but invest in a printer, log on to Printer Inks  to get some cartridges for it and take a copy with you. In fact, take two, just in case. If nothing else, it will give you something to do with your hands. Have some ready-made examples Your CV is what has got you to interview, but if you’ve followed the advice that everyone gives, it only touches briefly on the key points to pique the employer’s interest. Be prepared to expand upon each and every point you have made with some real-world examples. Able to work under your own initiative? Prove it â€" tell the story about the decision you had to make when the boss was unavailable. Accustomed to working to tight time frames? Give examples. Great team player? Describe a project you worked on, and how you contributed your skills to complement those of others. Chances are, your CV is not full of clichés like that or you would never have been invited to interview in the first place, but you get the idea. Don’t get caught in a lie It’s natural, and indeed advisable, to craft your CV to meet the requirements of the job, but some people take it to extremes. The above note regarding examples is particularly important here. By running through each point in your CV and making sure you can back up those claims, you are less at risk of being caught out. Be ready to talk about the negatives A wise man once said “if in doubt, you can always fall back on the truth.” If you are lacking some areas of expertise that are useful for the job, it is better to have these in mind as aspects you would like to develop than to pretend to be something you are not. For example, perhaps you have no man-management experience. Employers will be more positive towards someone who acknowledges this is something they want and need to develop than with someone who tries to bluff their way through an interview.

Free Teleseminar to Help You Dive Into Your Job Hunt -

Free Teleseminar to Help You Dive Into Your Job Hunt - Are you ready to dive into your job search head first? You are really resolving to make a career change this year, but youre still not sure where to start or how to make heads or tails of all the things you need to do? Help is on the way! I am excited to announce that Im collaborating with certified coach Carolann Jacobs, whose business is Vivid Epiphany, for an 8-week FREE teleseminar: Land Your Dream Job: 8 Strategies For Outrageous Success in 2009. Well be talking about how to set yourself up to win and describing a series of steps to help get your job hunt off to a good start! We will cover the following topics (each seminar begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time): Create a Winning Mindset January 8th Craft a Magnetic Marketing Portfolio January 15th Design a Strategy, Devise a Plan and Take Focused Action for Results January 22nd Change Who You Are to What You Do February 5th Become a Sought After Expert Using Social Media February 12th Interview to Triumph -  February 19th Remaining seminars: Secrets to Getting in the Door -  Ã‚  February 26th We welcome special guest, Stephanie Lloyd, a recruiter with 15 years of experience, to give you the inside scoop from her side of the desk!! Command What Youre Worth March 5th Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions during each session. We are thrilled to report that two of our participants have already landed jobs since joining our calls! One participant who landed her dream job notes that the calls helped her become more confident in interviews and focused on jobs that matched [her] skill set. Register HERE. Keppie Careers is here to help you get your job hunt going. Need a resume? Mock interview? Contact me! photo by JennyP