Searching for a job has evolved dramatically over the past five years.
Before making career decisions, today’s job seekers do their research online across multiple social, networking and community job channels to see what it’s really like inside an organization, from culture to management to salaries to even the lunchroom.
This “thirst for transparency” has forced talent acquisition and recruiting professionals to evolve as well. For employers, choosing the most effective channels to brand the organization and advertise open jobs is becoming increasingly critical to recruiting not just more candidates, but more qualified talent.
A good rule of thumb: Wherever talent is talking about or engaging with your employer brand—for example, Glassdoor, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn —promote not just your company mission and values, but open jobs as well. There’s no better way to leverage a positive brand and reputation to create a higher-quality talent pool.
The Inside View and the Value of Transparency
Not just Millennials, but employees across all age demographics are posting and commenting about their work experiences anonymously on Glassdoor, which to date features 6 million reviews of the over 300,000 companies profiled on the site.
In turn, job candidates are consuming this “inside view” in record percentages—a recent Glassdoor study shows that 95% of job candidates are influenced by others’ opinions about a company. Is it any wonder in this age of Amazon, Yelp, and TripAdvisor reviews for products, restaurants and services?
Talent sees what their friends and networks post about work on social networks. This means newsfeeds on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn factor greatly in shaping and spreading the word about your employer brand. As you might expect, if your company fosters, creates and exudes a good work environment, your employee network will spread that halo effect, making your organization a desirable place to leave a resume.
Software Advice recently reported that 48% of job seekers use Glassdoor at some point during their job search, illustrating how much candidates value workplace transparency when it comes to applying for jobs.
Some not-so-good news for employers: 69% of job seekers, even if unemployed, would not take a job with a company with a bad reputation, according to a 2012 study by Allegis Group Services & Corporate Responsibility Magazine. 84% would consider leaving their current jobs if offered another role with a company that had an excellent reputation, and most in the $75-$100K salary range would only require a 1-10% salary increase to consider the job.
A Better Way to Advertise Open Positions
Traditional job boards, with their seas of untargeted positions, coupled with a “post and pray” mentality by employers on the hunt for talent, poorly serves both today’s more informed job candidates and recruiting budgets alike.
Consider a better way. What if you could actually target your ideal candidates where they actually search for jobs, “post positions with purpose” and introduce your organization and an attractive employer brand to those ideal candidates who may not be aware of you?
The more targeted candidates know about an organization, gleaned, for example, from inside company reviews posted on company profile pages, the more selective they are in applying for positions. The end result is the recruiter’s trifecta: Less unqualified resumes to sift through, higher applicant quality compared to traditional job boards, and a significantly lower cost-per-hire that can be as much as 30% vs other recruitment channels.
Alison Hadden is Glassdoor’s Director of Product Marketing.
