Marketing is essential in helping you to attract new clients and retain existing ones, but don’t forget it can also be very useful in helping you to attract new employees.

Job seekers these days are very savvy when it comes to looking for jobs, with most people doing lots of internet research to help find suitable employers. A recently advertised role is the first thing they will look for, but for many, this is just the start of the process before they even consider sending an application to you.

People are more choosey about where they work, especially those in middle to senior level jobs. If they are going to leave their existing employer, they want to make sure that they are moving on to a firm which will offer them more opportunities, be that salary and benefits, career progression, diversity of work, better work/life balance, perhaps even somewhere which has more of a fun attitude towards work.

You can’t rely solely on your advert or a recruitment agent to bring the right people to your door. They will be looking at how you promote yourself on a daily basis and will use that to draw their conclusions on whether you are a suitable firm to work for.

So what can you do?

Website

Vacancies – make sure you have copies of any vacancies on your website, ideally on a standalone page which is easy for people to see, or if not, as a sub-post under your ‘About Us’ section. Even if you’re using a recruitment agent, you can still post the job details, but advise readers that all applicants should be sent to your agency.

Personalise – add personalised content about the firm to your website, i.e. Director/partner and staff profiles and background/history to the firm. You’re aiming to communicate the culture of the practice and the people that work there, so others can decide whether they think they would ‘fit in’.

Service range – explaining the range of products and services you have, and how your clients benefit from them is more much more informative for potential employees (and prospective clients!).

Clients – case studies and/or testimonials can be very useful in explaining the types of products/services you provide and the benefits they deliver to your clients. It helps potential employees see how they can make a difference too.

News – don’t just rely on daily news feeds from whichever web provider you’re using, also add personal content about the firm and the staff who work there. E.g. awards the firm has won or has been short-listed for, staff promotions, charity and local community groups supported, staff who have passed exams etc.

Social Media

As with your website – post your job details on your personal and/or business social media pages, where possible linking to the full job details on your website. Encourage people to share your job posts with their contacts, so you get to a wider audience. This can be done quickly and easily and free of charge, but you can also pay for job adverts to appear on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Newsletters

Whether you use email or printed newsletters, this is another great way to promote your vacancies, alongside other news about the firm. Email newsletters are also very easy for people to forward onto possible candidates they may know.

Adverts

If you’re placing adverts in local or trade press, always include your logo, to assist with brand awareness. You should also insert a link to your website to encourage applicants to find out more about you.

Media Coverage

News articles, advice columns, business related adverts in local, regional, national and trade press can all help to build awareness of your firm and give potential candidates a good insight into who you are and what you do. Media coverage can be a great way of building a positive reputation, not just to future employees, but clients, prospective clients and business associates as well.

There are many ways to enhance the promotion of your job adverts by tapping into your existing marketing activities. In some cases you may need to improve your current marketing channels so they become more appealing to potential candidates (and clients), thereby creating a win-win situation!