Recruiters know they have issues, but sometimes don't have the right perspective to understand and solve them. This ebook sheds light on the most common issues and how to solve them.

2.
SOLVING
THE
TEN
BIGGEST
HIRING
PROBLEMS
3
Problem:
Low
or
dropping
website
traffic
5
Problem:
Low
conversion
rates
on
our
site
8
Problem:
Search
engines
aren’t
sending
us
free
traffic
12
Problem:
Lots
of
traffic,
but
most
of
it
is
a
poor
fit
15
Problem:
Our
ad
budget
keeps
going
up,
but
without
an
increase
in
value
18
Problem:
We
have
problems
attracting
and
hiring
entry-­‐level
talent
22
Problem:
Attracting
and
hiring
upper-­‐level
and
selective
talent
26
Problem:
Losing
talented
prospects
during
the
hiring
process
31
Problem:
We
need
to
attract
passive
candidates
36
Problem:
Attract
university
candidates
40
Thanks,
Credits
44
About
James
Ellis
45

3. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
3
Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
You
have
a
recruitment
problem.
No,
I’m
sure
you
do.
I
have
no
idea
what
it
is,
but
at
issue
is
that
you
have
a
fairly
limited
perspective.
You
understand
how
your
company
does
things
and
unless
you’ve
job-­‐hopped
a
lot,
the
frame
of
reference
around
your
issue
is
somewhat
limited.
Of
course,
if
you
go
to
a
vendor
or
agency,
it’s
hard
to
know
what
information
is
useful
and
what
is
a
sales
pitch.
So,
I
am
building
this
one-­‐stop
talent
acquisition
and
recruitment
marketing
cheat
sheet.
Here
are
a
bunch
of
very
common
issues
and
a
number
of

4. 4
|
Meshworking.com
likely
ways
to
combat
them,
all
in
one
spot.
No
solution
solves
all
problems,
so
this
will
help
you
have
a
better
conversation
with
your
network
and
partners.
Tell
your
friends.
-­‐James

5. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
5
Problem:
Low
or
dropping
website
traffic
SOLUTION:
SHORT-­‐TERM:
BUY
ADS
AND
SOCIAL
PROMOTION.
LONG-­‐TERM:
SEO
AND
CONTENT.
Explanation:
Traffic
to
your
website
is
probably
the
biggest
and
broadest
key
performance
indicator
there
is.
Without
people
coming
to
your
career
site,
you
can’t
make
your
pitch,
sign
people
up
for
your
talent
community
or
get
people
to
apply.
Traffic
is
recruitment
oxygen.
While
there
are
plenty
of
other
KPIs
worthy
of
consideration,
without
traffic
to
the
site,
they
are
mostly
moot.
1

6. 6
|
Meshworking.com
So
if
you
are
facing
dropping
traffic,
you’ll
want
to
engage
in
a
two-­‐pronged
solution:
prop
up
traffic
now
to
buy
you
the
time
it
takes
to
organically
fix
the
issue.
Thus,
the
short-­‐term
solution
is
to
buy
more
ads
and
social
promotion.
Ads
are
obviously
the
quick-­‐fix
solution,
paying
people
to
look
at
your
website.
The
problem
is
that
it
can
be
a
costly
solution,
so
engage
in
it
as
a
bandage,
not
a
treatment.
At
the
same
time,
using
social
media
promotion
gets
you
all
the
same
kind
of
targeting
tools
an
ad
will
get
you
(if
not
more),
and
it
can
do
it
for
a
lower
price
point.
In
the
long-­‐term,
invest
in
something
that
will
draw
people
to
you
more
organically.
Interesting
and
unique
stories
about
your
company,
your
culture
and
your
people
naturally
get
shared
and
read
because
they
are
interesting.
At
the
same
time,
all
this
content
defining
who
you
are
helps
search
engines
tie
your
site
to
interested
searchers.
Good
stories
properly
prepared
for
search
engine
consumption
can
drive
traffic
for
months
and
years
after
launch.
The
issue
is
that
you
can’t
apply
a
long-­‐term
solution
to
a
short-­‐term
issue.
It
takes
time
to
develop
and
promote
content
to
the
right
audiences
to
provide
that
lift.
Content
is
a
long-­‐tail

7. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
7
game,
while
ads
and
promotion
can
lift
traffic
overnight.

8. 8
|
Meshworking.com
Problem:
Low
conversion
rates
on
our
site
SOLUTION:
BUILD
CONTENT
INTO
YOUR
SITE
AT
THE
POINT
OF
CONSIDERATION,
USER
EXPERIENCE,
MEDIA
MIX.
Explanation:
You
probably
spend
a
good
deal
of
money
just
to
get
people
to
your
site.
Whether
that
money
is
spent
on
ads,
job
boards,
brand
messaging,
email
marketing
or
search
optimization,
it’s
money
spent
solely
to
generate
traffic.
But
you
may
see
a
low
or
declining
percentage
of
site
visitors
actually
doing
anything
of
value
–
like
joining
the
talent
community
or
applying.
The
problem
in
this
situation
is
that
your
promotion
is
either
doing
its
job
and
you
aren’t
giving
people
a
reason
to
continue,
or
that
your
ads
2

9. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
9
are
doing
too
good
a
job
and
driving
useless
traffic
to
your
site.
Let’s
tackle
these
issues
separately.
In
the
first
instance,
where
the
right
people
are
on
your
site,
but
aren’t
applying
is
a
tough
problem
to
diagnose
and
solve.
Start
by
looking
at
your
analytics.
Segment
out
all
traffic
from
ads
or
job
boards
and
focus
on
organic
traffic
from
search
engines
(e.g.
you
didn’t
pay
for
that
click)
and
those
from
your
corporate
site.
These
are
people
who
are
looking
for
what
you
have
to
say,
who
know
who
you
are
and
are
motivated
to
engage
with
you.
Take
a
look
at
the
conversion
rate
each
month
for
the
last
two
years
for
just
this
traffic.
Is
it
dropping?
Then
it’s
likely
that
the
problem
is
because
people
arrive
at
your
site
and
then…
drift
away
without
taking
action.
Another
telltale
sign
is
that
your
job
descriptions
are
your
biggest
exit
pages.
People
are
finding
your
jobs,
but
then,
they
just
quit
on
you.
In
this
situation,
prospects
are
interested
in
applying,
but
still
on
the
fence.
They
are
looking
for
a
good
reason
to
take
the
next
step.
Your
job
descriptions
aren’t
meant
to
actually
drive
action
(they
are
more
legal
placeholders
than
they
are
marketing
and
sales
tools),
so
you
need
content
to

10. 10
|
Meshworking.com
really
explain
why
someone
who
found
your
jobs
should
apply
–
beyond
the
existence
of
the
job.
Content
will
do
the
most
good
if
it
is
placed
in
line
with
the
decision-­‐making
process:
next
to
the
job
description.
If
you
ask
a
prospect
to
go
searching
for
the
content,
they
will
leave
in
search
of
a
company
that
is
actively
trying
to
woo
them
a
little.
But
there
is
another
common
reason
why
your
conversion
rate
is
dropping:
your
outbound
marketing
(ads,
job
board
promotion,
etc.)
is
working
too
well,
attracting
people
who
aren’t
likely
fits
to
the
job.
To
diagnose
this
situation,
again
go
to
your
analytics
and
segment
out
your
ads
and
other
marketing
traffic.
Look
for
month-­‐by-­‐month
conversion
rates
for
the
last
two
years,
If
you
are
seeing
fairly
steady
conversion
rates
(barring
seasonality,
which
is
why
we
look
at
two
years
worth
of
data),
your
ads
aren’t
the
problem,
and
instead
look
at
using
content
to
compel
action
in
your
prospects.
If
your
conversion
rates
are
dropping
for
ad
traffic,
what’s
happening
is
that
your
media
mix
is
either
out-­‐of-­‐date
or
seeking
prospects
in
the
wrong
audiences.

11. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
11
Remember,
publishers
can’t
charge
you
for
your
ads
if
no
one
clicks
on
them,
so
it
is
in
their
best
interests
to
send
you
clicks,
regardless
of
value
to
you.
The
best
solution
is
to
work
with
your
media
buyers
to
re-­‐think
your
media
mix.
Re-­‐establish
your
targets,
find
new
channels
and
publishers,
or
re-­‐segment
your
audiences.
Sometimes
a
little
time
spent
thinking
about
these
issues
with
a
fresh
perspective
can
work
wonders
on
attracting
quality
candidates.

12. 12
|
Meshworking.com
Problem:
Search
engines
aren’t
sending
us
free
traffic
SOLUTION:
SEO,
CONTENT
AND
SOCIAL.
Explanation:
When
Google
(or
the
other
search
engines)
sends
you
organic
traffic,
not
only
is
that
free
traffic,
that
is
generally
very
valuable
traffic:
you
didn’t
have
to
send
them
a
commercial
to
drive
them
to
your
site,
they
were
actively
searching
for
words
that
were
on
your
website.
3

13. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
13
So,
if
your
organic
(unpaid)
search
traffic
is
dropping,
it’s
a
lot
fewer
people
on
your
site,
and
it
usually
means
fewer
quality
prospects.
To
diagnose
this
issue,
go
into
your
analytics,
and
just
show
organic
traffic.
Is
it
dropping
steadily?
Talk
to
your
SEO
analyst
about
variations
and
changes
in
the
different
algorithms
the
search
engines
are
using
and
see
if
your
can
connect
those
changes
to
drops
or
spikes
in
traffic.
Unless
you’ve
been
dinged
for
some
reason,
you
should
see
fairly
steady
free
traffic
from
search
engines.
If
not,
it’s
time
to
fix
the
issue.
Solving
this
is
at
once
simple
and
difficult.
The
solution
is
to
rank
higher
on
the
search
engines
for
job
seeker
terms.
But
to
do
that,
you
need
a
two-­‐
part
strategy.
Obviously,
SEO
is
part
of
the
solution.
You
want
to
work
with
your
developer
and
SEO
analyst
to
ensure
that
your
site
is
optimized
from
a
technical
level
[link
to
nursing
blog].
This
means
looking
at
your
code
and
making
sure
you
are
giving
Google
what
it’s
looking
for.
Of
course,
if
you
are
using
your
ATS
to
post
jobs
directly
to
the
web,
you
likely
won’t
have
any
access
to
that
code
at
all.
You’ll
need
a
way
to
re-­‐
publish
those
jobs
in
a
more
Google-­‐friendly
platform.

14. 14
|
Meshworking.com
Beyond
the
code
itself,
the
other
primary
factor
that
search
engines
use
to
weigh
your
site,
is
who
is
linking
to
you.
In
fact,
it
seems
likely
that
authentic
links
to
your
site
(not
ones
you
paid
for)
are
the
most
important
factor
in
lifting
your
rankings
on
Google.
How
do
you
get
people
to
link
to
you?
The
first
step
is
to
build
content
that
people
will
think
is
valuable
enough
to
link
to.
Job
descriptions
aren’t
enough,
mostly
because
they
change
URLs
so
quickly
that
Google
can’t
reliably
incorporate
them
into
its
ranking.
Also,
because
job
descriptions
are
boring:
people
don’t
like
to
link
to
boring
stuff.
So
build
interesting
and
engaging
content.
Then
ask
people
to
share
it
and
link
to
it.
That’s
the
most
effective
solution
to
raising
your
search
engine
traffic.

15. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
15
Problem:
Lots
of
traffic,
but
most
of
it
is
a
poor
fit
SOLUTION:
BRAND,
CONTENT,
PROGRAMMATIC
MEDIA
AND
SOCIAL
MEDIA
PROMOTION.
Explanation:
Buying
traffic
is
easy.
In
this
way,
getting
applications
isn’t
that
difficult,
either.
With
enough
money,
you
can
get
pretty
much
get
any
number
of
applications.
But
there’s
a
world
of
difference
between
an
applicant
and
a
real
fit.
4

16. 16
|
Meshworking.com
There
are
a
couple
of
ways
to
solve
this,
and
they
should
be
seen
as
complementary
solutions
rather
than
as
a
series
of
alternatives.
Your
primary
focus
in
enhancing
fit
is
to
know
what
kind
of
application
is
a
good
fit.
If
you
don’t
care
where
you
are
going,
it
doesn’t
matter
which
way
you
go,
said
the
smiling
cat
to
the
lost
Alice.
The
same
is
true
here:
You
have
to
know
what
a
good
fit
looks
like
before
you
can
attract
them.
Once
you’ve
established
the
persona
or
attributes
of
a
likely
fit,
you
can’t
assume
to
simply
push
ads
to
them.
These
are
people
you
had
trouble
finding
before,
so
it’s
safe
to
assume
that
they
can
be
more
selective
than
your
average
applicants.
In
that
case,
your
next
concern
must
be
in
giving
these
likely
fits
a
reason
to
consider
you.
This
means
have
a
well-­‐defined
employer
brand
or
employer
value
proposition.
It
takes
two
to
tango
and
two
to
establish
a
fit.
They
have
to
be
right
for
you
and
you
have
to
be
right
for
them.
A
one-­‐direction
fit
isn’t
really
a
fit
at
all.
It’s
a
wish,
an
aspiration,
a
valentine
to
an
unrequited
love.
But
an
EVP
by
itself
isn’t
very
useful.
You
have
to
prove
it,
and
the
most
effective
way
to
do
that
is
to
tell
stories
that
activate
that
EVP.
If
you
are
looking
for
sharks,
your
EVP
has
to
reward
sharks
with

17. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
17
what
sharks
like
best,
then
you
have
to
tell
stories
about
sharks
doing
amazing
work
and
then
being
rewarded
in-­‐kind.
If
you
aren’t
looking
for
sharks,
but
instead
for
geeks
who
lust
after
the
newest
tech
or
the
biggest
problems
to
solve,
you
need
an
EVP
that
focuses
on
your
commitment
to
tech
and
solving
problems.
Then,
you
need
to
tell
stories
that
show
off
that
tech
or
illustrate
the
scope
and
scale
of
the
problems
you
are
solving.
All
your
stories
must
align
with
that
EVP
or
else
they
will
feel
incongruent
with
the
larger
story
you
are
presenting
about
your
company.
Then
you
need
to
get
those
stories
in
front
of
likely
fits
in
order
to
give
them
a
chance
to
consider
you.
The
fastest
way
to
present
your
story
is
programmatic
media
and
social
media
targeting.
Using
the
persona
work
you
did
in
the
first
step,
you
should
have
a
good
idea
of
what
interests
these
candidates
have
and
what
websites
they
read.

18. 18
|
Meshworking.com
Problem:
Our
ad
budget
keeps
going
up,
but
without
an
increase
in
value
SOLUTION:
CONTENT.
Explanation:
Sadly,
ad
publishers
keep
generating
more
and
more
ad
space,
so
the
page
that
used
to
have
two
ads
on
it,
now
has
seven.
Thus,
the
value
of
your
ad
gets
diluted,
as
other
ads
demand
the
attention
from
readers
you
were
counting
on.
5

19. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
19
In
order
to
keep
the
number
of
clicks
you
are
getting,
publishers
might
be
reaching
out
to
new
audiences
to
increase
their
page
views.
Sadly,
this
audience
may
not
be
the
one
you
were
trying
to
reach,
making
the
value
of
the
click
less
and
less.
Or
your
ad
buyers
might
be
expanding
their
list
of
places
to
publish
your
ads
to
generate
those
clicks.
The
result
is
usually
the
same.
But
think
about
your
ad
for
a
second.
Regardless
of
whether
you
are
buying
banner
ads
or
text/search
ads,
you
have
a
very,
very,
very,
small
space
in
which
to
say
anything
meaningful.
The
value
of
the
ad
isn’t
based
on
its
applications,
but
its
ability
to
generate
clicks.
Good
ads
entice
people
in
using
a
mixture
of
curiosity,
scarcity,
offers
or
perceived
value
to
get
someone
to
click,
at
which
point
the
page
the
ad
points
to
gives
all
the
information.
Sadly,
there
are
issues
with
this
process.
First,
your
ad
is
small,
so
you
have
to
focus
on
the
sizzle
rather
than
the
steak.
There’s
not
enough
room
to
give
a
reason
that
someone
should
apply,
just
room
enough
to
promise
that
compelling
reason
on
the
landing
page.
Of
course,
you
are
probably
sending
someone
to
a
job
description,
the
least
compelling
information
I
can
think
of.
You
can
increase
the
value
of
your
ads
by
not
pointing
them
to
jobs
and
instead
send
them
to

20. 20
|
Meshworking.com
interesting
content
that
delivers
on
the
promise
of
a
compelling
reason
to
join
your
team.
If
you
think
of
the
job
application
process
as
a
hurdle
(and
with
most
ATSs,
it
is
that),
you
want
your
content
to
motivate
candidates
to
do
the
work
to
clear
that
hurdle.
You
want
prospects
to
understand
why
they
should
apply,
see
themselves
in
the
company,
and
it’s
content
that
gets
the
job
done.
It
is
usually
easier
to
market
content
instead
of
jobs.
Think
of
your
average
project
manager
role.
What
can
you
say
about
it
that
makes
it
sound
different
from
project
manager
roles
in
any
other
company?
What
can
you
say
in
the
46
characters
of
a
Google
AdWords
text
ad
that
will
entice
someone
to
learn
more
about
project
management
jobs?
If
your
answer
is,
“The
fact
that
we
have
jobs
is
message
enough,”
I
would
counter
that
argument.
If
someone
is
looking
for
a
job,
they
generally
go
to
a
job
board.
That’s
where
direct
messages
like
“we
have
a
project
management
opening”
actually
work.
Why
would
they
go
other
places
to
look
for
a
job
when
so
many
jobs
are
posted
there
already?
It’s
like
fishing
in
the
parking
lot
because
there
might
be
a
possible
candidate
there
instead
of
walking
the
40
steps
to
the
lake
and
fishing
where
the
fish
are.
Content
is
also
perennial,
supporting
your
brand
and
jobs
for
months
and
years
at
a
time.
Your
job

21. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
21
description
will
only
live
at
that
URL
for
the
45
days
until
you
close
the
rec.
Just
make
sure
that
your
content
connects
to
related
jobs
or
else
you
will
be
using
resources
to
engage
someone
–
only
to
send
them
off
to
search
for
a
job
on
your
site.
That’s
like
asking
someone
to
leave.

22. 22
|
Meshworking.com
Problem:
We
have
problems
attracting
and
hiring
entry-­‐
level
talent
SOLUTION:
JOB
BOARDS
AND
SOCIAL
MEDIA,
MOBILE
APPLY.
Explanation:
Entry-­‐level
staff
is
defined
by
one
idea:
they
are
barely
differentiated
from
each
other.
They
don’t
have
any
experience
to
highlight
or
skills
to
illustrate.
And
because
they
can’t
differentiate
themselves,
they
are
looking
for
(almost)
anyone
to
call
them
in
for
an
interview.
6

23. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
23
They
are
working
with
the
law
of
big
numbers:
the
sheer
volume
of
applications
will
result
in
the
phone
call
from
a
recruiter.
To
that
end,
their
job
seeking
process
is
finding
the
apply
button
as
fast
as
they
can
and
making
the
process
as
simple
and
fast
as
possible.
They
are
button-­‐pressers.
They
don’t
care
about
who
they
work
for,
as
much
as
they
care
about
working
for
someone.
This
audience
is
already
going
to
the
places
with
the
most
amount
of
jobs:
big-­‐name
job
boards.
An
entry-­‐level
attraction
strategy
should
start
with
optimizing
your
presence
on
these
sites,
either
through
simplified
job
descriptions,
keyword
optimization
or
promotion.
In
the
modern
job
board,
the
candidate
will
search
a
term
they
think
might
drive
the
broadest
return
of
likely
jobs.
They
will
search
on
terms
like
“entry-­‐
level”
or
“no
experience
necessary.”
A
good
exercise
is
to
go
into
your
analytics
and
look
for
search
terms
used
by
actual
prospects
that
line
up
with
an
entry-­‐level
search
and
make
sure
those
terms
show
up
in
your
job
descriptions
fed
to
job
boards.
Beyond
finding
a
job,
you
need
to
create
a
clear
path
to
a
simplified
application
process.
If
the
audience
is
focusing
on
sheer
volume,
any
obstacle

24. 24
|
Meshworking.com
that
slows
down
the
application
process
will
deter
action.
This
is
especially
true
as
job
boards
start
changing
their
interfaces
to
allow
a
candidate
to
see
lots
of
jobs
in
one
place,
flipping
between
opportunities
in
search
of
easy
applications.
Glassdoor’s
new
multi-­‐pane
layout
makes
it
easy
to
see
lots
of
roles
faster
that
the
standard
“search
result
linking
to
single-­‐pane”
interface.
And
because
speed
is
so
important
to
the
process,
look
to
invest
in
mobile
application
technology.
Entry-­‐level
applicants
are
more
likely
to
be
searching
on
a
mobile
device,
but
the
framework
for
mobile
leads
to
faster
overall
applications,
leading
to
fewer
chances
to
abandon
the
application
process.
If
you
need
to
augment
your
job
board
strategy,
focus
on
social
media
promotion.
While
Facebook
is
seeing
a
softening
of
their
market
penetration
of
people
18–25,
it
is
still
an
effective
way
to
target
these
prospects.
A
great
way
to
increase
response
is
to
develop
a
campus
strategy
where
multiple
Facebook
ads
are
designed
to
reflect
specific
universities
(“We
love
to
hire
Longhorns,”
or
“Badgers
know:
we
are
a
great
place
to
start
a
career”
for
example),
targeted
to
people
in
and
graduating
from
those
schools,
all
pointing
to
a
common
landing
page
job
description.
The
cost
per
click
is
low
enough
to
test

25. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
25
campaigns
even
for
very
small
schools
or
particular
majors
in
a
given
school
(“Yes,
Wildcat
poli
sci
majors
can
get
a
real
job”).

26. 26
|
Meshworking.com
Problem:
Attracting
and
hiring
upper-­‐level
and
selective
talent
SOLUTION:
CONTENT
AND
PROGRAMMATIC
MEDIA.
Explanation:
Experience
or
selective
candidates
have
a
far
longer
consideration
funnel
than
those
at
the
beginning
of
their
career.
And
the
higher
up
the
career
ladder,
the
longer
the
process
takes.
Why?
Because
these
candidates
can
be
picky
about
the
role
that
they
apply
to.
However,
since
the
standard
job
description
holds
little
to
attract
or
7

27. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
27
compel
action,
relying
on
those
job
descriptions
is
a
weak
strategy.
To
get
these
candidates
to
apply,
you
need
to
tell
many
stories
about
the
company,
the
office
and
the
work
itself.
When
you
made
a
big
purchase,
you
probably
had
questions,
whether
it
was
a
house,
a
car
or
even
a
mattress,
you
didn’t
walk
in,
point
at
one
and
start
pulling
out
your
credit
card.
You
wanted
to
know
about
your
options,
about
the
experience.
If
you
are
buying
a
car,
you
might
want
to
know
how
well
it
handles
snowy
winters.
How
the
car
looks
won’t
tell
you
that,
and
the
sales
material
might
not
cover
it.
But
that
question
is
still
the
primary
deciding
factor
in
your
purchase.
If
no
one
provided
that
information,
you’d
pull
that
car
out
of
your
consideration
list
regardless
of
the
other
features
(the
ones
the
marketing
team
wants
you
to
know).
Taken
a
step
further,
the
car
company
that
answers
your
questions
soonest
will
get
to
spend
more
time
showing
you
all
the
features
that
will
close
the
sale.
The
company
that
forces
you
to
dig
on
reviewer
sites
and
search
engines
will
be
working
at
a
disadvantage.
Answering
questions
the
buyer
has,
leads
to
more
sales.
The
company
that
answers
candidate
questions
soonest,
wins.
Those
answers
shouldn’t
just
take
the
form
of
a
bulleted
list
of
benefits
and
responsibilities,
but

28. 28
|
Meshworking.com
provide
a
more
complete
experience
working
for
your
company.
People
lay
down
on
mattresses
before
they
buy
them.
But
leaning
solely
on
job
descriptions
is
like
selling
a
mattress
based
on
a
bulleted
list
of
the
mattress
materials.
Candidates
want
a
taste
of
the
experience
and
this
is
your
opportunity
to
provide
that
experience.
Answering
questions
that
define
and
communicate
that
experience
is
how
you
attract
and
drive
experienced
prospects
to
apply.
The
added
benefit
of
these
stories
is
that
they
will
be
shared
by
prospects
to
their
network
of
other
experienced
prospects,
creating
reach
that
job
boards
can’t.
Enhance
that
effect
by
making
it
easier
to
share
these
stories
and
relying
on
programmatic
media
to
present
them
to
candidates
outside
of
the
direct
application
process.
It
will
validate
interest
in
the
company
and
increase
your
conversion
rate
(provided
you
are
using
cookies
to
track
across
sites
and
beyond
the
career
site
visit).
In
many
cases,
elite
candidates
have
consciously
or
unconsciously
been
building
a
list
of
target
companies
they’d
work
for,
waiting
for
the
right
role
in
those
companies
to
appear
before
even

29. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
29
considering
to
make
a
move.
Getting
inside
that
decision
cycle
is
very
tricky,
but
not
impossible.
When
someone
at
this
level
adds
a
new
company
to
their
consideration
set,
they
do
it
organically.
Perhaps
a
friend
works
there
and
raves,
a
story
in
a
publication
creates
interest
in
their
product
or
business
model.
In
either
case,
what
creates
that
spark
is
a
story.
A
story
of
going
above
and
beyond
for
the
customer,
a
story
of
the
kinds
of
tools
that
employees
are
using,
opportunities
to
make
an
impact,
or
any
of
the
eight
major
motivators.
That
spark
leads
to
immediate
research,
or
it
opens
the
prospect
up
to
more
information
about
the
company.
Either
way,
you
need
to
have
more
stories
that
can
turn
that
spark
into
true
consideration.
Those
stories
should
be
on
your
career
site,
but
they
should
also
be
in
the
places
the
candidate
will
be
looking
next.
Those
sites
include
Google,
LinkedIn,
Glassdoor
and
Facebook.
Take
the
stories
you
are
publishing
on
your
career
site
and
recycle
them
on
all
those
platforms,
or
use
those
platforms
to
point
to
those
stories.
(There
is
no
Google
“duplicate
content”
penalty
unless
you
are
reusing
the
content
exactly
in
hundreds
of
places.)
Then,
leverage
programmatic
media
and
retargeting
to
push
the
next
messages
within
your
communication
flow
onto
sites
they
frequent.

30. 30
|
Meshworking.com
Don’t
push
jobs;
push
stories
and
news
mentions
and
videos
and
more
grain
for
the
consideration
mill.
Pushing
jobs
at
this
stage
is
like
when
a
salesperson
asked
if
they
can
“wrap
that
up
for
you,”
before
you’ve
decided
to
buy.
Don’t
be
a
pushy
sales
person.
Anyone
you
are
trying
to
talk
to
within
this
segment
knows
you
have
a
career
site
and
they
can
apply
there.
Let
them
decide
to
make
that
leap
on
their
own.
Lead
the
horse
to
water,
but
let
them
decide
to
take
a
sip.

31. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
31
Problem:
Losing
talented
prospects
during
the
hiring
process
SOLUTION:
EMPLOYEE-­‐GENERATED
CONTENT.
Explanation:
On
the
hiring
side,
we
know
it
takes
time
to
get
everyone
in
the
right
place,
to
read
the
resumes,
to
spend
time
interviewing
2–5
candidates,
to
come
to
a
decision
and
determine
who
they
should
talk
to
next.
On
the
candidate
side,
that
feels
like
eons
of
waiting,
giving
prospects
plenty
of
time
to
fall
in
love
with
someone
else.
8

32. 32
|
Meshworking.com
It’s
probably
not
feasible
to
restructure
your
hiring
process
to
actually
shorten
the
time
between
application
and
hire,
but
there
is
something
you
can
do
to
let
fewer
prospects
jump
ship.
You
can
give
them
a
reason
to
stay.
We
are
happy
to
tell
our
bosses
and
candidates
–
and
anyone
who
will
listen
–
that
we
are
rigorous
in
our
search
for
fit.
Whether
it’s
a
series
of
interviews,
questionnaires,
tests
or
behavioral
interview
questions,
we
search
for
the
person
who
will
fit.
But
our
tests
are
there
to
assess
whether
the
candidate
fits
within
our
world,
in
our
space,
in
our
company.
We
rarely
ask
if
we
fit
for
them.
The
onus
is
on
the
candidate
to
determine
it,
and
most
interviewers
forget
to
ask
if
the
candidate
sees
this
match
as
a
fit.
Because,
as
we
all
know,
a
fit
isn’t
easy
to
make.
We
might
get
a
hundred
applications
to
five
possible
fits
in
an
attempt
to
find
just
one.
Can’t
we
assume
that
finding
a
good
fit
is
also
on
the
candidate’s
mind?
They
are
searching
through
hundreds
of
companies
and
job
postings
to
find
five
worth
applying
for,
in
order
to
find
one
good
fit.
But
our
processes
are
built
around
the
(very
outdated)
idea
that
the
hiring
manager
is
in
charge.
The
pendulum
has
swung
and
now
we
see
a
very

33. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
33
balanced
sense
of
control,
where
both
parties
have
something
important
at
stake.
In
effect,
we
are
partnering
with
our
candidates,
asking
them
to
show
us
more
of
themselves
as
we
show
more
of
ourselves.
So
what
happens
when
they
jump?
Wheeling
out
that
old
saw
of
“recruiting
is
like
dating,”
if
we
had
two
amazing
dates
with
someone
and
then
stopped
calling
for
two
weeks,
no
matter
how
great
those
dates
were,
wouldn’t
you
assume
the
other
person
started
looking
again?
Maybe
you’re
not
quite
ready
to
pop
the
question,
but
you
don’t
stop
calling.
The
best
recruiters
know
this,
laboring
under
the
belief
that
the
role
isn’t
filled
until
the
candidate
has
completed
their
90-­‐day
review
and
agreed
that
this
is
a
good
fit
for
all
involved.
They
don’t
stop
recruiting,
communicating
and
selling
the
relationship
to
the
company.
They
make
sure
the
spark
that
happened
in
those
first
two
dates
doesn’t
fizzle
out.
In
order
to
scale-­‐up
this
idea
and
support
your
recruiters,
build
content
that
your
recruiters
can
send
to
your
top
prospects,
keeping
them
interested
and
engaged
in
the
process.
This
content
can’t
replace
a
recruiter,
but
it
should
augment
their
toolset,
allowing
a
recruiter
to

34. 34
|
Meshworking.com
increase
the
number
of
candidates
they
can
keep
engaged.
How
would
this
work?
Let’s
take
that
hotshot,
new,
cloud
developer
you’re
interviewing.
Because
this
is
a
very
technical
position,
you
know
you
need
a
lot
of
people
to
talk
to
the
candidate
to
make
sure
he
or
she
can
really
do
the
job
and
fit
in.
This
could
be
a
6-­‐week
interview
process.
As
a
cloud
developer,
there
will
be
no
shortage
of
people
interesting
in
wooing
them
out
from
under
you.
So
after
the
first
or
second
interview,
the
recruiter
should
touch
base,
letting
them
know
how
interested
in
them
you
are.
But
in
the
meantime,
can
the
recruiter
put
the
developer
in
touch
with
other
developers
at
the
company,
or
answer
questions
about
the
tech
stack
they’d
be
working
with?
Maybe
after
the
third
interview,
you
invite
the
candidate
to
the
next
Friday
afternoon
beer
open
house
you
are
holding.
After
the
last
big
tech
interview,
ask
them
if
they’d
like
to
sit
in
on
the
next
scrum
planning
session
to
see
how
decisions
get
made.
Where’s
the
content,
you
might
ask?
Content
doesn’t
have
to
be
blog
posts
and
ebooks,
but
in
who
you
are
and
what
you
do.
The
conversations
at
the
open
house,
and
seeing
what’s
happening
at
the
scrum
planning
session,
say
far
more
who
you
are
and
give
the
candidate
a
more
authentic
sense
of
the
future
fit.

35. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
35
Or
maybe
all
the
developers
at
your
company
have
professional
business
profiles
online
somewhere
and
the
recruiter
points
the
candidate
to
them.
Or
maybe
there
are
pictures
from
the
last
few
open
houses
online
that
the
candidate
can
peruse.
The
goal
is
to
get
the
candidate
to
see
themselves
in
your
company,
at
your
desks,
solving
your
problems.
The
more
they
can
create
that
picture
in
their
head,
the
less
likely
that
other
recruiters
can
steal
them
away.

36. 36
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Meshworking.com
Problem:
We
need
to
attract
passive
candidates
SOLUTION:
CONTENT
WITH
NATIVE
ADS.
Explanation:
Passive
candidates
are
the
great
white
whales
of
the
job.
In
them,
we
project
our
hopes
and
dreams
for
great
talent
and
magical
fits.
Because
we
can’t
see
their
imperfect
resumes
and
gaps
and
issues,
we
see
only
the
positives.
Sure,
people
who
apply
for
our
jobs
are
great,
but
to
paraphrase
Groucho
Marx,
we
don’t
really
want
prospects
who
would
actually
apply.
9

37. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
37
But
the
prospect
of
passive
candidates
lingers.
How
can
you
reach
people
who
aren’t
looking
at
job
boards
or
at
recruiting
content?
Step
one
is
to
tell
a
story
that
is
worth
sharing.
News
of
your
new
building
or
your
support
of
#NationalWhateverWeek
doesn’t
work
because
they
will
only
appeal
to
people
looking
for
new
jobs.
The
content
you
need
to
build
needs
to
appeal
to
a
more
general-­‐purpose
audience.
From
a
marketing
standpoint,
take
a
lesson
from
other
industries.
When
you
see
an
aspirin
commercial,
they
never
start
with
the
solution.
They
always
start
with
the
problem,
be
it
a
headache
or
a
shoulder
sprain.
You
have
to
remind
these
candidates
that
they
have
a
problem,
like
the
fact
that
they
work
for
a
stodgy
company,
or
that
they
are
working
with
outdated
technology.
Once
you
remind
them
that
they
have
a
specific
problem,
they’ll
be
receptive
to
a
solution.
At
the
same
time,
all
the
channels
you
usually
leverage
are
worthless
to
this
audience.
Job
boards
and
ads
pointing
to
job
descriptions
will
be
ignored
if
they
are
even
seen.
You
need
to
be
in
places
where
they
are.
This
makes
reaching
out
to
passive
candidates
seem
like
an
insurmountable
challenge.
But
it’s

38. 38
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not.
In
fact,
there’s
a
solution
seemingly
tailor-­‐
made
for
your
campaign
to
attract
these
potential
prospects:
Native
advertising.
Native
advertising,
if
you
haven’t
already
read
up
on
it,
is
a
form
of
media
(like
an
ad)
which
looks
and
feels
like
the
platform
where
it
lives.
So
rather
than
a
banner
ad,
which
virtually
screams,
“I’m
an
ad!
Please
ignore
me!”
you’ll
be
placing
your
story
within
the
website
so
it
looks
just
like
another
article.
For
example,
if
you
were
looking
to
hire
a
digital
strategist,
you
might
want
to
put
your
story
on
Mashable,
a
place
where
digitally
savvy
people
tend
to
congregate.
Your
story
would
exist
on
the
Mashable
site
and
look
like
every
other
story,
with
the
exception
of
a
“Sponsored
by”
image
next
to
it.
Because
it
doesn’t
feel
like
an
ad,
people
are
more
likely
to
click
on
it
and
learn
more
about
your
company
and
why
you
are
different.
This
creates
the
positive
impression
about
your
employer
brand
and
gets
them
thinking
about
looking
for
a
new
opportunity
with
your
name
at
the
top
of
the
list.
Because
this
is
a
media
placement,
you
can
target
it
only
to
people
who
fit
a
specific
demographic
or
have
seen
other
ads
you’ve
published.
There
is
a
version
of
native
advertising
where
the
site
has
a
block
of
space
dedicated
to
related

39. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
39
stories
or
other
stories
that
link
off
the
main
site.
These
usually
come
in
blocks
of
six,
and
these
stories
link
to
your
site,
giving
you
the
benefit
of
offering
content
beyond
the
initial
story.
Native
ads
are
placed
like
any
other
ad,
so
work
with
your
media
planner
for
budgets
and
placements,
and
with
your
content
marketer
to
build
something
that
creates
a
return
on
the
investment.

40. 40
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Problem:
Attract
university
candidates
SOLUTION:
GET
CREATIVE
WITH
SOCIAL
MEDIA.
Explanation:
Look,
let’s
get
something
out
of
the
way.
Just
because
you
are
“on”
social
media
doesn’t
mean
you
are
being
social.
Being
social
is
the
act
of
engaging
with
other
people.
Having
a
social
life
doesn’t
mean
clicking
“like”
on
things,
it
means
chatting,
laughing,
fighting,
and
conversing
with
other
people.
10

41. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
41
So
when
we
talk
about
engaging
university
students,
we
aren’t
talking
about
posting
things
to
Facebook
and
Twitter.
That
is
one-­‐way
communication,
broadcasting
to
the
masses.
It’s
a
scaled-­‐down
version
of
buying
commercials.
What
university
students
are
looking
for
is
a
relationship,
because
what
you’re
offering
in
your
job
descriptions
doesn’t
actually
help
them.
Your
legal
documents
don’t
tell
them
anything
they
want
to
know.
What
do
they
want
to
know?
Studies
show
that
entry-­‐level
candidates
(call
them
Millennials
if
you
want)
want
to
know
what
the
work
environment
is
like,
if
they
will
get
a
chance
to
learn,
and
if
their
work
will
make
any
kind
of
impact.
Trust
me,
your
job
descriptions
aren’t
saying
anything
like
that
(though
they
really
should!).
This
is
where
“non-­‐standard”
social
media
really
works.
Channels
like
Periscope,
Snapchat,
and
Whatsapp,
resist
classic
marketing.
These
aren’t
designed
to
make
it
easy
for
you
to
push
your
message
into
other
people’s
lives.
You
can’t
just
pay
ten
bucks
and
have
your
message
seen
in
other
people’s
timelines.
For
that
reason
alone,
they
are
unbelievably
popular
among
that
audience.
So
how
do
you
use
those
channels?
First,
you
have
to
earn
an
audience.
Start
by
leveraging
your

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Meshworking.com
Facebook
and
Twitter
channels
and
tell
people
that
you
are
starting
a
channel
on
Snapchat
(or
whatever
channel
you
choose).
Beyond
simply
announcing
it,
you
need
to
give
people
a
reason
to
join
in.
This
is
one
of
those
moments
where
announcing
you
have
a
new
website
or
new
packaging
isn’t
going
to
cut
it.
You
need
to
explain
the
value
you
will
be
bringing
to
people
who
join
in.
Either
they
will
see
behind
the
curtain
of
your
company,
get
to
ask
recruiters
direct
questions,
or
see
what
kinds
of
problems
your
company
is
working
on.
Everything
you
post
to
these
new
channels
needs
to
satisfy
an
entry-­‐level
candidate’s
interest
in
the
work
experience,
their
opportunity
for
growth
and
the
ability
to
make
an
impact.
Everything
else
is
fluff
and
people
won’t
hang
around
long
for
that.
On
top
of
that,
you
need
to
engage
with
people
on
your
channel.
Posting
interesting
videos
and
pics
on
Snapchat
is
great,
but
responding
to
questions
is
where
you
are
going
to
find
the
most
impact.
People
in
this
generation
can
smell
“marketing”
content
and
steer
clear
of
it.
But
when
you
engage
and
show
more
of
the
authentic
nature
of
the
company
(even
if
it
includes
the
imperfections),
they
respond.
The
best
part
of
leveraging
these
channels
is
that
when
you
do
it
well,
your
audience
will
grow

43. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
43
quickly.
These
are
channels
designed
for
people
to
talk
to
each
other
and
when
you
are
doing
something
worth
talking
about,
that’s
exactly
what
they’ll
do.

44. 44
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Meshworking.com
Thanks,
Credits
First,
I’d
like
to
thank
everyone
who’s
fingerprints
are
all
over
this
book
in
one
form
or
another:
Allison
Kelley,
Todd
Maycunich,
Dustin
Carper,
Claire
Hess,
Sehare
Hemani,
Melinda
Benoit,
Andy
Crestodina,
and
Nancy
Goldstein.
If
this
book
has
been
helpful,
pass
it
around.
If
you’d
like
more
of
this
kind
of
information,
you
should
read
Meshworking.com.
If
you’d
like
to
get
in
touch
with
me,
either
to
praise
or
blame,
reach
out
to
me
on
Twitter.
I’m
@TheWarForTalent.
Thanks
for
reading!
-­‐James

45. Solving
the
Ten
Biggest
Hiring
Problems
45
About
James
Ellis
James
Ellis
is
the
Vice
President
of
Inbound
Marketing
at
TMP
Worldwide
in
Chicago,
Il.
He
is
a
recruiting
digital
strategy
thinker
of
the
MacGyver/Mad
Scientist
school:
hacking
disparate
digital
ideas
together
to
serve
a
strategic
business
objective.
He
is
a
writer,
drummer,
sketcher,
speaker,
coach,
coffee-­‐drinker
and
prolific
maker
of
lists.

46. 46
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©
Copyright
2016
Meshworking.com