New recruiting message: “If you are unhappy or unemployed, don’t bother to apply”
I don’t think anyone would seriously think about running an ad with the headline above, but that is the “ad” most of are unconsciously running, no matter how the headline or the body copy actually read.
In spite of this, most recruiting ads are placed where the unhappy and unemployed look.
That’s not to say that there are not some great potential employees in both these categories, but the pool I want to fish in is the one comprised of people who are employed and not looking for a new job — but who would be interested if a great job came looking for them.
I want to recruit people who are happy with their present job (this is the really tough group to get) as well as the great employees who have a legitimate reason to be frustrated with their current position or employer.
This was originally published on Mel Kleiman’s Humetrics blog.