May 15, 2006

Marketing Job Opportunities

A major non-profit I know of recently needed to find an interim president while searching for a permanent replacement for the departing president. They identified their ideal prospect, recruited him aggressively, and he agreed to take the job.

They did a great job convincing the candidate...but they never spoke to his wife.

And, even after he accepted the job, she raised so many objections that he had to turn down the offer he had already accepted.

That's a pretty substantial oversight for a major institution, and it reiterates the importance of marketing a job opportunity not only to the candidate but also to the individuals who are most important to the candidate...typically spouses, children, and sometimes parents.

My nephew was offered a job in California. His children didn't want to leave the east coast. But, when he brought them out to see his prospective employer, that company paired the kids up with same-age children of other employees...and everyone became enthusiastic about the move.

Common sense. But isn't it amazing when even major institutions overlook what is so obvious?

Another important component of recruiting employees is understanding what is most important to your current employees. Chances are that those same attributes will resonate with prospects. I was interested when we discovered (through an exercise at a company retreat) that many of our associates were attracted to Charleston because of the water. We've got 65 miles of beaches in Charleston County...but I always imagined that people viewed Charleston as an historic city, without focusing especially on its ocean-side location. I was wrong, and now we make more of a point of emphasizing Charleston being on the ocean.