One of the great concepts about teaching companies to recruit better is being able to equate what I am teaching them with what they already do every day. As I told an audience of 150 dealership owners from the CLAAS organization last week in Iowa: “Selling a job is no different than selling a tractor.” So let’s step into the mind of your “customer” for a moment — in this case, the job seeker you hope to hire.
After being involved in more than 5,000 job searches in my life, I can state without fear of contradiction that the ONLY reason someone is on Indeed looking for a new job is because they are either unhappy or dissatisfied with their current position, or something significant has changed in their life. Think about each time you started looking for a new job or took the call from the recruiter… wasn’t something going on that caused you to take that action?
Bad boss? Passed over for the promotion? Too much or not enough overtime? Wrong shift? Too long of a commute? Didn’t get the raise or bonus you expected? Toxic culture?
Or maybe something changed in your personal life. Just married? Just divorced? Just had your first child? Got a new degree or certification? Need flexibility to make your life at home work? Just bought a house?
If you look closely at the reasons that caused you to consider leaving your last job, you might see yourself on that list. You applied for the job or took the recruiter’s call because something was going on at work or at home.
So if that’s true, take a look at your job ad. Have you done anything in your job ad to connect to that person’s current unhappiness and show them how your opportunity can solve that? Remember, that’s why they are looking in the first place.
How can you figure out the exposed nerve you are trying to touch with your job ad? Here is the question to ask very person you have hired in the last year:
“What changed in your life personally or professionally that caused you to leave your last job and come to us?”
See, the customer can tell us why they bought from us… and isn’t that how to sell a tractor?
If you are looking for insight or specific action steps to grow a process within your organization to Win the War for Talent, please reach out. It’s my passion to help companies solve their talent issues, whether that is finding the right talent or retaining and developing that talent. With the right processes in place, your organization can grow and thrive even more!
