International talk like a pirate day

International Talk Like a Pirate Day: Reimagined for Recruitment Marketing

by MarketingRecruitment AdvertisingUncategorized

International talk like a pirate day

These days, it might seem like there is a holiday for everything and many seem to be created purely for social media. But to me, “International Talk Like a Pirate Day” is one of my favorites, due to its outrageous uniqueness and how it has completely taken off.

Celebrated annually on September 19, International Talk Like a Pirate Day was created in 1995 by two friends, John Baur (Ol’ Chumbucket) and Mark Summers (Cap’n Slappy), during a racquetball game when one of them reacted to the pain of an injury with an outburst of “aaarrr!”

In honor of this International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and as a recruitment marketing specialist, I thought I would take a stab at what a help wanted ad for a pirate might look like. At our agency, we work with all industries and you never know when we might just acquire a pirate crew as a client.

Yo Ho Ho, Is a Pirate’s Life for You?

Ahoy mateys, we’re seeking like-minded scallywags! No landlubbers need apply, or you’ll walk the plank. Blimey! You don’t want to end up in Davy Jones’ Locker.

Responsibilities:

  • Parley with our clients and help them crush ye barnacles (or competitors.)
  • Be ready for surprises and know how to batten down the hatches. Every day is different here.
  • Raise the Jolly Roger to announce our arrival and invite surrender.

Requirements:

  • Plundering skills.
  • Strong singing voice to join us in a chantey every once in a while.
  • Scallywags welcome to apply but be ready for a quick lesson.
  • Sea legs required; you don’t want to end up in the briny deep.
  • Confidentiality is key: dead men tell no tales.
  • Scurvy optional.
  • No history of mutiny.

Benefits:

  • Gold doubloons, a barrel of rum, and all the booty for a job well done.

 

Shiver me timbers, join us on our adventure and live the pirate’s life!

International Cat Day

International Cat Day: Whiskers at Work

by MarketingPersonal InterestRecruitment Advertising

International Cat Day

I previously recognized International Cat Day (August 8th) by comparing cat behavior with Recruitment Marketing. You can revisit that Blog Post  here, where I shared my journey to Crazy Cat Lady and introduced my feline family members. Everyone is doing well, and we have had a lot of interest from candidates wanting to join the team. Apparently, they’ve heard good things and new applicants appear on the back patio from time to time.

Cats work hard in our world. Here are just a few of the jobs they dutifully perform:

Emotional Support/Therapy Animal: Whether serving as an emotional support animal for an individual or part of a care team within a hospital or nursing home, these specially trained professionals play an important role in providing comfort and support.

Speaking of roles, how about the cat ACTORS, who entertain us in a variety of TV, movie and stage productions.

On the smaller screen, Cats are a huge part of the Influencer world. TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are full of popular cat influencers. Just a couple of these stars include @CatManJohn for Russell the cat who uses buttons to communicate or Lady the cat @thetruckeduplife.

Space: In 1963, Felicette, also known as “Astrocat”, became the first and only cat to go to space.

Pest Control: In Lighthouses, cats served to keep pests away and served as companions to the Lighthouse Keeper and their family. Cats serve a similar purpose in barns and on ships.

Ancient Egyptians used the felines to hunt birds on riverbanks.

Mayor: Talkeetna, AK, had a feline mayor for 20 years. Stubbs the cat was named after his stubby tail and served in office from July 18, 1997, up until his death on July 21, 2017. During his time as mayor, he survived an attack from a dog, being shot at by teenagers with BB guns and falling into a (cooled off) deep fryer. Talk about having nine lives!

Of course, now they are part of our political discourse.

Whether they are employed and earning a paycheck or working for cuddles and kibble, I’m sure you will agree that the payment is well earned.

As part of our SCG brand toolkit, we have a variety of #merch. Our latest addition is a TOP TAIL CAN COVER. Comment or touch base with me or an SCG team member to get one for yourself. Made in the USA, the can cover is 3.5.”

JOB MARKET: Where Did Everybody Go?

by Human ResourcesRecruitment Advertising

In this post-pandemic era, recruiters and candidates are playing a more aggressive game of hide and seek. Candidates are more difficult to find due to a variety of market realities. And there is even more pressure on talent acquisition professionals to find that needle in a haystack.

Let’s take a look at some valuable numbers and information that you could be monitoring to keep your finger on the pulse of a market’s “recruitability.”

Your talent market could be shrinking due to cost of living.

Markets where costs, taxes, etc. are out of control have seen an exodus of talent moving out for greener (like in more money for you) pastures.  Residents in the states below are rushing to more affordable states – most of which are located in the south and the central time zone.

Most Expensive States to Live in 2022

1                 Hawaii

2                 Washington DC

3                 New York

4                 California

5                 Massachusetts

6                 Oregon

7                 Alaska

8                 Maryland

9                 Connecticut

10              Rhode Island

Your talent market could be shrinking due to employee participation.

Take a look at your state’s labor participation rate. This represents the number of people in the labor force as a percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population. In other words, the participation rate is the percentage of the population that is either working or actively looking for work.

That number has fallen nationally in recent years meaning that a smaller part of the workforce is holding or seeking employment.  Look at some of the states with the lowest rates. Remember that some states may be more highly affected by the number of retirees.

Participation Rate

West Virginia      55.2
Mississippi           55.3
New Mexico       56.5
Arkansas              56.8
South Carolina   57.0

Your talent market could be shrinking due to lower productivity.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says this about productivity, “With growth in productivity, an economy is able to produce—and consume—increasingly more goods and services for the same amount of work.” Simply said, lower productivity requires a larger workforce to produce the same amount of goods and services.

Feeding a drop in productivity are those who are allegedly engaging in “quiet quitting.”  That means the employee slowly reduces their engagement, eventually doing only the minimum work required by the job description. I’m not sure how true this supposed trend is but an annual Gallup poll shows engagement going down and disengagement trending upward in recent years.

Here are some markets where productivity has dropped from 2020 to 2021.

States with the steepest drop in productivity

Alaska                  – 3.0%
Wyoming             – 2.9%
Rhode Island      – 0.8%
Hawaii                  – 0.8%
Delaware             – 0.7%
Florida                 – 0.5%

Want to discuss the “recruitability” of your marketplace in greater depth? Let’s talk. Call your SCG representative.

Recruitment Advertising

Some Things Old Are New Again in Recruitment Advertising

by Human ResourcesRecruitment Advertising

Recruitment Advertising

Recruitment advertising continues to change.  Just a few decades ago, the main way of recruiting was an ad in the local newspaper, maybe a few radio spots or a billboard.  Flyers on car windshields or a small ad in the town’s church bulletin worked well.

 

Then, new technology entered the world of recruitment advertising.  The newspaper was now online, radio spots were almost non-existent and billboards were priced out of the market.  And flyers?  Hmmm … just not the way to go.  Social media job postings became the new kids on the block … a way to get candidates to apply NOW … not with a mailed resume … but by email or apply online.  Email blasts to a candidate database were a good way to reach that special demographic.

 

And now, recruitment advertising seems to be changing again.  While newspapers still don’t have the huge recruitment section they had before, more and more ads are being placed.  Radio is working well and billboards, now much more reasonable in price, are back again.  And those car windshield flyers or church bulletin ads?  They’re working!  Email blasts are still out there, but direct mail is growing in demand (yes, it seems people still like to get mail).

 

I handle clients who love print advertisements and receive great results.  Others swear by radio spots and/or billboards.  It’s up to me to know the old school way of thinking, as well as the new school of thinking, and what works best for my clients.

 

And one thing I do know … don’t always sell clients on the new way of thinking when the old way of thinking just might be the way to go.  Mix them together … see what works for each client.  Each of my clients is different and diverse; like their media plan should be.

 

Old just might be new again.

recruiters marketers

In 2018, recruiters need to act like marketers. Oh, really?

by AdvertisingHuman ResourcesMarketingRecruitment Advertising

recruitment marketingAt the beginning of each year the recruitment pundits make their predictions as to the trends that will take place in the coming year. They are hoping to give recruiters a head-start in preparing and implementing new strategies. For the most part they are all interesting and informative.

Of course, in a recruitment marketplace that is showing great job growth (January-March had the strongest average monthly job growth since 1997) and extremely low unemployment (January-March holding at 4.1%), successful talent acquisition becomes a much more daunting task. Recruiters are looking for anything that will provide the edge they need. (For more information on why the market is tightening click here.)

In trying to digest all of the suggestions, I noticed that a great number of them were saying that in 2018 recruiters need to be marketers. Hmm. Good and very pertinent suggestion; but shouldn’t talent acquisition professionals always act like marketers?

The objective of a professional talent acquisition team is to identify, attract and onboard talent that will enable the company to meet and even exceed their goals. They strive to put together strategies that will bring the best and brightest to their team. That requires constantly selling the company and continually building the employer brand by consistently repeating the employee value proposition (EVP) – what the employee receives in return for the expertise brought to the table. That is certainly no different than a marketer approaches building their brand.

Below are some things that as a recruitment marketer you can be concentrating on:

Build a consistent employer brand
This will make the candidates predisposed to applying.

Gather market intelligence
This will help you to know your competition and where you can find your next superstar.

Put your advantages front and center in copy
This will help to attract more individuals from which to choose.

Choose your media wisely
There are so many channels out there they can be confusing or the perfect targeting tools.  But it takes homework.

Don’t stop
No matter the job market’s supply and demand, always think like a marketer.

Of course, it would help to have a partner in your recruitment efforts with experience in recruitment and marketing such as an agency full of talent like SCG.  At SCG, in our daily practice we use the Peso model (Paid, earned, shared and owned media) specifically designed for HR, shown below, as the center of our strategic planning to help you achieve your goals.  Contact the SCG location nearest to you.

HR Peso Model

recruitment Peso model