Let’s say you have an open position to fill. Let’s say that you write a beautiful job advertisement for it, the best one you’ve ever written. Let’s say you show it to your boss and your colleagues, and they agree that it’s the best, most beautiful job ad they’ve ever seen. Now let’s say you post it on the Internet. Guess what?
The top candidates in the market are still not going to apply for that job.
It has nothing to do with the job, the description, or how well the ad was constructed and presented. It has everything to do with this fact, which represents the main reason that top candidates do NOT apply to job ads:
They’re not looking at job ads.
You can’t apply to job ads if you’re not looking at job ads. It’s a simple matter of action (or in this case, of inaction) and consequence.
I recently received a call from a sales representative I placed with one of our best clients. He is the #1 sales rep in their entire company. My client hired me to recruit a top rep away from one of their competitors, and that’s what I did.
He was the #1 rep at his previous company, and now he’s the #1 rep working for my client. The fact of the matter is that my client would not have gained access to this person on their own. They needed somebody to reach out to him on their behalf to convince him to consider a better opportunity.
People like this sales rep do NOT apply to job advertisements. Below are two main reasons that top candidates are not looking at job ads.
#1—They don’t have the desire to conduct a job search.
This is another way of saying that they’re relatively happy and engaged where they are. In fact, they’re not conducting a job search at all, not even a passive one. Their current employer recognizes their value and is doing whatever it can do to keep them exactly where they are.
#2—They don’t have the time to conduct a job search.
Top performers are too busy being top performers to devote time to a job search. They’re more than likely exceeding expectations, completing big projects, and reaching audacious goals with their current employer. They’re not looking at job ads in their spare time; instead, they’re doing even more things to increase their value as an employee, quite possibly for one of your competitors.
Top candidates like my client’s sales rep need to be made aware of a better opportunity, and then they need to be convinced to explore that opportunity. Candidates of this caliber are not going to sell themselves on your opportunity.
You must sell them, or like my client, you must hire an experienced executive recruiting firm to sell the opportunity for you.
We help support careers in one of two ways: 1. By helping to find the right opportunity when the time is right, and 2. By helping to recruit top talent for the critical needs of organizations. If this is something you would like to explore further, please send an email to stacy@thevetrecruiter.com.