If you've ever seen the audition shows for American Idol and how excited the judges get when someone that actually can sing comes along, you can expect a similar reaction when a quality candidate walks through your door.
Unlike Idol who have an open door policy however, you have the opportunity to pre-qualify your candidates by creating a job advertisement that does half of the work for you.
Weather you're hiring a personal trainer, a receptionist or a club manager, the creative process is pretty much the same.
Below I've put together a list of considerations for you to take into account before you announce to the world that you need staff.
Write an ad that would appeal to you
It's your business, it's your culture, it's your community of clients and members that you're wanting to unleash this new addition into, so the first priority should be finding someone with similar qualities as yourself.
Writing an ad that would appeal to you will appeal to candidates who you will probably be able to work with (and them with you) and confidently inject them into your business.
The ad headline
This is one of the most important aspects to running a successful campaign. It doesn't matter what the position is or the qualifications that you're after, your headline needs to be spot on.
The headline should:
- Clearly state the position you want to fill e.g Personal Trainer
- Weather the position is full-time, part-time, casual etc.
- The geographical location of the position
The body of your ad
Now that someone has clicked on your headline, it's time to sell the position and at the same time, cull the time wasters. Spend some time thinking about the position you have on offer and create a draft.
What do you want them to do specifically?
Look at your job specifications and pull out the top four or five SKILLS that are most essential to the job and list them in point form.
Keep It Simple
Educational credentials
Ascertain which educational and experience-related qualities the successful candidate should posses.
It's important to note that you shouldn't get too over zealous with paper qualifications, sure there are minimum requirements for insurance reasons and you can calculate experience based on credentials, but don't completely over qualify your position out of the market.
Avoid personal attributes in your ad
Never put personality traits like 'out going' or 'fun' in your ad as people are likely to come in and imitate those characteristics and while that could be mildly amusing to watch, is a complete waste of time.
A good ad should focus on telling the applicants about what they will get and what it will be like working for you, the excitement and challenge of the job and of course the salary.
Speaking of salary; before you write things like 'earning potential of', put yourself in their shoes. Obviously you're not intending to mislead anyone, but things like that end up doing is taking the focus from all the good things about working for you and the candidates thinking things like:
- Is that all they can earn?
- How long will it take to earn that?
- What am I actually going to earn?
Yes you're going to pay them, but what type of professional growth can they expect from working with you?
Briefly describe yourself, your business and your future plans. A common way to do this is to mention the growth that your business has experienced and that's why you're in the market for staff.
Contact details
Make it simple to contact you by leaving your details. Put your name, phone number and web address in your ad and if need be, the 'best time' to call you.
A two minute phone call will give you a very clear indication of a candidates potential.
What have been your experiences recruiting staff? Are you currently looking to fill a position or maybe you're looking for a job? Always awesome to read your comments below.
"Bring it!"
Ben
Ben, amazed at how many people don't call when there is a phone number given. 99% of the time I'll just get a cv emailed in when there is that option. Personal training is well..... personal!We're in the people business!
ReplyDeletePick up the phone and let your future employer know you have the skills to be personal! Just sayin:)I employed my assistant trainer because he picked up the phone to speak to me not because he looks good on paper.
Spot on Tess and thank you for raising that point!
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'd call after I'd forwarded my resume to 'confirm' that they got it, most of the time we'd go through my resume together and discuss the position in more details.
Moral of the story...PICK UP THE PHONE PEOPLE!
By the same token, the employer should have something to say. I've tried it a couple of times and got, "Yeah, you should definitely send in your resume," they weren't very chatty.
ReplyDeleteEmployers should put expected wages in the advert. There was a bit on sportspeople.com.au a while back noting that job ads with actual numbers for wages got more clickthroughs and responses than ones without, even when the money was low. If it says, "structured to attract high quality applicants!" we suspect something dodgy and don't apply - unless we're low quality and desperate. Which seems a less than ideal outcome for the employer.
Potential employees should try to individualise their application, showing an interest in the organisation. Jobs advertised on seek.com.au and the like get 100-120 resumes sent in. Nobody's going to ring up a hundred people, they're looking for reasons to bin your resume. If there's no cover letter, it's out. If you write, "Dear Genesis Gym Manager," and you're applying to the YMCA, they won't read any further (yes, this has actually happened). And so on. Personalise it a bit, then at least you won't be cut straight away.
Hey Kyle
ReplyDeleteGreat advice!
It's astounding when employers aren't willing to spend a few minutes to 'chat to a candidate that's taken the time to phone in.
Not only is this unusual as an employer not wanting to get a feel' for a candidate, it reflects poorly on the center. That personis in the industry and now they're going to go around and say that "the manager of that gym couldn't give me 3 minutes of their time". If you're that busy...don't answer the phone, or allocate 'time to call between' in the advertisement.
As for advertising pay, I agree 100%. What the hell does "earn between 30 and 100k" mean? I'll tell you what it means...you're earning 30k.
It's almost as bad as "our top trainers are earning over 100k!" Ummmmm BULLSHIT!
In your ad, say the base + "progressive bonus structure" and if the candidtae calls for more info, then give them more info. and back it up!
As you say with individualising applications, also spot on mate. It's pretty obvious when you receive a generic 'template' cover letter. It might say why you're awesome, but says nothing about why you want to work for me.
Why did you apply, what do you know about the company etc.
Oh and definitely PROOF read your applications before you send them to make sure it's addressed and dated right...
Great comment Kyle!
Ben