Not all jobs sell themselves
Here’s an informal (and I hasten to add, convivial) conversation I once had in a pub with the owner of a recruitment agency:
Me: “What are you in the business of selling? You know, when you break it all down?”
Agency Owner: “Talent.”
Me: “F*** off, seriously…”
Agency Owner: “OK OK… candidates.”
Me: “Who pays for those candidates?”
Agency Owner: “Clients.”
Me: “OK. And why do they choose you to find them these candidates?”
Agency Owner: “Because that’s what we do!”
Me: “Yeah, I know. But what is it that you can do that they can’t?”
Agency Owner: “We find better candidates than they can.”
Me: “So you’re saying that you’re better at selling jobs than they are?”
Agency Owner: “Absolutely.”
Me: “So why don’t your ads sell jobs?”
Agency owner: “They don’t?”
Me: “No, they don’t. They’re just prosaic lists of generalities and demands.”
I then pulled out my phone and went to the jobs page on their website and starting reading some of the ads out loud.
Me: “You’re just publishing content that’s telling people there’s a job vacancy and what they’d be doing and what they must have to apply.”
Agency Owner: “Yeah, but we headhunt a lot of our candidates.”
Me: “And what do you say to these candidates when you call them to make them interested in your client’s jobs? I’m guessing you don’t read them the job ad, right?”
Agency Owner: “Well no, obviously. We tell them what’s potentially great about that job or company.”
Me: “So why don’t you put that stuff in your job ads?
Agency Owner: “Errr…”
Me: “But you take my point that, if your job ads aren’t selling anything, then you’re probably not attracting the best candidates, let alone talent? Which brings me back to what it is you’re really selling.”
Agency Owner: “F*** off, Mitch.”
I mentally made a note that this agency owner might buy copywriting training from me one day. And that he should read my post about the difference between a job advert and a job description.
If you would like more thoughts and musings on recruitment, you might want to download Mitch’s free book “On Recruitment”.
