The need for a recruitment advertising revolution.

As a recruiter, I am exposed to a lot of job adverts on a daily basis; all of which have the intention of attracting the most suitable applicants. However what is increasingly bugging me is that they all say the same things!

So I wanted to write a blog which represents my viewpoint on advertising without sounding miserable, however what I’ve started to notice is that deep down I’m actually becoming a bit miserable!

Advertising can take many forms, and I’m particularly interested at the moment in the way that companies create their corporate image. Advertising in itself is just one way of branding your company, but it’s arguably one of the most direct and controllable messages that you can convey to your target while maintaining a widespread reach. 

What recruitment agencies tend to leave behind in a job advert is our own personality and our own company branding. When I look on various job boards at some of the adverts being posted by agencies, I realise that, while I appreciate the aim of the advert is to represent the client that we’re recruiting on behalf of rather than our own agency, we are still missing an opportunity to represent ourselves! Why are we doing this? How is anybody going to recognise us if we are not marketing ourselves through company personality and image?

Another thing which ties in with this is the lack of honesty and realism within these adverts. People respect honesty these days. It’s been an issue with sales and marketing in recent times; people don’t want to hear the over-glamorised nonsense that makes sewage water seem like fine champagne. People want to know the truth, and will respect you more if you tell it. I’ve had a go at writing a job advert for Park Street People, the recruitment consultancy with whom I’m approaching my 3 year work birthday in the coming months.

I’d be keen to hear your thoughts? And for the record… we’re actually not recruiting ourselves at the moment but here's food for thought on what I feel an honest job advert for my current employers could look like.

The new Park Street People Job Advert

Okay jobseekers, I'm not going to sit here and bore the hell out of you with how perfect this vacancy is and how every single one of you reading this right now should apply straight away. You shouldn't. Let me tell you something about this job, it requires only the very best candidates in the market right now and it requires an attitude that certain individuals simply don't have.

This advert is not a cynical rant about the attitudes of certain candidates… it is simply a call out for those people who genuinely want to make something of their lives. It’s a call out to those who have unprecedented potential but have not yet caught their break. It’s a call out to those who are giving blood, sweat and tears to their employer, but are feeling little love and reward in return. It’s a call out to those who are spending more money on comfort purchases such as chocolate and wine due to ever increasing stress levels, than they are actually earning in their monthly pay packet.

I’m not claiming to have the answer to all of your problems right here, and I’m not claiming that by clicking ‘apply’, you’ll find yourself entering into some dream world where we use £50 notes as toilet paper and disappear through the back of a magic wardrobe to spend lunch breaks in Narnia. What I am claiming, however, is that at Park Street People, we have a pretty good thing going here!

No company is perfect. Sometimes, we run out of milk in the mornings and we have to wait a whole hour before somebody is able to pop to the shop and rescue everybody from their suffering. Sometimes, our internet goes down and we have to wait for our knights in shining armour (technical support) to swoop in and save the day. Sometimes, I put hours and hours of my day into making sure I get that perfect candidate for my client… and the candidate pulls out due to the dog being sick on their preparation notes. We are not perfect… but what we have works.

What I can say about Park Street People is this; we all work together to achieve the same goal. Do we make mistakes sometimes? Of course we do… we are human beings but we will learn from these and find a resolution. We are all extremely proud of the family that we represent, and we all put our heart and soul into driving the company forward. We provide the very best service available to our clients and candidates, and we will try our very best to give our customers what they want. The recruitment industry can be pretty hit and miss sometimes and people can come and go quicker than Usain Bolt runs for the bus. Here, however, we have employees who have worked here for 12 years, 10 years, 7 years, 6 years… we also have staff who have worked here for 2 months but we’re pretty confident they’ll stay.

Should you apply for this job? 

Unfortunately as much as I like to think I’m a super-genius, I don’t know the answer to that one. Send us your CV with a covering note, but don’t just copy and paste the one that you’ve sent to every other employer. We like to feel special, so tell us why you think you’re right for this job. We're firm believers that you make your own luck so go ahead and make some right now. You never know what you can achieve with the right attitude, the right guidance, and the right opportunity. If you have the work ethic of Mesut Ozil playing on a rainy day for Arsenal against Stoke then, please don’t worry about applying!!!