Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization Show 009 Helping HR and Recruiters Become Marketers
Today we’re talking with Phil Strazzulla, CEO and Founder of the recruitment marketing company, Next Wave Hire, and creator of the YouTube series “Whiteboard Wednesdays”.
Firstly, if you haven’t watched Whiteboard Wednesdays, you should. Whiteboard Wednesdays started as a New Year’s Resolution and became a hit for viewers with over 252,475 watches. Stemming from conversations that Phil has had with recruiters, HR departments, and other business minds, he spends 2 minutes in front of a whiteboard each week to talk about recruitment concepts in relation to marketing.
Covering topics such as using Facebook ads for marketing, HR chatbots, SEO and its relation to talent acquisition, and the myriad of other subjects that recruiters and HR are currently struggling with, Phill dissects these topics and offers solutions.
Phil noted the need for a company like Next Wave when he saw how top talent was getting continuously bombarded by recruiters with generic or lifeless emails and cold calls. By using these archaic methods, recruiters were turning off more candidates than they were actually recruiting.
So, he set out to teach recruitment departments how to give talent something useful that will cause them to notice you and be turned from a passive seeker to a new hire. Whether this something is an open source project, career advice, or an invitation to a workplace mixer, you have to think of recruitment in the same way that you would marketing. Show potential candidates the culture of your company, what you have to offer them, and why they should notice you.
Phil explains Inbound Recruiting with this example, “If Nike wants you to buy their new sneakers, they’re not going to send someone to your door. They’re going to put out interesting content regarding the sneakers, content such as ads with Usain Bolt that make you feel aspirational while explaining the value proposition of the shoe are what consumers are sold on.”
For Inbound Recruiting, you’re marketing the company as a place to work. Your product is your company and you need to show the value proposition of its workplace. Next Wave teaches recruiters and HR departments how to do this by showing them how to build relationships with potential top talent and establish a culture and buzz for their workplace.
Starting with establishing a talent community on a business's website, Next Wave then encourages employees to drive the company brand and talent to the community by sharing news about the company, its events, and culture on social media platforms. Over time, candidates that started as passive job-seekers come to a place where they are ready to transition to a new company and career. With Next Wave, the foundation and relationship has already been set for these talented individuals to seamlessly move into the recruitment process.
Keith also added this great point, “Recruitment is just like sales, treat your potential new hires like your sales team treats potential new clients.”
Of course, there are CEO’s who object to the idea of their recruiters using work time for social media and company related engagement. Phil deals with these objections by showing them data and hard facts. If you don’t think that potential candidates are looking through Facebook or Linkedin and that traditional methods of recruitment are still the best way to go, then you’re going to miss out on top talent opportunities.
To connect with Phil and Next Wave visit: