Freelance copywriter specialising in recruitment communications
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How recruitment marketing agencies are being embarrassed and having their role negated by some job boards

31/8/2013

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Last week I made a very interesting but slightly alarming discovery. As someone who writes a lot of online copy for direct employers via their recruitment marketing agencies, I sometimes take the time to check whether a particular ad has run and, if so, whether the copy I wrote has been tweaked at all or run ‘as is’. Anyway, imagine my surprise when I discovered that an ad I wrote specifically for the Guardian’s online careers section and one niche job board was running in The Sun newspaper's online careers section!

I mentioned this in passing to the client’s ad agency contact when we next spoke and they, at first, like me, were surprised, but then, when the potential consequences dawned upon them, a little bit shocked. Here’s why. Direct employers use the services of a recruitment marketing agency for a variety of reasons. Amongst other things, they take away a lot of the hassle of advertising the employer’s vacancies. Copy, design, if for print, and media recommendations, sometimes based on extensive research if the role happens to be particularly niche or specialist - all are part of the service an advertising agency provides. The aim being the age old adage of the right ad in the right place, thus cutting down on the employer receiving irrelevant and poor quality response. On the other side of the fence though you have the media. Sometimes it’s the online version of a national or regional newspaper or trade publication, sometimes a niche or generalist job board. It all depends on what the vacancy is.

By and large, the agency/media relationship works fine. But, I can see a turning point coming where some recruitment suppliers, i.e. job boards, are going to seriously shoot themselves in the foot and alienate themselves from the advertising agencies that they, if not wholly, then certainly to a great extent, rely on to give them their business. The reason? When my agency contact got in touch with the job board in question they were essentially told rather glibly “Oh yeah, The Sun is part of our network. What’s the problem? You’re getting the extra coverage for free”.  Er, hello? That kind of skewed thinking is ridiculous. If it were the case then let’s just get rid of every recruitment advertising website out there and just have one great big job board where the world and his partner can post their jobs. Hey presto, you’ll have what, an audience of 5 or 6 million and hundreds of replies to every ad you post (not to mention lots of lovely spam to go with it). See where I’m coming from? It’s quite simple. Quantity doesn’t equate to quality, and never will.

If I was an employer who wanted to recruit a highly skilled professional I would want my ad agency to advise me where to place the job based on targeting the right audience and cutting down on poor and irrelevant response, not have my vacancy fired out to all and sundry in the knowledge that many of the applications I get will simply present me with an administrative nightmare. Think about it. The repercussions could end up not only affecting job boards bottom lines but destroying their relationship with the agencies that are advising their clients to advertise in a certain medium but can no longer rest assured that their vacancies aren’t being farmed out to other sites ‘in the network’ that neither the agency or client requested. Indeed, it’s already happening. Some job boards admit to having networks and social teams on board whose role is purely to scattergun jobs all over the place in the deluded belief that they are doing the advertiser a favour.

In the instance I mentioned about The Sun, it turned out that the client had, for their own reasons, previously requested that none of their jobs appear on a News International website. But, as well as the embarrassment of an ad agency finding out that a job they painstakingly wrote the copy and did the media research for, had in fact ended up being advertised in a totally different place, there are also other possible consequences.  Firstly, what about the candidate journey? They think they’re replying to an ad advertised in The Sun, but lo and behold then get redirected to a job board, then redirected yet again, to the employer’s website. And what about the employer’s HR or admin team that have the task of trying to keep the whole job application experience a pleasant one, but struggle, because they’re bogged down with loads of unwanted response, the majority of it awful because it came from sources where they didn’t even know they had advertised?

It seems to me that the whole online recruitment experience is becoming a mess because of this latter day notion that taking an ad targeted at one website and firing out to lots of others is actually a good thing. It’s not. Recruitment marketing agencies beware. You'll end up embarrassed and your role negated unless you do something about it.

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Ever wondered what the clever phrases in those job ads actually mean?

24/4/2012

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Conduct an online job search these days and you’re soon confronted with lots of ads, many suggesting, without actually saying it of course, that each day spent working with them will be just like dying and going to heaven, only better. But should they be taken at face value?  Is your workplace heaven? Or is it more like hell, despite what that ever so enticing advertisement that lured you there in the first place suggested? Here I have taken a look at what job ads say and what they actually mean and present for your entertainment, my top 40:

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 1 "It's a stressful role" – the last person that did this job now spends their days shouting "Oi oi saveloy!" and barking at cars

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 2 “we’re a close-knit team” – we have to be, there’s hardly room to swing a cat in here!

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 3 “you're innovative” – you bring your own mug in to the office just in case anyone else has got ‘the lurgy’

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 4 “it’s a stimulating environment" – the drinks machine coffee is really, really strong

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 5 ”You're self-aware" – Hooray! You know who you are. That’s always a bonus!

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 6 “you're a tough negotiator” – you shout, stare daggers and slam your phone down a lot until you get your own way

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 7 "it's a lively environment" – get used to having those important telephone conversations interrupted by the intermittent whooping and cheering of the sales team celebrating another success.

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 8 "you're a strategist" – you spend your time chin stroking & 'thinking' whilst others do the actual work

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 9 "We're a friendly team" - until you cross us or screw up, that is

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 10 "you're fiercely competitive" – we've got 400 staff....but only 15 parking spaces!

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No.11 "it's a vital role" – Let's face it, that photocopying and filing isn't going to do itself!

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 12 "you manage your time well" – you surf the web all day, but minimise the browser whenever someone comes near your desk

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 13 "you're an innovative, dynamic & highly motivated team player" - you're a big fat cliché

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 14 "this is a brand new role" – (as you can probably tell from the very flaky and vague job description)

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 15 "you're sensitive to the needs of others" – bring cakes in on your birthday, or else!

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 16 "We’re an innovative company" - we've been using soft toilet paper in our rest rooms since 1973!

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 17 “An ideal environment in which to grow” - ….tomatoes! The air conditioning is screwed, so the office is generally hotter than the sun’s core

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 18 “you have good time management skills” - you're one of those extremely annoying people that gets up at five in the morning, even on your days off, just so you can 'make the most of the day'

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 19 “you’re highly persuasive, and a good team builder” – you frequently drag people away from their desk to give them some crap motivational talk in the boardroom. You shout things at them like ‘there’s no ‘I’ in the word ‘team’ “ whilst they cry a lot

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 20 "you're diplomatic and discreet" – you bad mouth your colleagues, but never to their faces.

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 21 "you have what it takes to connect with staff right across the organisation" - you'll be working on reception a lot

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 22 "you touch lives every day" – you're a latter day Mother Teresa ( but please, no flip flops)

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 23 “you have previous experience” – what else can experience be?

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 24 “working on a rota basis” – kiss your social life goodbye  for the foreseeable future

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 25 “you have well-rounded people skills” – you get on well with the clinically obese

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 26 "ours is a target-driven environment" – we’d all sell our grandmothers for £1 if push came to shove.

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 27 "You'll get regular reviews" – No salary increases, just regular reviews, biscuits and lame excuses

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 28 "You'll be a key player" – you'll unlock the office in the morning & lock it up again at night long after we’ve all gone home.

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 29 "You’ll develop key strategies" - for example: how on earth do I escape this absolute hellhole for lunch?

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 30 "we're taking communications to a whole new level" - we're moving your team up to the 7th floor!

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 31 “...a great opportunity to hone your communication skills” – particularly as we’ll be popping out to the local bar for a couple of hours every lunchtime to drown our sorrows, thus leaving you on your own to answer the phones.

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 32 "It’s an environment where you’ll be encouraged to make your mark" – we advise employees to put labels on the food they bring in to the office so that no one steals it.

Job ads. What they say/what they mean No. 33 ”This is an exciting opportunity” – Oh come on, admit it. When was the last time you were genuinely "excited" whilst you were in an office, eh? And I’m not talking about that time at the Christmas party when you got drunk on cheap wine and thought it would be a laugh to photocopy your genitals. Yes, you’ll be vaguely excited for the first couple of days, maybe even a week - we all were. But the novelty will soon wear off and you’ll quickly become sad, bitter and resentful like the rest of us.

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 34 "you're driven" - but sadly only to the station in the morning by your downtrodden partner

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 35 “…no two days will be the same” – it really is absolute chaos here

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 36 "you're results-driven" - if your football team loses you’re almost suicidal and totally unapproachable for days

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 37 "you pick up the phone and make things happen" – mostly when we need more Tippex, staples or toilet roll in the rest rooms

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 38 "you're friendly, willing and enthusiastic" – you're a corporate lapdog

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 39 "our modern offices are situated in a prestigious location" - Yes, the offices are really lovely… if you can find them! We’re in the middle of some God forsaken, soulless industrial wilderness, just off the ninth roundabout that looks exactly like the other eight you’ll drive past on your way to the interview, as you get hopelessly lost and arrive late, totally stressed out and in a foul mood.

Job ads, what they say/what they mean No. 40 "you're robust" – You never cry. It all stems back to that childhood spent mostly in cupboards.

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    About Me

    An experienced creative freelance copywriter and former recruitment advertising agency client services executive up to Director level, I have also worked in the advertising departments of national and regional newspapers and at a London Advertising Sales House. I set up my own copywriting business back in 2001 and work with a wide range of clients on a variety of press and online copywriting projects, the majority focused on recruitment communications. You can also find me on Twitter under my pseudonym '@RecruitmentCopy'

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