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former_member182149
Contributor

I have written a number of blogs on the lack of skilled workers over all and specifically concerning the chemical industry.  This means that a lot of companies will be  or are fighting over the same number of potential employees. So the question becomes how do you attract potential employees in the first place.

When I first started looking for a job many years ago, there were a few methods of finding  that a job existed.

  1. Job adds in the newspaper. And I could even tell what day the types of jobs that I was interested were published.
  2. Word of mouth. A friend knew of a job opening
  3. Recruitment Agencies

While these are still valid we can add some additional ones

  1. Job boards  both specialist (e.g. www.EngineerJobs.com ) and generalist (e.g. http://www.monster.com/ )
  2. Social Networks: as a member of quite a few linkedin groups ( http://www.linkedin.com/ ) I have found that there are a lot of job posting being advertised via the groups. A more modern and focused equivalent of the newspaper job adds.

In looking for ways to attract potential candidates I ran across a UK recruiting company call CKScience http://ckscience.co.uk/ . I find this company interesting, not so much for their list of jobs, which is quite extensive, but for how I discovered them.

I ran across YouTube videos giving advice on tips for your job interview:

  1. For laboratory jobs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWPawymMr58
  2. For Chemical Engineering Jobs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS4bmQMeLIY
  3. And even specialized tips if you are hunting for jobs in the Biotechnology Sector in Scotland http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHb0wEl8xFU

After watching these video I went to their channel http://www.youtube.com/user/CKScienceRecruitment?feature=watch and found that they not only had advice but introduced themselves, and more importantly had jobs available http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCuwcit5hfE . Then I went to their website to see the full listing. By being on YouTube, and posting the jobs there, as a potential candidate I could subscribe to their feed and the jobs would be presented to me when I went to my YouTube account. All without having to sign up to a job site. I am interested in their services without them knowing about me.

So what did I learn from this experience.

  1. You need something to attract potential candidates to your company. In this case it was the advice given in the interview tip video.
  2. They did not require me to sign up for anything. No commitment from me.
  3. It was using a method that I did not expect (YouTube) and it wasn't intrusive.
  4. And out of all the recruitment firms that I am aware of they are now top of my mind. Not bad for an investment in YouTube videos.

Can we translate this experience into something that the chemical industry can use? How can  we show potential employees how attractive the industry and your company is?

  1. Have you explained what your company is about?
  2. Are you supporting those things that people are interested in? E.g. Sustainability, Carbon Reduction,
  3. Do you have testimonials about working for your company?
  4. Is the information easy to consume?
  5. In searching would people come across your information?
  6. Is there an easy way to apply for a position or to gather the potential candidates information? E.g. an informational e-mail request
  7. Is there something that attracts them to your site in the first place? E.g. career advice, tips for finding a job inside your company, candidate profiles, education advice, what you look for in a candidate.

Obviously the major chemical companies have an advantage in name recognition and resources. For a good example please look at the Dow Chemical Company YouTube Channel The Dow Chemical Company - YouTube and specifically their career section  http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9yqnr8akhTG4d-SEgr-qoeLMCskSGXpL which describes careers at Dow Chemicals and  introduces potential candidates to the organization.

With more and more avenues for getting your name out (and I did not forget Facebook), the Dow Chemical Facebook page is quite impressive https://www.facebook.com/#!/TheDowChemicalCompany  how do you manage all this?

How do you see which search, social, mobile, and other channels reach the best candidates at the lowest cost?

How can you reach candidates who don't apply the first time they see your opportunity?

How do you build campaigns: Engage, re-market, and repeat until you've hooked candidates with the right opportunity?

Have you established a talent community to capture passive candidates?

Do you have referral marketing tools?

To see how SAP Success Factors can assist in answering these and other questions please use the following link to see how SuccessFactors Recruiting Marketing can help http://www.successfactors.com/en_us/solutions/bizx-suite/talent-solutions/recruiting/marketing.html

One last thing, do you think recruiting on YouTube will take off? I was surprised when I found this. Or am I just too old, and everyone is doing this.

By the way (this to my manager) I am not currently looking for new job opportunities.



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