Ask any seasoned TA professional about advertising and they’ll tell you four things;

1. You have to advertise roles
2. But I still need my Linkedin Recruiter license
3. When we advertise, candidate volumes are crazy
4. So I’m going to need to buy both adverts and tech to deal with the response.

Advertising is an industry staple, a default setting for many in Talent Acquisition. Cast a wide net, attract a diverse pool, and somewhere within that volume, the perfect candidates will emerge. 

But at what cost? Applicant volumes are increasingly overwhelming. You’re still paying for your sourcing tools. And now you’re having to pay for more tools to deal with the advert floodgates having been flung wide open. And the brand-damaging effects of not managing that flood properly. Are you sure advertising is necessary? Have you done the maths to prove it?

Are you paying for actual hires, or just a comfort blanket of hope?

We surveyed our global network of 3,000+ TA specialists for their unfiltered views on job advertising. 

The Uncomfortable Truth: Why We Still Advertise

The headline findings:

• The 1% Chance: A resounding 100% agreed with the sentiment: “Because there’s always that 1% chance the perfect candidate happens to apply.” Hope, it seems, is a powerful driver. But hope is definitely not a strategy…
• Employer Branding: 73% agreed that advertising is seen as a key way to boost employer branding. While branding is crucial, is a job advert the most effective, or cost-effective, channel to promote brand?
• Policy & Compliance: 78% cited that advertising satisfies internal policy or compliance. Is that policy set in stone, and reviewed based on today’s realities?
• Market Necessity: Less than half (46%) felt that advertising is still the key tool for finding talent in some markets and roles. This indicates a declining perceived effectiveness for many situations.

We asked the community if they advertised each time they took on a new role. A majority of 77% said no, indicating they only advertise when there’s likely to be value from it. But our community is made up of largely freelance recruiters, running their own businesses. Successfully. When needing to review ROI, recruitment businesses say no to advertising and yes to sourcing tools.  It would be interesting to see the response rates for businesses with larger budgets and potentially a lesser focus on ROI.

Are Job Adverts Valuable or Just a Box-Tick?

Here’s more of what our TA community had to say about the real value of job advertising:

• “TA teams use advertising to demonstrate activity to hiring managers. Essentially the advert provides a visual comfort blanket that work is being done – and some respite from the pressure they bring for results.”
• “It depends on the type of role. For entry level, graduate, or blue collar, advertising can be one way to reach mass target audiences.”
• “For more specialist and senior roles it is less effective and more about branding. Occasionally good candidates come through adverts, but in general I have low expectations on quality.”
• “Advertising is easy. Dealing with applicants is hard. Sourcing is hard. Dealing with sourced candidates is easy. People choose ‘which easy they want’.” (A stark truth about the path of least resistance.)
• “There is an opinion that you can’t source for every role, that’s why everyone advertises some roles. But I’ll bet no-one has ever done the maths. No-one has calculated when it makes sense to advertise and when to source. And yet everyone has a LinkedIn recruiter license.”

Advertising isn’t (always) strategic

TA is often lambasted for failing to think and act strategically, and failing to show it’s strategic value. Advertising might be a good place to start to change those opinions. Here’s our advice for cutting through the noise and making your recruitment budget work harder:

(nb. Legally obliged to advertise? There’s no escaping that, but many of these principles are still well worth considering.)

• Don’t Advertise Unless You Can Deal With The Reponse (Properly): Advertising to find a needle in a haystack? You’ll have to deal with a lot of hay. So either you’ll expend (often scarce) TA resources or, more likely, deploy tech to deal with the volume – but what experience is this providing your candidates with? Candidates you might not even have needed to engage in the first place. Be selective on when you need to open your organisation up to the challenge of open advertising. Because you know you need to, and you can give a quality brand experience.
• Leverage Brand Enhancement For Budget: If TA’s job is to enhance your company’s brand, then fight for the additional budget – or stop advertising. There’s a clear link between employer brand and consumer brand perceptions. All B2C companies spend fortunes on enhancing their consumer brand. Some of that cash has your name on it.
• Empower Your Recruiters To Choose Whether To Advertise: Give your recruiters the autonomy to choose whether to advertise. If they’re good and they know their markets, they’ll know when that expenditure is wise. Our data suggests that Fractal recruiters would reduce advertising costs in an enterprise with a blanket advertising policy by 77% – and still get the job done.
• Do The Maths – What Is Advertising Really Costing You?: Quantify the true cost of sourcing versus advertising. Calculate the expenditure on advertising and selection tools versus sourcing tools. Figure out if you’re paying twice – for sourcing tools you’re not using efficiently because you always advertise. And don’t forget the biggest cost: people. The people costs are the biggest cost. You might be surprised by the true cost of “easy” advertising. 
• Be Honest with the Business To Backup Your Expertise: Hiring the best active candidate when you haven’t sourced for passive ones is like offering the customer the best dish on the first page of the menu. You don’t know if you’re giving the hiring manager the best candidate they could hire. You know you’re giving them the best candidate you chose to engage – and that’s different. Be honest. If budget restricts the choice on your menu, say so. You might be surprised how people will spend more when they’re given more choice. Present the real options, and the real value of targeted sourcing.

Fractal is built on the premise that strategic, targeted recruitment delivers superior results. Our global network of specialist recruiters bypasses the “hope” model, delivering qualified talent directly to your door, wherever you need it.

Stop paying for hope. Start paying for hires.

Get in touch today to get involved.

wearefractal.io/get-access