Thunderclap | Advertising and Marketing Recruiter

When you bring business development strategies to recruiting, it's the perfect storm for success.

Advice & Thought Starters

By

Show candidates some love with a relationship valentine

Most agency recruiters focus on filling their openings. Right now I’ve got two new business searches going. So I spend time looking for professionals that can find and win new business. But you might be looking for strategists right now. So you’re spending your energy on finding planning candidates.

But as advertising recruiters we have to maintain an agency talent pipeline. So that when you have to hire, for example, an account director or a creative director, you’ve already got a list of great candidates that are good fits for your agency. Having this list can dramatically lower your time to fill and drive recruiting efficiency. It can also lower your outside recruiting costs.

But how do you do that? While at the same time, keep presenting those urgently needed account planner candidates to your team?

One of the ways I maintain a pipeline is to use something I call a “relationship valentine.” Here are few hundred words on what it is and how advertising agency recruiters can use it to maintain and build a relationship with people you may want to eventually hire for your shop.

Relationship Valentine: thoughtful love without expectations

Back in the day, account folks would rip out an article in a trade magazine, attach a quick thought, and send it over to their client. It could have been an article about anything, really. Usually, though, it was business related. Something relevant to a matter at hand. It was thoughtful. And it demonstrated you were their advocate, you’re paying attention and are thinking about them and their business. (This kind of thing still happens, of course. It’s now a link instead of paper.)

Sometimes, there would be a follow-up conversation with the client. But not always. When yours truly used this technique in new business, I emailed hundreds of agency prospects a quick relationship valentine. Without any “sales” message from your truly and without any expectation on my part. For example:

Good afternoon. Here’s a story <link> that ran in today’s WSJ that discusses “the new consumer” and how some brands are reacting. It’s a little long, but interesting: think of how the trend might impact your innovation going into the new year. It can also provide context and support for a need to change.

And another one:

Here’s a fun thought-starter: the New York Times pulled together a cool interactive graphic <link> that shows how Americans spend their time each day. You can drill down by demographic. It can help remind your team of your consumer’s daily reality and how your brand fits in; provide some media planning context for potential purchase or consideration moments; and/or spur some promotional thinking.

A third example:

Hope you had a great Halloween. thought you might appreciate knowing what Kohl’s will be up to this holiday season. This article < link> broke last Thursday…

These were HTML emails, so I could get a sense for opens, clicks, agency website visits and more. But notice there’s no sales language in any of the examples. They’re just quick ways of staying on someone’s radar screen and demonstrating a little bit of smarts (without being self-serving).

Relationship valentines work for candidates, too

Why not do the same thing with candidates? After all, new business prospects for your agency are just like great candidates that you might want to hire later. And while you can certainly send them things about your agency over time (which agencies rarely do, by the way), you can also send items that are brief, thoughtful, relevant and interesting.

This technique is particularly helpful for passive candidates. People that are happy now at their existing agency, but may be good fits for your shop in the future.

Relationship valentine topic areas for candidates and agency recruiting

Here are a few thought-starters:

  • Career thinking and advice
  • Discipline or department-specific how-to
  • Book reviews
  • Podcast suggestions
  • Local lifestyle tips

A side benefit of all this? This is material that can easily be repurposed and used for things like staff retention. If you go the how-to route, for example, you’re beginning to build a learning and development library. A cool idea might be to create a series of departmental how-to (coming from your leaders) that can be made into posts, newsletters, videos, podcasts, etc.

And of course, from time to time I’d want to include some information about the agency. This could mean a list of openings you might have, which can increase the size and efficacy of your talent pipeline. Not to mention incoming apps from qualified candidates.

If you’re thinking this is all just a form of content marketing, you’re right! One could easily take the lessons learned from content marketing gurus from places like Copyblogger and apply it to staying in front of prospective agency talent and job candidates.

Anywho, hope this gets you thinking about ways to maintain your agency’s brand awareness with your best candidates. Thanks for reading!

Other ways to lower your recruiting costs and lower your time to fill can be found here:

Photo credit: Ben Kerckx

By

Earn more staff referrals and lower advertising agency recruiter costs

Being an advertising agency recruiter is hard work. Here are just a few things you do on a daily basis…

Write job descriptions that engage, inspire and increase applications from people who are qualified to do the job. Sift through dozens of resumes on your candidate tracking system to find the elusive unicorn. Find and reach out to a great candidate on LinkedIn. Get your internal team to interview candidates (and get feedback). And, of course, find, brief, manage and then pay thousands of dollars to those damn recruiters. All of which I heartily encourage!

The point is you have a lot on your plate. Your agency’s resources are stretched. And you still need to find good people. So let’s remind ourselves of two somethings you can do today to make your advertising recruiter job a little easier and minimize recruiting headaches. And, gulp, even save your agency a few bucks on outside recruiters.

Earn more staff referrals by checking in with them

I’m not talking about the annual review that usually happens on month seventeen versus month twelve ( when it was scheduled). Nor am I referring to the candidate referral program you put in place awhile back, yet most staffers forget about.

What I’m getting at is a friendly conversation you can have with your very best staffers about how things are going for them in their day-to-day job. It’s an informal, quick check-in where you focus on what they’ve been working on and what they’re passionate about. This is an opportunity to let them know they’re doing amazing work and you’re psyched they are part of the agency tribe.

When’s the last time you did something like that? When’s the last time someone did that for you? How did it make you feel? Everyone works so hard now. We can all afford to live in a more human workplace.

A little bit of genuine, heartfelt cheerleading can go a long way towards keeping a keeper…and getting a candidate referral or two. Good people tend to know each other. So odds are pretty good this new referral is a terrific hire and will be great for your team. Making your job as an advertising agency recruiter a little easier. More fun, too.

Deliver a “you’re awesome” message to increase retention and build internal referrals

What, you don’t have time for a check-in? I get it. Unicorn candidates don’t just magically appear. And candidate interview feedback doesn’t show up on your inbox without a little bit of work on your part. If you’re too busy for an in-person visit, then consider a quick, personal email to that keeper staffer. Heck, you could even give ’em something relatively inexpensive, yet nice.

A dinner for two is always appreciated. This delivers three additional benefits: it acknowledges the keeper has a life outside the agency; it recognizes good performance in a tangible way; and is agency CFO-friendly.  What’s not to like? Pass the salt.

Consider agency size with this kind of thing

Size matters when it comes to these check-ins and “you’re awesome” messages. Do they need to come from you or your department?

If our goal is getting more referrals, then sure. It could and should come from a recruiter. However at a large shop, one could argue that someone in HR or Recruiting may not know the ins and outs of a specific professional’s performance. You can get insights from people working on the business.

When these messages come from you, this delivers an extra benefit: it makes HR seem like a closer, more positive aspect of the agency. You can help make the department known for more than just hiring, firing and benefits.

So it can come from you, but why can’t it come from someone’s boss? Might feel more natural that way. The mere fact that someone gets one will help keep that keeper productive and employed at your agency. And yes, this will also increase organic referrals. Perhaps without even having a form filled out or a staffer being paid a recruiting fee. Another CFO-friendly practice!

You could always coordinate a referral ask after the boss tells a star performer they’re awesome.

At a smaller agency, there’s no reason these kinds of messages can’t come from you. Senior leadership will appreciate what you’re doing. And others will take up the cause.

Anywho, hope this makes you think a bit. Thanks for reading!

Looking for more ideas that can make your job easier? Check ’em out:

photo credit: Dwonderwall Dusted kitchen area via photopin (license)

By

Recruiters, find agency talent through marketplace triggers

Howdy! The other day I wrote about how account changes and other marketplace triggers can help agency job-seekers find their next great gig. This should go without saying, but many of those same triggers apply to advertising agency recruiters as your shop looks for its next leader.

< head nod >

I know. That isn’t particularly brilliant, right, as it relates to filling your vacancies and lowering your time to fill. So, in my own humble attempt to help, here are three quick thoughts that dig a little deeper into triggers and go beyond recruiting basics…

Let’s take a look at just one common marketplace change: you read that a competitive agency has lost a piece of business. Recruiting 101 suggests you may want to target folks at that agency. However, there are a few nuances to that idea.

Leverage client-side staff change as an agency recruiter

Sure, you could be one of the recruiters that calls a staffer when they work at an agency that’s lost business. But there’s an opportunity to get ahead of that. By taking advantage of the step before the loss. A new CMO, VP or director of marketing usually means the agency who has that business will probably lose it in the future.

To me, this client-side change (a new CMO) is more valuable to an ad agency recruiter than reading on Adweek that an agency just lost something. Because it gives you more time to build relationships with great candidates and potential agency hires at the shop which currently has the business. You also gain the advantage of potentially being first to reach out to a candidate. Which can make your pitch stand out. You can also leverage that moment when a candidate moves from being passive to active.

Share the client side change with your own agency’s new business team

This is a great way for HR and talent recruiters to add value to an agency. While it’s easy to think your new business guys are on it, there’s a lot for them to keep track of. They might have missed this news. It’s also a smart way to help your agency.

It never hurts to have more people looking for more pitch opportunities. And if your agency is a good fit for the business…someone else will read in Adweek about YOUR shop winning something.

Target the talent the agency keeps after a layoff

Layoffs happen as a result of lost revenue. Unfortunately, we’ve all been there. Good people get put out on the street. But if the agency perceives that someone on their team is really exceptional, they’ll do everything they can to keep him or her. This means re-assignment to an existing business. Or perhaps a short stint in new business. Identifying these people is not easy. But with some savvy detective work using you and your agency’s network it can be done.

Send a candidate a “congratulations” note when they get a new job – even if it’s not with your agency

Huh? I do this all the time and it’s a terrific way to build your pipeline. A personalized, heartfelt congratulations and well-wishing can go a long way to building a connection and awareness of your agency.  And who knows, maybe even create a referral source.

Anywho, hope this gets you thinking about some ways to best take advantage of marketplace conditions. Thanks for reading. And if you’d like to chat, give me a shout. Thanks!

###

Two other relevant posts

By

Find a new agency or client-side job through job triggers

Hello there, job seeker. No doubt about it. Places like LinkedIN are terrific places for online job listings. But what about the step that happens BEFORE a job is posted? You know, the thing that triggers the employer’s need to fill a position. The thing that gets the ad agency recruiter or client side HR involved and looking for great talent?

What’s the reason the job exists? Here’s a quick look at common triggers on both the client and agency sides.

Look for these client-side triggers to identify future job openings

These things typically are leading indicators there will be employment opportunities on the client side:

  • New CEO, President or CMO (Chief Marketing Officer)
  • Existing staff promotions / departures
  • Exceptionally large business gains or losses
  • Bad business results
  • Office location changes
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Macro economic indicators
  • New funding sources

Recognize the signs agencies will be looking for new talent

Looking for a new agency gig? This list of triggers is not all that much different from the client-side list.

  • New pieces of business
  • Existing staff promotions / departures
  • New senior managers
  • New department leaders
  • M&A
  • Missing digital / big data / social media capabilities

Get ahead of your competition and give yourself more time to win the job

One could ask, “why should I even identify these triggers?” Glad you asked!

It doesn’t matter if you are searching for a client-side job or an agency one. Here are just two reasons why identifying triggers can put you in a better position to get that coveted new job:

  • Give yourself more time to win the job. Generally speaking, with more time, you can craft a better strategy for how to differentiate your candidacy, get in front of the agency or client-side recruiter, and put your pitch in front of the hiring manager.
  • Get ahead of the competition. It’s a race, right? As soon as the job is posted, the employer and recruiter will be flooded with calls, emails and letters. By seeing the employer’s future need, you can beat the massive influx of resumes and dramatically increase the chances of being properly considered.

Reflect the trigger in your customized job pitch

This trigger is news and someone — or a whole team — is going to be hired. What is it about you that’s relevant or important to the recruiter? For example, have you worked in this category (and what kind of impact did you have)? Do you know the person who’s been hired? Do you have experience the agency doesn’t have?

If this news won’t trigger a job for you, share the news with a friend

Maybe it’s a better fit for them. Perhaps they have the category experience you don’t. Being nice and good pays dividends. Wrote the fella who gets most of his business through repeat and referral sources.  I suspect you know people who will return the favor and keep an eye peeled for you. Or heck, maybe even hire you in the future.

Anywho, hope this spurs you to think about your job search a little differently. For more career-minded thinking on this website, check out the career blog post category.

Photo credit: Anders V  via photopin

By

How to use agency credentials to attract and retain people

One of the reasons I think agencies ask yours truly to help them find proven, senior-level leaders is because I bring a new business mentality to the idea of searching for the right professional. Thankfully, for the sake of paying my mortgage, this idea could use a lot of unpacking and can go in lots of directions. But today, I want to spend time on an idea that could be useful and differentiating to your agency as it looks to attract and keep the best staff.

Do you use your agency’s new business credentials when you pitch prospective new employees?

Not many agencies do. They often let the agency’s website do the job. Or they might just ask their new business team for a set of standard credentials.

And I wonder how effective that is. Because things like websites or new business credentials are built with many purposes in mind.

How could standard agency credentials be made into recruiting credentials? What could we emphasize in credentials that will help convince someone to join your agency? With a more single-minded focus, our message can become more clear and convincing.

The usual things like agency location, size, client list and capabilities could all be tweaked, calling out the benefits to someone figuring out whether to work for your agency or your competitor.

For instance, things like an agency’s broad client list and its capabilities can mean career flexibility, footsteps, and an augmentation of existing skill sets for candidates.

Of course, the agency’s work itself is a key reason why someone might join the agency. So, case studies are helpful. But I’d tweak those, too. And talk about the people behind the work. What does great work do for the people that created it? Those are different results than brand or agency success measures. Think things like industry recognition, raises and promotions.

More broadly speaking, in a set of Recruiting Credentials, we’ve got the chance to tell prospective staffers why people are attracted to or stay at your agency:

  • impact/involvement/making a difference
  • fit/agency culture
  • support
  • training opportunities
  • career mobility
  • stability
  • lifestyle
  • financial reward
  • and more

How are these best conveyed? If not done right, “testimonials” run the risk of feeling hacky, canned and unbelievable. One solution might be writing a brief: treat Recruiting Credentials like a creative deliverable.

Looking for a fast and cheap alternative? For one agency, I pulled together a quick two-pager that talks about just these kinds of things. It worked well. In part because it had a look, feel and writing style that was on-brand to the agency.

Having these successful people stories in your head are fantastic tools when you’re speaking with a given candidate. They add a lot more weight to your pitch. They can also be used as a stand-alone piece to send ahead of a call. Or right after one. Featuring stories like these on your agency’s website could be a good idea, too.

Anywho, hope this gets you thinking about interesting ways to find and keep your next great leader!

By

How to make Human Resources more valuable to the agency

I wrote a version of this post years ago for a new business audience. But as this website reflects my humble shingle’s recruiting capability, this post needed revisiting… Enjoy!

Your human resources function. Nothing could be more important in the billable ad agency world than the people you have working at your agency and on your clients’ businesses. All of those tired old quotes about talent are true. Word!

But you know, there just might be opportunities to make HR work a bit harder when it comes to impacting new business and agency revenue. Today’s post will share a couple of new business thought-starters around new staff hires and the onboarding process.

We should, of course, mention when you bring someone new to your team, there’s potential for a slippery slope here with regard to confidentiality, non-compete clauses, ethics, etc.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting you participate in shenanigans that wouldn’t please your mother. Or get your new employee in any legal trouble with their old agency. But a new hire can lead one to ask questions that can impact the new agency’s new business efforts:

  • Does this new person know a client not working with their past shop that might be looking for an agency in the future? It could be at a shop before their last one. Or it could be a rumor they’ve heard. Or related to a job they’ve heard about before they took yours.
  • How might the new agency leverage this intel?
  • What’s the sense of urgency here?
  • Is this just a chance to fatten up your agency’s mailing list, or could something else need to be done?
  • Are there resources or suppliers the new person might know that are worth meeting?
  • Should this hire have an understanding how new business was done at their previous agency, how were they successful? (And what can that mean to you?)
  • Is this a chance for the agency to announce to clients you’ve made a new hire?
  • Might this be newsworthy to the media? It is a blurb for your website? Your social media?

Asking questions like these will pay off with more senior hires, as it will bear fruit faster. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask that young millennial or freshly minted grad the same questions. You need a mixture of people in your network of lead generators and “friends of the agency” to earn more referral pitches. And who knows, that millennial may move client-side one day.

So, consider adding a new form or two to your new employee onboarding process. Yours truly has had the pleasure of working at two great big shops: Ogilvy and FCB. And neither one of them leveraged the many intersections between agency HR and new business.

Many agencies don’t bother. Yet so long as it’s above-board and not getting anyone sued, it’s definitely worth exploring.