Minnesota Online Video » recruiting

What is the Employee Value Proposition (EVP)?

Eric Putkonen — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 16:52:58 +0000

I hear all the time that “Recruiting is Sales!” I tend to say recruiting involves sales, marketing, and PR. Either way, if so much of recruiting is sales…then why don’t many corporate recruiters find the Unique Selling Proposition like good salespeople do? In HR and recruiting, we call it the Employee Value Proposition (EVP), but it is the same thing.

Basically, why would someone who is happy in their current job leave it to be hired by your company? Why would someone looking for a new job want to be hired by your company instead of your competitor across the street?

Now a strong value proposition (EVP or USP) must be tangible, specific, and unique (or at least rare). Saying you are an innovative company or you are a leader in innovation is really meaningless (not to mention many companies say this).

When I was recruiting for some Java IT positions several years ago, I had the good fortune to say that the new employees would get to play with the newest toys and technologies…and I specifically listed them. I don’t recall the specific technologies anymore (and they are definitely not new now), but think about it. For a Java programmer who isn’t looking for a new job (but is interested in what is new in his field), the prospect of getting to immediately use the new stuff in this new opportunity is appealing…especially if his company is not implementing it for another year or so. Not many other companies had this new technology yet…so it was unique (at least rare).

Some words of caution:

Don’t get long winded.
Keep it simple and short.
Say only what you can easily prove…not bold (unproven) claims
Focus on what your target individuals or groups really want.

I mean really…how can we “sell” our open position to any passive job seeker without knowing this vital piece of information?

Rehab Care Recruiting Video

Eric Putkonen — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:19:12 +0000

I thought I should sometimes show great video examples or do video critiques. So today I am showing a good recruiting video by Rehab Care.

This is a video skewed for new graduates in therapy…and high school graduates. This talks about the shortage of therapists in rehab and what tuition help there is. But first, it takes about people making a difference in other’s lives…helping them learn to dance, speak, walk, etc. again…making an impact. The video talks about their needs and locations – and that they are a “one stop shop for your career”.

The video is a little over 4 minutes long…and the message feels a little split (talking about new graduates in therapy and then talking about people preparing for a career in therapy). The message of this video could be a little more focused…one for therapist graduates and one more focused for high school graduates or those preparing for a career in therapy.

But all in all, a great video covering a “story”.

Content for Your Facebook Careers Page

Eric Putkonen — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:04:42 +0000

I have been looking at a lot of companies’ career pages on Facebook. Seeing what other people post and trying to figure out what might be other good things to post. I thought this would make a good blog post, because I find a lot of recruiters are familiar with the idea of using Facebook for recruiting…and even creating a careers page…but sometimes I find people who are not sure what to post or what kind of content will be on the page.

This is just some types of content I have found on other career pages on Facebook…and a few that I thought up as well as things that should be on the pages:

Promotions / Contests of interest candidates – (Taco Bell offered a free Limeade Sparkler Coupon)
Involvement in charities and community (when, where, who, etc.)
Notices of awards won (best places to work, top 50 diversity, etc.)
Notices of job fairs being attended
Employee events recap (showing that your company is a fun place to work)
Notices of some jobs (not all) – highlight certain ones – high profile or otherwise special
Career related podcasts (day in life, hear from hiring manager, etc.)
Notices of new videos (career related)
Stories of core values being lived (employee recognition)
Why not have more Employee Recognition (show that there is some in your company by doing it publically)
Internship info
Testimonials by employees (why it is a great place to work)
Who we hired (from what school if grad, read her story)
Articles, podcasts, experts about job market and perhaps job searching in general (that is the audience)
Surveys – candidate experience and opinions about things like what is most important to you in a job
Questions to the recruiters (interaction and engagement is the soul of social media)
Posts from the hiring manager or department champion
Comments about candidate experience (this content comes from the applicants)
Some applicants are customers, and so some content will be fans commenting on how great your products and services are

That’s all I could find and come up with at the moment…hope this perhaps gets your creative juices flowing for what to include. If you see something clever or know of something else, please leave a comment.

~ Eric

Deloitte Recruiting Video

Eric Putkonen — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:15:05 +0000

This 2 minute 11 second recruiting video is quite good. It is focused on millenials…for entry level (starting your career). They speak only to this age group in this video and what is important to them (at least what we are told at in recruiting conferences and workshops). There is also a strong focus on diversity (which is important to millenials).

This kind of video gives them a huge edge over companies just pushing their job description. The best and brightest would be attracted. In the four months it has been published on YouTube, it has been viewed over 3,000 times. They wisely also show off their award…”BusinessWeek ranked Deloitte #1 on its 2009 list of Best Places to Launch a Career. Watch to see why our people agree.”

Outside Sales Position Recruiting Video

Eric Putkonen — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:45:36 +0000

This video is a little over a minute long. You hear from the hiring manager and boss for this position…also in the video you see such a territory sales person at work. The hiring manager explains what the position entails…and that they have a great atmosphere and training program.

I like how you get to meet your would-be boss and see someone at work. I didn’t hear about what makes this company great to work for…it was rather weak in showing why I would want to work for them. Likely, all this information is on the job description – what is expected in duties, great atmosphere, training program, etc. When a recruiting video is produced, the goal is to give a more full inside look into the company – far more than what the job description would say.