EXTERNAL RECRUTING-MEDIA SOURCES

Media sources such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and billboards

are widely used. Almost all newspapers carry “Help Wanted” sections, and so do many magazines. For example, The Wall Street Journal is a major source used to recruit managerial and professional employees nationally or regionally. Whatever medium is used, it should be tied to the relevant labor market and provide sufficient information on the company and the job.

Newspapers are convenient because there is a short lead time for placing an ad, usually two or three days at most. For positions that must be filled quickly, newspapers may be a good source. However, there can be a great deal of “wasted circulation” with newspaper advertising because most newspapers do not aim to reach any specialized employee markets. Some applicants are only marginally suitable, primarily because employers who compose the ads do not describe the jobs and the necessary qualifications very well. Many employers have found that it is not cost efficient to schedule newspaper ads on days other than Sunday, the only day many job seekers read them.

In addition to newspapers, other media sources include general magazines, television and radio, and billboards. These sources are usually not suitable for frequent use but may be used for one-time campaigns aimed at quickly finding specially skilled workers.

CONSIDERATIONS IN USING MEDIA SOURCES

When using recruitment advertisements in the media, employers should ask five key questions:

-What do we want to accomplish?

-Who are the people we want to reach?

-What should the advertising message convey?

-How should the message be presented?

-In which medium should it run?

EVALUATING ADS

Economists argue that the value of advertising is to provide good information to make good choices. But to see whether the ads are providing necessary information, HR recruiters should measure the responses they generate.

To track responses to an ad, an employer first must code the ads used. The easiest way to do this tracking is to use different contact names and addresses  specify a department number). Then the employer can note the source of the advertisement each time an applicant response is received. For coordination purposes, it is best to have one person responsible for opening and coding applicantresponses. If one or two people are responsible for screening phone calls, they should ask applicants where they saw the ad. If several people are regularly taking call-in messages, the organization might consider having a special memo pad just for such inquiries, with a “source” section indicated on the form. Although the total number of responses should be tracked, judging the successof an ad only by this number is a mistake. For example, it is better to have 10 responses with two qualified applicants than 30 responses with only one qualified applicant.