Recruitment is a headache for any business. The war for precious talent out there can be hard, especially for small enterprises.
Potential recruits consider myriad factors when looking for a job: remuneration, field of work, location, employer reputation, and job satisfaction. Thus, when advertising for a new job, its closer to traditional advertising than one might think – employers have to ‘sell’ the job to new recruits. The difference between receiving no applicants and dozens of replies can be interesting.
In a tweet that has since went viral on Japanese Twitter, a recruitment professional shows how drastic a change in wording can be in attracting candidates. The translated tweet reads:
“This is what happened in the case of a soba noodle shop who used “soba making craftsman” as the catch copy in their recruitment advertisement.
Their first ad read, “Work at a beloved, long-standing 120-year-old restaurant.” This resulted in zero applications.
The second ad read, “Work at a popular restaurant that attracts many customers from far away.” Again, zero applications.
The third ad read, “Work at a place where you don’t have to speak to anyone all day.” This resulted in 50 applications, and a suitable employee was hired. Thank you very much!”
(Translation credits: SoraNews24)
It turned out that selling the restaurant’s reputation wasn’t enough to attract any candidates. As it turns out, jobseekers are more interested in what the job is like, rather than working for a prestigious, old establishment. This shows that in the war for talent, enterprises really need to start thinking out of the box.
Perhaps an introverted employee is suitable to become a quietly diligent soba craftsman?
