Recruitment Advertising On the Radio - Your Questions Wanted

Hey everybody! I've got a seat at a seminar tomorrow regarding using the radio for your recruitment advertising. Now, I'm a bit skeptical going into this but I'm going to hear what the "experts" have to say.

Here are the bullet points from their flyer:

Discover how to:
· Speak to thousands of potential employees versus just a few.
· Target applicants that are not only qualified, but professional.
· Save interviewing time AND recruitment budgets.
· Fulfill your EOE requirements.
· Cut down on turnover by 25%-50%.
· Advertise your employment opening 24 hours a day (instead of once a day).

The biggest thing that jumps out at me is "Target applicants" How is a broadcast message going to target my applicants?

Another part of the flyer says:

"What if there was a way to sift through the less-than-qualified, non-hirable applicants without sorting through resume after resume?"

How is the radio going to do that? Isn't it just going to create more applications and resumes?

If anyone has any experience with using the radio to advertise their positions I'd love to hear it. Also if you have any questions you'd like me to ask the "expert" let me know. My take is that this is the radio stations way of trying to find a new market in this down advertising economy but maybe I'm wrong.

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Permalink Reply by Ambrish Kochikar on August 19, 2009 at 6:32pm

Interesting. I have no experience with using radio ads for recruiting (I recruit Information Technology professionals). I did hear about a success story in radio advertising for job opportunities a month ago. It was about a small manufacturing company owner who advertised on local radio for a backfill when he lost his best machine operator. He received a few calls from local candidates and was able to hire someone in a few days.

While I was listening to the story, I started thinking whether it would work as well for other employers. I realized that the answers lie in the audience that each employer is trying to reach. If your audience listens to the radio a lot, you'd almost be missing out on a big opportunity to reach them by not being there. You might already know the most (cost) effective way to reach the universe of candidates you wish to work with, but it's a good idea to sit at the table and listen to other ideas.

Learning whether the 'expert' has successfully created and implemented recruiting campaigns for an employer in your industry, for example, would give you someplace to start. Good luck!