Chicago - They have a young core of good players who’ve had past success in making the playoffs the last 2 years. Their current roster also fits around Lebron extremely well, with complimentary players at other key positions such as Point Guard and Center.

New York - They provide the biggest media market in the world which means tons of exposure (like Lebron needs it) and endorsement opportunities. This is probably the best opportunity for Lebron if he wants to expand his personal brand. They also have the money to sign one other top dollar free agent, so Lebron knows he will be paired with another top notch talent. Lastly, if he turns around the Knicks, he’ll be a legend (which is not to be discounted.)

Cleveland - The home-town team has put a solid cast around Lebron but won’t be able to bring in another top notch free agent unless they can do a sign & trade (which is no certainty). What they do have is loyalty to Lebron, all his friends & family and unfinished business in bringing a title to his home-town.

Hopefully, this all sounds familiar to you. While Lebron may be the most high profile free agent seeking employment, there are tons of high quality candidates making this same decision today, maybe even about your company. What have you done and communicated to candidates to stress the value that you bring that makes you different from the other offers they’ve received? Here are a few ways your company can provide value to potential candidates and differentiate themselves from other employers:

• Job Responsibilities (Ownership, Influence, Access to Management)
• Compensation (Salary, Bonus, Benefits, Equity, etc.)
• Advancement Potential
• Company Culture
• Work / Life Balance
• Unique Employee Benefits
• Location
• Industry
• Future Prospects of Company

Take a look at your company today and determine what makes you special and attractive to candidates. Talk to recent current employees about why they chose your company over other offers they received. Most importantly, after you figure out what your value is make sure to include it in your recruitment marketing messaging to stress this differentiation from other companies. And maybe just maybe you can make a free agent splash of Lebron James proportions.

About the Author: Chris is a Marketing Analyst for SmashFly Technologies. SmashFly provides a recruitment marketing platform called WildFire that enables companies to easily launch and more important measure the performance of their recruiting efforts online.

The WildFire recruitment marketing platform offersJob Ad Distribution, Social Networking Delivery, Recruitment Opt-In Database, Recruitment CRM, Web Commercials / Micro-sites and Resume Sourcing services.