personas: a key component of your recruiting strategy - allison kruse
TRANSCRIPT
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Candidate personas are fictional, generalized representations of
your target candidates.
@AllisonAKruse #SourceCon@Kforce
Personas allow you to be more strategic in catering to each target,
relate to the talent/client contact that you are trying to attract and recruit, and relate to them as human beings.
The strongest personas are based on research as well as on insights you
gather from your actual customer base (through surveys, interviews, etc.).
What Goes in to a Persona?
Demographics
Work History
Traits
Goals
Motivators
Communication Preferences
Objections
Lifestyle
Pains
Antidotes
@AllisonAKruse #SourceCon@Kforce
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Adopting Marketing Concepts for TA
KNOW WHERE
THEY ARE
TAILOR YOUR
MESSAGING
GET IN FRONT OF
THEM
UNDERSTANDTHEIR NEEDS
GUIDE PRODUCT
DEV
GET IN SYNC
Why marketing uses personas:
We can leverage personas in similar ways@AllisonAKruse #SourceCon@Kforce
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What Needs do Personas Help us Solve?
Improve job descriptions
Improve time-to-fill
Be more strategic with sourcing efforts
Improve collaboration
Train new recruiters and sourcers
Enhance the candidate experience
@AllisonAKruse #SourceCon@Kforce
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Creating a persona
Interview your top performers:
• Favorite part of their job/Least favorite• Personal/professional goals• Work habits• Motivators/de-motivators• Why did they join the company?
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Persona Name: Erin
Where
Background/Demographics
• Single or married female, no children
• Age 30-43
• Greater Chicago Area
• 10 yrs of experience, college grad
• Twitter chats
• Facebook groups
• Conferences (i.e. SourceCon)@AllisonAKruse #SourceCon@Kforce
Persona Name: Erin
Work
Traits
• Currently Sr. Manager, Employer Branding
• 10 years of experience. Started as a recruiter
• Has spent <2.5 yrs at each company
• Corporate, RPO and agency work environments
• Passionate about her job/industry
• Creative, innovative and scrappy
• Strong interpersonal skills, builds rapport quickly
• Talkative and outgoing@AllisonAKruse #SourceCon@Kforce
Persona Name: Erin
Lifestyle
Communication Preferences
• Works from home
• Active and healthy lifestyle, energetic, playful
• Loves to travel
• Very social, has a large network
• Prefers digital comm. over print/phone call
• Heavy mobile user, reads content on the go
• Active on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter
• Mixes professional and personal life online@AllisonAKruse #SourceCon@Kforce
Persona Name: Erin
Motivators
• The industry is rapidly changing and it’s important to
her that she stays current
• She’s a loyal brand ambassador for her company and
wants to tell its story and attract talent
• She loves to influence others and serve as a mentor
and advocate for other employees
@AllisonAKruse #SourceCon@Kforce
Persona Name: Erin
Goals
• She wants to attend at least 4 conferences/year
• She wants to create/own strategies for employer
branding initiatives, some of which may require a
budget
• She wants to establish/manage a training program
to teach employees social media and branding best
practices, and empower employees to become
brand ambassadors@AllisonAKruse #SourceCon@Kforce
Persona Name: Erin
Pain
Antidote
“It’s difficult getting everything done with a small
team and very limited budget.”
Adapted from Adam Lawrence, SourceCon 2011
“We have a budget designated for employer
branding initiatives that you would own. In
addition, we have approved headcount for this
year for you to hire on a team of 6.”@Kforce
Persona Name: Erin
Pain
Antidote
“Some leaders don’t understand employer
branding, and are not invested in any of the
programs I have proposed.”
Adapted from Adam Lawrence, SourceCon 2011
“Our SVP is very excited to hire an employer
branding director, and plans to work very closely
with her to ensure her programs come to
fruition.”
Persona Name: Erin
Pain
Antidote
“I am unsure of upward mobility opportunities in
my current role. There is no clear career path
here.”
Adapted from Adam Lawrence, SourceCon 2011
“The new team that you would create sits within a
larger organization. Let me tell you about a few
opportunities that are just above this role that
our SVP has mapped out for the next 2 years.”
Persona Name: Erin
Pain
Antidote
“This culture doesn’t feel collaborative, and I feel
many people are risk adverse.”
Adapted from Adam Lawrence, SourceCon 2011
“This team collaborates for 2 hours every Friday to
work on any project they choose. Many projects
have been implemented as a result. Taking
calculated risks is not only encouraged, but
expected in this environment.”
Persona Name: Erin
• “I’m not looking for a new job.”
• “I am unfamiliar with the area and not sure if I’ll
like it.”
• “I am nervous to leave my current boss. I can’t
leave her hanging.”
• “I’m worried I won’t be able to influence leaders
and make a real difference at a new company.”
• “They might not let me present at conferences.”
Objections
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TA campaigns
Recruiters’ SM profiles
TrainingCareer websites
OnboardingJob descriptions
EB initiatives
Sourcing
Application process
SM strategy
Where Personas Are Used
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Erin is digital-savvy
She trusts her peers over
brands.
She’s good at online research and expects
accessible info.
She expects quality engagement in real
time.@AllisonAKruse #SourceCon@Kforce
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Personas and Talent Acquisition Campaigns
84% Campaign Compatible
• Email Marketing
• Social Advertising
• Campaign Landing Page
• Sponsored Job Postings• Social Media Posts
• Optimized Recruiter Profiles
@AllisonAKruse #SourceCon@Kforce
27Where does Erin spend time?Who does she talk with?What does she watch?Which groups is she in?Is she on a list somewhere?Does she attend webinars? Does she use hashtags? What words does she use?Does she attend conferences?What does she read? When?Who is she influenced by?Where are they online? What do they talk about?Does she spend more time on some social channels over others?
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?KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS
@AllisonAKruse #SourceCon@Kforce
site:dribbble.com UX dallas -intitle:followers -intitle:list -intitle:tags -
intitle:twitter -intitle:find -intitle:following
site:behance.net "project views" UX dallas
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Getting Started Demographics
Work History
Traits
Goals
Motivators
Communication Preferences
Objections
Lifestyle
Pains
Antidotes@AllisonAKruse #SourceCon@Kforce
Start with one!
• Gather info from candidates• Interview top performers• Document and organize information• Craft messaging• Test it• Continuously improve