The job ad experience of the future with Ben and Charlie

In May we hosted Teamtailor Pink Hour in Stockholm with a focus on reimagining the job ad experience from a candidate, hiring manager and recruiter perspective. We had such a great time, and we loved all the different perspectives and ambitions that were presented from all groups 😍.

While the focus in the workshop was on improving the job ad experience, the methodology we used is applicable to all sorts of challenges you might face in your organization. Especially around your employer brand and the candidate experience. So, what did we identify together? What post-its did we place on the part of the boat that is “taking us forward” vs. “holding us back”? Well, there were many interesting perspectives here.

Multiple groups identified how AI will have a major impact on the job ad and candidate experience of the future. By harnessing the power of AI, many believe that we as employers will be able to be more responsive to candidates and provide faster communication. One group even identified that AI might support us in moving away from job ads that just list loads of requirements for different roles, so that we can instead focus on candidates’ abilities to solve the actual challenges the company is currently facing. Another interesting perspective was how virtual reality (VR) may play a part in the candidate journey moving forward. Imagine clicking into a VR experience right from a company’s job ad, where you can walk around the company’s office, meet a couple of managers and grab a coffee with some potential colleagues. This experience might not even be too far away. Awesome 😎.

All companies and cultures are unique, so when you focus on improving the candidate experience in your own company, we encourage you to think from all three perspectives that we worked out of in the workshop (the candidate, recruiter and hiring manager perspective). Additional recommendations and exercises that we find to be incredibly valuable in relation to elevating your employer brand and identifying what to focus on are these:

Exercise 1: Apply for your own jobs
Go through the candidate experience into your own company. Identify relevant touchpoints on that journey and ask yourself: are we really communicating in a clear way what it means to join our organizations? Is this the experience I would like to have myself? If not, you have a job to do.

Exercise 2: Now do the same with 3-4 of your key competitors
Once you’ve researched the candidate journey into your own company, do the same with 3-4 of your key competitors that are looking for the same talent that you are. What are they doing that we don’t? How are they communicating the offerings? How can we stand out vs. them? This is a great exercise to identify USPs and unique angels for your organization to capture candidates in an even better way than the competition.

Exercise 3: Speak to your employees!
Based on the above, don’t guess what makes your employer brand, company culture and employee experience unique and attractive. The answers sit with your employees so make sure to engage them in identifying what to communicate and convey to the candidate market. Focus on your USPs and unique angels and you will most definitely create a unique and engaging employer brand.  

Thanks to everyone who attended! 

With Love 💖
Ben and Charlie

Ps. If we can support in any additional way, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on LinkedIn right here (Charlie) and here (Ben).