In the hunt for new team members, an ideal aim for most firms is to establish oneself as a kind of talent magnet. Quality response from quality candidates is an ideal outcome for any job advertisement. A crucial aspect in achieving this is in the representation of one's public image. A firm must craft a thoughtfully curated picture of who they are, allowing job seekers to acquire a deeper understanding of its internal character.
This is the second in our How to Craft an Effective Job Ad series. Be sure to check out all of the articles for a comprehensive look at composing the perfect Job Ad.
The outer image of your firm, especially if you aren't relatively well-known, will have an inadvertent influence on the results of your job ad. When a prospective team member stumbles upon your new opportunity, they are going to investigate your practice. Let's look at three mediums that can accompany your job advertisement, these will serve as supplemental "materials" to strengthen your pursuit for new talent.
The best way to provide a seamless experience for job seekers is to ensure you have a completed Archinect Firm profile to accompany your Archinect Job Ad. Giving a candidate the ability to click on your Archinect Firm Profile, read a brief description about your practice, view your selected works, discover other career opportunities within your organization, and find links to your website and all of your social media accounts is an advantage the most savvy firms capitalize on. Having a one-stop-shop of all things you is a no-brainer, and potential candidates will jump all over it.
Having a one-stop-shop of all things you is a no-brainer, and potential candidates will jump all over it.
Archinect always recommends completing ALL of the fields on your profile with a goal of communicating what your practice is about in a thoughtful and creative way. If you want to take it even further, have each of your employees create a personal Archinect profile and list your firm as their current place of work. This will populate the People section of your profile and solidify your positioning as a growing and active practice.
Palm Springs-based Studio AR&D Architects is a great example of an efficiently composed profile. They have populated their Selected Works section with strategically selected imagery, giving viewers a quick look into some of their work. Their Bio section is brief and covers a relevant picture of who they are. The Services Offered and Markets sections are complete, positioning them well in their expertise. And their contact category offers relevant detail, with provided links to their website and social media accounts as well as an email and address for deeper inquiry.
Some other excellent examples of well crafted Archinect Firm profiles include:
After exploring your Archinect Firm profile, motivated candidates are likely to visit your website. The guaranteed destination for almost every job seeker is going to be your projects section. At the very least, this section of your website should capture your best work in a clear and impactful way. What was your process? Are there diagrams? Professional photography?
If you present your work in a visually enthusiastic way, potential hires will see that enthusiasm and buy in to what you and your team are pursuing.
If you present your work in a visually enthusiastic way, potential hires will see that enthusiasm and buy in to what you and your team are pursuing. Think in terms of what you want to see in a candidate's portfolio. It's in the same way that they want to see a well organized picture of your work. It's always obvious when a firm has thrown together a couple of scans and images and especially more when the description of a project has not been well thought through.
In addition to projects, the People, About, or Studio Culture sections will also be points of destination on your website. Brief descriptions of team members give seekers a sense of who their new co-workers might be. Similarly, photos of your office or studio space will encourage candidates to visualize themselves working in your environment, heightening their motivation to send you a quality application package.
Most of us know the potential of social media. It's one of those things that isn't a necessity, but if used, should be executed creatively and consistently. It would be a better move to have no social media profile than to have one that is rarely updated. You do not want to give yourself the perception of irrelevance or disconnectedness. If I go on an Instagram account for a firm and see that the most recent post was from 5 weeks ago, I start to wonder.
However, if an active social media presence is a part of your strategy, a couple of things to remember are that most platforms provide a unique opportunity to be a bit more informal. A behind-the-scenes kind of approach can work well in this setting, giving those curious about the day-to-day inner workings of your team an inside look. A perfect example is Laney LA, a practice that stays diligent in its social media execution and authentically presents its internal personality in a compelling and creative way.
Social media also gives you the opportunity to display your projects, in addition to the process for those projects. Perhaps, you display photos of the team at the construction site or design sketches of a work-in-progress. It's a balance that should be implemented strategically and creatively. The goal here is to capitalize on the opportunity to present the social character and inherent personality of your practice.
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These three areas act as accompaniments to your job ads. Once you draw in interest through an ad, which will also contain a brief description of your practice (a hook), the next step is holding onto that interest. This is achieved by curating your image in a way that puts your best self at the forefront, by optimizing your Archinect Firm profile, treating your website like a design project, and keeping it real on social media.
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Are you searching for new team members? Archinect Jobs offers the industry's most popular job board, attracting the most in-demand firms and the top job-seeking talent. Post a job on Archinect Jobs and search our database of 40,000 active job seekers in Talent Finder. Questions? Reach out to us any time at jobs@archinect.com or (833) 327-2446. And don't forget to follow the How To Craft an Effective Job Ad tag for updates on new articles in the series.
Sean Joyner is a writer and essayist based in Los Angeles. His work explores themes spanning architecture, culture, and everyday life. Sean's essays and articles have been featured in The Architect's Newspaper, ARCHITECT Magazine, Dwell Magazine, and Archinect. He also works as an ...
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