Bjarke Ingels, a master of personal and professional promotion, speaking at a TED conference. Image courtesy of TED Talk

The talent procurement process is an interactive back and forth between job seekers and employers, each striving to secure an ideal future relationship. Employers want team members that will help realize their vision, and job seekers want employers who will play a part in fulfilling their career aspirations. In markets where potential candidates have the luxury to pick and choose what firms they want to work for, employers must take a close look at their reputation within the industry, and consider how that status can influence their perceived allure to potential hires. When crafting your job ad, context is crucial, and your reputation is the foundational framework that will establish that contextual impact amongst your competition.

This is the fourth 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.

Learn to court attention

In his highly controversial book, The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene suggests in his 6th Law to “court attention at all costs.” In the opening of the chapter he writes:

Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all costs. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious than the bland and timid masses.

Greene, while known for his theatrical style, makes an important point. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd; a simple but pivotal remark, especially for those employers who are unpopular or relatively unknown. How can you stand out in an industry so full of formidable competition? Job seekers will be drawn to those studios that have beautiful work (and present it well), who appear to be on the cutting edge or at the cusp of “progress.” The market will also notice when firms are recognized for providing a positive and sustainable work culture, as profiled in the Just Design series. In a competitive job market, one must do whatever is in their power to magnetize the market’s inclinations towards the work and vision of their organization.

The press release is your friend

If you have not already read the Curate Your Image piece in this series, we recommend you do so. In it we discuss essential principles in composing a solid digital image for your firm. One of the most important points in that piece concerns optimizing your Archinect Firm profile:

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. (From How to Craft An Effective Job Ad: Curate Your Image)

After you’ve optimized your profile, you’ll want to take advantage of the press release function, which will enable you to announce significant happenings within your firm.

After you’ve optimized your profile, you’ll want to take advantage of the press release function, which will enable you to announce significant happenings within your firm. This could be the opening of a new project, the reception of a design award, internal promotions, anything newsworthy occurring at your office. We also encourage practitioners to send Archinect breaking news and press releases to ed@archinect.com. We consider all submissions for publishing. Employers who regularly update the public on notable milestones are the ones who inevitably receive more attention. Remember: job seekers are looking for those offices who are doing great work. They won’t know what you’re up to unless you tell them.

Employee satisfaction matters

What’s the first thing you do after you interview a potential hire that some of your staff might know? You ask them about the person. Job seekers do the same thing, and if one thing is true about architecture, word gets around, both the good and the bad. For employers it’s tougher. With websites such as Glassdoor, candidates can read anonymous reviews from former and current employees that have worked for you (however, Glassdoor allows employers to publicly respond to reviews). Job seekers will also ask around about the culture at your office to try and establish an idea on whether or not yours is a firm they can see themselves working for. 

Remember: job seekers are looking for those offices who are doing great work. They won’t know what you’re up to unless you tell them.

Things like transparency can help employers have a greater degree of control over this. The goal is to accurately portray what is happening at your office. Perhaps your website has a video of current staff sharing their experience at the firm, or maybe even something similar on social media. Another angle might be including personal statements from some of your staff of what they enjoy most about your firm. Focusing on the present and the future is the best approach. And potential talent will see what is in front of them today, even if there were some rough patches for an organization in the past. 

A simple video from Gensler. Even something simple like this might give someone seeking to learn more about your office a culture a small picture of the personalities of their future colleagues.

Additionally, sometimes the need for a new hire might arise because another team member had to be let go. While an unfortunate scenario, employers should strive to make a break in a professional and respectful way. Just like you are likely to talk to/warn your colleagues about an employee who might cause them challenges, employees will do the same about you to their peers. Don’t burn bridges is a prudent proverb on both ends.

Campaign your identity

Like a political campaign, the employer’s aim is to persuade people that they are the best choice among the available options within a market. As such, effort must be put forth to establish a narrative around your organization. Let people know who you are with your Archinect firm profile and by curating your image; keep the industry updated on your achievements and notable developments through press releases and social media; and always consider employee rapport within the office, with previous, current, and future team members in mind. 

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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.