As a recruiter or hiring manager, it’s easy to get stuck or stagnant.  We read the same material, hear about the same best practices, and try—maybe with more effort and resolve, to implement the same strategies.  After awhile, it can all feel a bit stale.

When this happens to me, one of the things I do is seek out information in different industries and different mediums than I normally frequent.  I discovered such an area last week and thought it would be helpful to share what I learned.

The medium I learned about was a site called Marketing Sherpa.  Marketing Sherpa is a direct marketing consulting company that specializes in online tactics.  It was recommended to me by one of our company’s advisory board members.

As we’ve discussed in the past, “recruiting is marketing” in many ways, so it may not be too much of a stretch to draw applications from this environment.  But still, this site often looks at things from a high-volume, consumer perspective, rather than the one-on-one nature of recruiting.

The topic that caught my eye was a case study about Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  The case study was three pages long and went into a great amount of detail concerning the process of converting website inquiries to full-fledged applications.

I loved all the numbers and the testing that the marketers employed to optimize their results.  There was one or two things that may apply in some remote way to the way we run our business.

But, the thing that hit me right between the eyes was the work the University did to discover how a person makes a significant decision in their life.  This was interesting stuff.  For example, if a person is considering making a decision about furthering their education, you only have about 60 days to get him to act upon the initial interest.  Once this window elapses, you’ve most likely lost the individual.

There were several more insights such as these.  If you care to read more, you can take a look at:  https://www.marketingsherpa.com/barrier.html?ident=31291 (it is a subscription site, but you can sign up for a free trial).  

Are there some news areas you could investigate to get some new ideas for your recruiting efforts?  You might find some gems you’re not expecting.  Can someone pass me the sports page?