Building Your School Brand to Attract Top Prospects: An Insider Look With Best Practices

People aren’t falling out of their seats these days when they hear that admissions and student recruitment teams are finding it increasingly more difficult to attract students. In today’s competitive market, colleges, universities, and trade schools need to establish a brand that not only attracts potential students but also accurately represents your current campus and student body.

A strong brand serves as an attention-grabber for students. Think of a moth to a flame. In this thought-provoking article, we take a look at the best practices for building a brand that resonates with potential students, and how to expand upon your recruitment efforts.

1) Define Your School Culture:

An organization’s culture is completely unique to them and is part of what sets it apart from the competition. The importance of defining and articulating your institution’s values, beliefs, and campus/classroom environment for prospective students cannot be overstated.

2) Develop Your Value Proposition:

Your value proposition is what sets you apart from competing schools. It should be specific to you, authentic, and compelling. What specific benefits, programs, and advantages do you offer? Crafting an accurate value proposition can help not only in attracting students (and parents) but also in retaining your students.

Communicate your school’s core values through various channels such as your website, marketing collateral, and social media platforms. This helps future students understand the principles that drive your school and allows them a chance to see how their values align with yours.

3) Create a Strong Student Experience:

What kind of impression are you making for potential students during the recruitment process? The name of the game is to make a positive and memorable experience for each and every candidate. Simple things like personalizing your communications, offering easily accessible virtual and in-person tours, and highlighting scholarship opportunities are some great ways to get started.

4) Encourage Advocacy:

Nobody is going to be a better brand ambassador for your school than its current students, faculty, and alumni. Encouraging your campus community from years current and past to share their experiences and success stories will help to attract the next generation of learners. Every individual who has attended your school shares a bond unique to your community, and nobody can articulate that bond more effectively.

5) Prioritize Diversity and Inclusion:

It shouldn’t be news to anyone that having a diverse and inclusive campus leads to success in attracting students, an improved and cohesive campus community, and increased student retention, just to name a few. Creating an environment where your entire student body feels respected, included, and valued leads to success in countless areas such as creativity and innovation, and teamwork and collaboration.

6) Leverage Social Media:

Social media is no longer optional for recruitment teams, it’s essential for amplifying your brand. Share engaging content that showcases your school, its culture, student success stories, and community involvement. Start connecting with potential candidates as you display your school’s personality and put your best foot forward.

7) Measure Your Brand:

Okay, so now that we’ve implemented our strategy to develop a brand. Now it’s time to measure the effectiveness of your initiatives. Some key performance indicators to measure your success will be Potential Student Experience, Social Media Engagement, and Overall Brand Reputation. Monitoring user engagements and asking for feedback from your prospects and current students will allow you to identify areas of success and conversely, areas for improvement. Let the data drive your decision-making.

Conclusion:

Crafting a school brand that appeals to your target demographics and attracts top prospects requires a strategic and intentional approach. It will take some time for your roots to take hold, but the fruit of your efforts will be exponential. Embrace these best practices and put your best foot forward.

You can fill out the form below if you’d like to discuss your recruitment effort and goals with one of our military recruitment experts.

Insider Look: Utilizing Social Media in Your Talent Acquisition Strategy

Social Media is no longer the newest, brightest toy for recruiters but has remained a constant, and become more and more prevalent by the year. Traditional methods of attracting top talent are still effective, but can’t replace the power of social media. Clicks, likes, shares, and engagement. That’s where you see effective results.

We’ll be exploring the utilization of social media to attract candidates and draw in prospects at the top of their game. Whether you’re a recruiter who has been around the block and is unsure of new technology, a human resources professional on the lookout for qualified workers, or a marketer looking to streamline the recruitment process, it’s time to uncover some of the top tips for effectively using social media for employee recruitment.

Defining Your Target Audience

When it comes to getting the most out of your social media efforts, the foundation of your strategy depends on accurately defining your target audience. This goes beyond just listing job requirements, but taking stock of the soft skills, technical skills, qualities, experiences, and certifications required to operate at the highest level in every given role.

A study released by CNBC showed that the majority of companies (76%) are using skills-based hiring to fill open roles. By identifying the criteria that make up an ideal candidate, you create a blueprint for who you’re looking for. Now you can craft personalized, tailored messaging that will resonate and spark interest in potential candidates.

Selecting the Appropriate Platforms:

Just like any other form of marketing, social media strategies aren’t one-size-fits-all. Not all platforms are created equal and they aren’t all designed with the same intent. When it comes to employee recruitment, employers and job-seekers tend to gravitate to LinkedIn, which is no surprise as it’s set up as a professional networking platform. A recent study they published shows just how extensively the platform is used by professionals:

91% of all employers are using social media as part of their hiring process
79% of job seekers have used social media in their job search in the last year
40 million people search LinkedIn for jobs every week

While LinkedIn may be a juggernaut in the space, you don’t want to overlook the various other platforms available such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and more. All of these can be effective for showcasing your company’s culture, values, and even open positions. Once you’ve defined your target audiences, you can segment your messaging based on your different personas, and allocate resources to the platforms which produce the best results for those personas. It all comes down to aligning with the preferences and demographics of your audience(s).

Posting Engaging Content:

Social media isn’t just about posting job openings, it’s a platform to humanize your company. Engaging content that provides value to your audience while highlighting your company’s identity is paramount. A study found that 84% of job seekers consider an employer’s reputation when applying for a job, underscoring the importance of portraying your company positively.

Share behind-the-scenes glimpses, employee success stories, and even challenges your team has overcome. Involving your team in the content creation process will help to convey your brand authentically. Through split testing, you can uncover which types of posts generate the most engagement, helping you refine your content strategy over time.

Engage With Potential Candidates:

Engagement on social media is a two-way street. Actively responding to comments, and messages, and engaging with potential candidates’ content showcases your company’s genuine interest in building relationships. A study conducted by LinkedIn revealed that 73% of job seekers want to know about company culture, making it an ideal topic to engage on. Consider hosting Q&A sessions, virtual office tours, or even interactive challenges to encourage participation. Additionally, by liking, sharing, and commenting on candidates’ posts, you demonstrate your investment in them as individuals. These types of engagements can set you apart as a forward-thinking employer.

Conclusion:

In the modern landscape of recruitment, social media has transformed into a powerful tool to attract top talent. By defining your audience, selecting the right platforms, posting engaging content, and actively engaging with potential candidates, you’re not only filling positions but also cultivating a community of prospective employees who resonate with your company’s mission and values. Remember, effective social media recruitment isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach – it’s a dynamic strategy that requires constant evaluation and adaptation. We hope that this is helpful as you set out to create the most successful team possible.

You can fill out the form below if you’d like to discuss your recruitment effort and goals with one of our military recruitment experts.

How to Effectively Monitor & Measure Your Talent Pipeline’s Success

The key to an organization maintaining a consistent flow of prospects in its systems is to have a robust talent pipeline in place. It’s essential for recruiting and retaining top talent. In this article, we’ll be exploring some best practices and providing practical tips so you can hit the ground running.

1) Define Success Metrics

Before you can start to measure, you’ll need to define what success means for your organization’s talent pipeline. Success metrics will vary depending on your company’s industry, size, goals, and hiring objectives, but for all intents and purposes, here are some of the most commonly tracked success metrics:

Time-to-hire:
- Time-to-hire is the period between the time a job is posted and the moment an offer is accepted. HR teams should be tracking the progress of job postings, applications, interviews, and offers in order to report accurate metrics.
Quality of hire:
- Quality of hire measures the performance and productivity of new employees after a certain period of time, typically once the employee is completely onboarded and trained. It’s key in helping hiring teams assess their recruitment process and identify areas for improvement.
Diversity:
- Diversity refers to the representation of underrepresented groups in an organization’s talent pipeline. It is an essential metric as it helps companies ensure they are creating an inclusive, collaborative workplace.
Cost-per-hire:
- Cost-per-hire measures the total cost of filling a position. This includes everything from the advertising budget to the cost of training your new hire. It allows HR teams to allocate spending where it is most effective.

Now that you’ve defined your success metrics, it’s time to walk through the Key Performance Indicators you’ll want to track in order to monitor and measure your progress.

This customized approach improves the effectiveness of your recruitment efforts across all channels and will help you to attract the most qualified candidates in the quickest amount of time.

2) Tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Much like the Success Metrics we discussed, KPIs will vary depending on your company’s specific characteristics and goals. Some of the most commonly used KPIs for measuring talent pipeline success include:

Sourcing channels:
- Refers to the multiple methods used by employers to find and attract potential hires such as email, referrals, job boards, and social media. Once you know which channels are the most effective for you, you can adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.
Applicant-to-interview ratio:
- This measures the number of applicants who are invited to interview for a given position. This allows recruiters to assess the quality of their candidate pool and decide if they need to adjust their screening process
Offer acceptance rate:
- This is the percentage of candidates who accept a job offer. Being aware of your offer acceptance rate helps you gauge how receptive candidates are to your job offer. If you find your offer acceptance rate is low, chances are you need to reevaluate your compensation.
Candidate experience:
- While not quite as cut and dry as some of the other KPIs, you can get a read on the overall candidate experience you’ve provided by asking for feedback from candidates. It might shock you how open people are to giving honest feedback.

Tracking KPIs gives you the ability to pinpoint any areas of improvement in your talent pipeline and adjust your recruitment strategy as needed. Your framework is in place, but to ensure your pipeline is performing at the highest level, you’ll need to continuously monitor and optimize.

3) Continuously Improve Your Talent Pipeline

Some tips for continuously improving your talent pipeline include:

Leverage Surveys:
- Conduct regular candidate surveys to gather feedback on your recruitment process. Nobody is going to know where the process fell short better than the candidates who experienced it.
Training:
- Your talent pipeline is only going to be as strong as your recruiters, hiring managers, and marketing team. Ensure that your teams are bought into this new structure and that they are adequately equipped to succeed.
Employee Referrals:
- Encouraging employee referrals is one of the best ways to make sure your candidates are qualified and align with your organization’s culture. Referrals from current employees should be treated as “Hot Leads” because simply, who knows what it takes to succeed in those roles better than your team?
Updating Job Descriptions Regularly:
- It’s important to keep an eye on your job postings to make sure job descriptions, requirements, and everything in between are accurately representing the full scope of your roles and their responsibilities.

Having a robust talent pipeline in place is crucial for organizations to maintain a consistent flow of prospects in their systems. In order to do so, make sure you define your success metrics, KPIs, and and monitor your progress along the way.

You can fill out the form below if you’d like to discuss your recruitment effort and goals with one of our military recruitment experts.

How to Craft Hiring Personas: Best Practices

It’s essential for companies to have a strategic approach to hiring as the war for talent wages on. One important step in developing your recruitment strategy is creating hiring personas. In layman’s terms, Hiring Personas are fictional representations of your ideal job candidates. While the terminology may be construed as discriminatory at first, in reality, the process simply allows you to assess your job requisitions skills needed to do the jobs efficiently and map those positions to work experience, education, skills, and certifications to develop a blueprint for your perfect hire.

In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of creating hiring personas and provide practical advice for getting started.

Why Create Hiring Personas?

Hiring personas can help you streamline your recruitment efforts, cut down on time-to-fill, and improve the quality of your hires. By having a clear understanding of your ideal candidate for your different positions, you can tailor your job postings, marketing outreach, social media activity, and interview questions.

This customized approach improves the effectiveness of your recruitment efforts across all channels and will help you to attract the most qualified candidates in the quickest amount of time.

How to Create Hiring Personas:

While understanding the concept and value behind it is one thing, developing effective hiring personas isn’t quite so simple. It requires research, testing, analysis, optimizations, and collaboration. Conducting research the best place to get started:

Market Research – By researching your industry and competitors within the set, you’ll gain a better understanding of the market and identify your niche. Get online and see who your competitors are targeting, what the messaging looks like, which channels they are leveraging, and the skills, certifications, and experience they’re hiring for. This can help you learn from what is already working at other companies, and identify areas of opportunities for you to jump on. Here are some of the things your executive teams are asking:

1. Who are your competitors?
2. What are their strengths and weaknesses?
3. What type of media are they leveraging?
4. Which talent pools are they recruiting from?
5. What are the trends in your industry?
6. Are there geographical locations being targeted more than others?
7. What are the educational requirements at similar companies?
8. What platforms do they utilize?
9. What’s being discussed in the news regarding your industry?

There are a number of ways you can gather the needed information including interviews with current employees, surveys of industry professionals, focus groups, and online research.

Internal Research – A good place to get started is with your job descriptions. If you don’t already have them in place, creating thorough job descriptions allows you to pinpoint the exact skills and experience needed for your various roles. Here’s what you’ll need to know:

1. Position Overviews
2. Hard and Soft Skills Required
3. Job Experience
4. Years of Experience Required
5. Education Level Required
6. Certifications/Credentials Required
7. Physical Requirements
8. Language Requirements

It’s important to note that during the process the goal is to identify what makes up the ideal hire for specific roles, not to discriminate or disqualify potential candidates. Prioritizing diversity and inclusion in your hiring process will lead to more collaborative and well-rounded teams.

Now it’s time to put all of that research to use. Use the data you’ve gathered to develop fictional representations of your ideal candidates for each role you’re hiring for. Each persona should have a job title, and a detailed description of their skills, experience, and qualifications. If you have the ability to include information about their values, interests, and personality traits, it will only help with the success of your efforts.

Example Exercise:

Now let’s look at a practical example. For this exercise, let’s say I’m hiring for a mid-level position on my marketing team. Here’s what a general persona might look like:

Job Title – Digital Marketing Specialist
Soft Skills –
- Excellent Communication Skills
- Creativity
- Ability to Multitask
- Attention to Detail
- Time Management
- Strategic Thinking
- Problem-Solving
- Writing

Hard Skills –
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
- Social media marketing
- Content marketing
- Email marketing
- Marketing automation
- Data analysis
- Graphic Design

Experience –
- 3+ years in digital marketing
- Previous experience with Advertising Agency preferred
Qualifications –
- Bachelor’s Degree or higher in Marketing or Communications
- Google Ad’s Certification
- Hootsuite Social Media Marketing Certification

Once you’ve put in the leg-work and crafted your Ideal Hiring Personas, you have your blueprints in-hand and can start to customize your marketing efforts based on the characteristics of your perfect employees. Now that you’ve identified your target audience, you can cater your content and message across all channels: social media, email, paid advertising, job postings, interview questions, and your company website just to name a few.

The goal of hiring personas is to help attract, hire, and retain the best possible candidates for your positions, company culture, and values. Start streamlining your recruitment efforts by incorporating hiring personas into your process and ultimately, start hiring better-quality employees quicker.

You can fill out the form below if you’d like to discuss your recruitment effort and goals with one of our military recruitment experts.

Building an Employer Brand That Attracts Top Talent: An Insider Look With Best Practices

People aren’t falling out of their seats these days when they hear that recruiters and HR teams are finding it increasingly more difficult to find quality talent. In today’s competitive job market, organizations need to develop an employer brand that not only attracts top talent but keeps your current workforce happy. According to a recent LinkedIn survey, a staggering 72% of recruiting leaders worldwide attest to the substantial impact of employer branding on hiring outcomes.

A strong employer brand serves as an attention-grabber for candidates. Think of a moth to a flame. In this thought-provoking article, we take a look at the best practices for building a brand that resonates with potential employees and how to expand upon your recruitment efforts.

1) Define Your Company Culture:

An organization’s culture is completely unique to it and is part of what sets it apart from the competition. The importance of defining and articulating your company’s values, beliefs, and working environment for prospective hires cannot be overstated.

2) Develop an Employee Value Proposition:

Your employee value proposition (EVP) is what sets you apart from other employers. It should be specific to your organization, authentic, and compelling. A survey from Glassdoor revealed that 69% of job seekers would not take a job with a company that had a bad reputation, despite unemployment.

Communicate your organization’s core values through various channels such as your website, job postings, and social media platforms. This helps potential employees understand the principles that drive your company and allows them a chance to see how their values align with yours.

3) Create a Strong Candidate Experience:

What kind of impression are you making for potential employees during the hiring process? The name of the game is to make a positive and memorable experience for each and every candidate, even if you don’t plan to make an offer. According to a CareerBuilder survey, 78% of job seekers say the overall candidate experience is an indicator of how a company values its people.

4) Encourage Employee Advocacy:

Nobody is going to be a better brand ambassador for your company than its employees. Encouraging team members to share their experiences and success stories helps attract like-minded candidates whether it’s through word of mouth, on social media, or somewhere in between. According to LinkedIn, content shared by employees receives 8 times more engagement than content shared by brands.

5) Prioritize Diversity and Inclusion:

It shouldn’t be news to anyone that having a diverse and inclusive workplace leads to success in attracting top talent, improved engagement, and increased employee retention, just to name a few. Creating an environment where your entire team feels respected, included, and valued leads to success in countless areas such as creativity and innovation, productivity and efficiency, and teamwork and collaboration.

6) Highlight Employee Benefits:

Let’s be honest… on the list of things that matter to your employees, benefits rank towards the top. A competitive benefits structure is key to attracting and retaining top talent. Not only is it attractive to the job seeker for the obvious financial reasons, but it shows your commitment to your employees, shows that you value them in a tangible way, and in the long term, a healthy team is a happy team.

7) Provide Opportunities for Growth:

The large majority of employees are looking to learn, grow, and acquire new skills in their roles. According to a LinkedIn survey, 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career development. If your goal is to create a destination workplace and retain your employees, it’s crucial that you invest in their professional development. They learn new or improve existing skills, and you get a more well-rounded employee.

8) Leverage Social Media:

Social media is no longer optional for recruitment teams, it’s essential for amplifying your brand. Share engaging content that showcases your company, its culture, employee success stories, and community involvement. Start connecting with potential candidates as you display your organization’s personality and put your best foot forward.

9) Measure Your Employer Brand:

Ok, so now that we’ve implemented our strategy to develop an employer brand. Now it’s time to measure the effectiveness of your initiatives. Some key performance indicators to measure your success will be Employee Engagement, Candidate Experience, Social Media Engagement, and Overall Brand Reputation. Monitoring user engagements and asking for feedback from your prospects and employees will allow you to identify areas of success and conversely, areas for improvement. Let the data drive your decision-making.

Conclusion:

Crafting an employer brand that appeals to your target demographics and attracts top talent requires a strategic and intentional approach. It will take some time for your roots to take hold, but the fruit of your efforts will be exponential. Embrace these best practices and put your best foot forward.

You can fill out the form below if you’d like to discuss your recruitment effort and goals with one of our military recruitment experts.

The Value Nontraditional Students Add to Your School

Over the past few years, colleges and universities have put a focus on attracting more nontraditional students. When we say nontraditional students, we’re referring to individuals who didn’t graduate high school and go straight to college. They may be older, have families, work full or part-time, or have various other responsibilities that may make it difficult to take on a full course load.

Some of the different types of nontraditional students include:

Adult Learners over the age of 25 who are returning to school

Military Veterans pursuing higher education after the service

Online Students who obtain their degrees completely online

Working Students who attend school part-time

Student Parents who are balancing family responsibilities & academic pursuits

International Students

Transfer Students

And many more

Focus and Motivation

An increasing number of colleges and universities are interested in recruiting nontraditional students due to the wealth of benefits that these students offer an educational institution. For starters, these students tend to show up more focused and motivated than their traditional counterparts. They come with more real-world experience and more at stake than your typical high school graduate who is applying to schools because “it’s what you do after you graduate.” These folks tend to be goal-oriented and in pursuit of specific degrees, looking to change their career trajectories, better support their families, advance in their current careers, and improve their lives overall.

According to a report by the Lumina Foundation, nontraditional students make up a significant portion of the U.S. student population. In fact, 38% of all undergraduate students are over the age of 25, and 58% of all undergraduate students work while attending school. The proof is in the pudding. You don’t need to confine yourself to high school seniors and the traditional pool of potential students. The battle for admissions is real and it isn’t going away anytime soon. Rethink your plan of attack to include a larger, broader audience.

Diversity

In addition to being more motivated and focused, nontraditional students will help to diversify your classrooms and your campus. Coming from all different backgrounds, and bringing with them a variety of professional and personal life experiences will enrich classroom discussions and provide a more inclusive and comprehensive experience for all students. Recruiting students of all ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, and everything under the sun will help you to create a thriving melting pot of students, regardless of which type of institution you represent.

Untapped Market Potential

Last but most definitely not least, our nation’s nontraditional students are a virtually untapped market for colleges, universities, and even trade schools. Enrollments are declining and the competition is stiff when it comes to student recruitment, and as a result, schools need to adapt and key in on new methods for attracting students. It’s no exaggeration when we say that there are millions of potential students around the country, and the world, who would be categorized as nontraditional. If your school does not already have a plan to attract and recruit from this massive audience, you may be missing the boat.

Example

Here’s an example of a university that has laid the groundwork for success in attracting, recruiting, and retaining nontraditional students: Western Governors University (WGU) is an online university that caters to nontraditional students. So what does that look like? Not only are courses offered 100% online, but the university offers competency-based programs, meaning that students are able to move at their own pace and complete courses on their own schedule. They also offer a flat-rate tuition fee, meaning that instead of being charged per credit hour, you can take as many courses as you’d like at a fixed price. This allows students to tackle their personal responsibilities at home, at work, whatever it may be, while continuing to work towards a degree.

Conclusion

We know, not all colleges and universities are the same and what works for WGU may not be feasible at your school. The point is that they are making a concerted effort to attract, recruit, and cater to nontraditional students and they’re reaping the benefits. It is time for colleges and universities to recognize the value that nontraditional students bring to a campus, classroom, and student body.

You can fill out the form below if you’d like for information or if you’d like to discuss your school’s recruitment goals and initiatives.

Why More and More Schools are Targeting the Military

Schools, now more than ever, are struggling to hit enrollment goals and fill classrooms as more high school seniors choose not to attend college. Another objective at the forefront of most schools is the mission to cultivate diverse and inclusive environments. One often overlooked demographic that can help on both fronts is the military community.

By actively recruiting veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses, schools can not only create a melting pot of unique experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives but benefit financially. In this article, we will explore the value, experience, diversity, and financial advantages that military students bring to their schools.

Here are just a few reasons why schools are starting to target the military community:

1) Experience and Leadership:

Veterans and transitioning service members are not your typical college freshman. They bring a level of maturity, a wealth of real-world experience, and leadership skills, that set them up for academic success and give them the tools to make meaningful impacts on their campus.

A study conducted by the Student Veterans of America found that student veterans have a higher graduation rate (51.7%) compared to the national average (47%). This speaks to the determination, discipline, and ability that come with military students. Not to mention that it’s a renewable source of students with more than 200,000 transitioning servicemembers leaving the military every year.

2) Work Ethic and Resilience:

There is no experience quite like that of military service. A survey conducted by Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families found that 86% of student veterans believed their military experience prepared them to work harder to accomplish their goals, and demonstrated their determination and work ethic in academic pursuits.

While an 8:10 am lecture on the other side of campus may seem daunting to your average incoming freshman, it’s a walk in the park for military students. Whether your talking about service members, military spouses, or even dependents, they are all used to fast-paced, and changing environments. They’re adaptable, reliable, and don’t shy away from hard work.

3) Diversity:

Did you know that the military community is the largest subset of diverse talent in the world? So what does this mean? Comprised of individuals of a multitude of backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities, there are more than 10 million people across the military community, 41% of which identify as a member of a minority group. Enrolling more military students introduces new perspectives, helps promote a culture of inclusivity, and helps to diversify your campus.

4) Untapped Market Potential:

The military community is often an underrepresented group and an overlooked and untapped market for higher education, vocational schools, and everything in between. While this may be considered a niche group, it’s also an enormous ecosystem. Take a look:

Active Military
- Active Duty: 1.3 Million+
- Guard & Reserve: 1 Million+
- Transitioning Out Each Year: 200,000+
- Total DoD Force and Family: 4.6 Million+
Veterans
- Out of the Service: 18 Million+
- Working Age: 10 Million+
Military Spouses
- Active Duty Spouses: 605,000+
- Guard & Reserve Spouses: 363,000+

Colleges, Universities, and Trade Schools, are increasingly recruiting from the military but the are only beginning to scratch the surface. The enrollment potential is unlimited with new faces entering and exiting the service every year.

5) Financial Benefits:

Not only do military and veteran students perform academically, make positive contributions to campus life, and help bring new diverse perspectives, but they also help schools tap into a range of financial benefits. The GI Bill is the most notable.

The GI Bill is an educational assistance program for veterans and their dependents financially with everything from providing funding for tuition to housing allowances. By enrolling military students who are eligible for GI Bill benefits, institutions can bolster their enrollment numbers and receive financial support from this federal program.

The benefit to the veteran is apparent, “free” money and a lack of debt. But what does it mean for the school? Guaranteed tuition checks made out to your institution by the United States Government.

Conclusion:

Recruiting from the military community goes far beyond the idea that it’s, “the right thing to do.” These are not your typical students. They’re older, more responsible, proven, and experienced. It’s abundantly clear why schools across the country are implementing targeted recruitment efforts to try to attract, connect, and engage with the military audience.

If you’d like to learn more, discuss how you can develop a military recruitment program, or improve on your existing efforts, just fill out the form below.

5 Key Ways Digital Technology Has Impacted Employee Recruitment

It’s no secret that the world is shifting faster and faster in a digital direction, and employee recruitment is no different with advancements in technology. Not only has the technology evolved, but so have the candidate expectations. Here are 5 key ways digitalization has impacted the employee recruitment process:

1) Online Job Boards:

Whether companies are doing so internally or outsourcing to other job board sites, these platforms allow employers to cast a wider net and reach a wider audience. Expanding your brand awareness and your online presence provides job seekers with easy access to your job opportunities from anywhere at any time.

2) Social Media Recruitment:

Powerhouse platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and others have become increasingly popular tools for recruiting talent. The possibilities are practically endless. Employers can leverage these platforms to promote job openings, engage with potential candidates, and even set up targeted campaigns using advanced search functionalities. The battle for views and engagement is very real in the world of social media, oftentimes why employers choose to lean on recruitment firms and agencies to get the job done.

3) Virtual Hiring Events:

Virtual job fairs gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic and have skyrocketed since. Not only do they allow companies to connect with potential candidates from around the world without being in person, but it opens up possibilities for the candidates in locations that in the past, wouldn’t have been viable options. These events are some of the best ways to save time and money while connecting with candidates in real-time.

4) Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS):

ATS software helps automate and streamline various recruitment processes. This can include screening resumes, tracking applicants through the hiring funnel, and candidate management. These systems help HR teams manage large volumes of applications efficiently and effectively. That means delivering the appropriate message, to the correct person, at the right time, which improves the overall recruitment experience.

5) Artificial intelligence (AI):

AI is definitely a hot topic at the moment with discussions spanning everything from robots taking over the world to more practical applications across every professional industry. For employee recruitment, AI can be a tool for just about everything: Content Creation, Resume Screening, Candidate Sourcing, Virtual Chatbots, Predictive Analytics, and the list goes on, and on, and on. This technology not only saves time for recruiters but also helps perfect the candidate experience.

Conclusion:

Hopefully, these examples help highlight the ways in which digitalization is shaping the employee recruitment landscape. By embracing these digital advancements, companies can streamline their recruitment processes, attract top talent, and gain a competitive edge in the market.

We understand that some organizations are ahead of the curve when it comes to implementing new technologies and others are more set in their ways. Others may be somewhere in-between, but one thing is certain, adopting new technologies and recruitment methods isn’t a luxury reserved for the largest of companies, but a necessity for all.

You can fill out the form below if you’d like to discuss your recruitment effort and goals with one of our military recruitment experts.

Why Print Advertising Is Here To Stay – Recruitment Marketing

While the advertising landscape has evolved significantly with the rise of digital marketing, print advertising continues to prove its value and maintain it’s seat at the table for several reasons:

1) Targeted Audience: Print publications often cater to specific audiences and niche markets. Advertisers can reach their desired target audience effectively by placing ads in relevant publications. For example, if a business wants to target a specific geographic area or demographic, local newspapers or magazines can be a valuable advertising medium

2) Credibility and Trust: Print ads in established publications can enhance the credibility and trustworthiness of a brand. Many readers still perceive print advertising as more reputable and reliable compared to digital ads, which can be easily ignored or blocked. This trust factor can positively influence the perception and response to print ads vary based on factors such as the target audience, industry, and specific marketing goals. Each organization should carefully consider its target market, objectives, and available resources to determine the optimal balance between print and digital advertising in their overall marketing strategy.

3) Tangibility and Engagement: Print materials offer a tangible and tactile experience that engages multiple senses. Readers can physically hold, flip through, and interact with print ads, which can create a stronger connection and longer-lasting impact. This physicality can be particularly effective for certain products or industries that benefit from a hands-on experience or visual appeal.

4) Less Clutter and Competition: In the digital realm, users are bombarded with numerous ads, leading to ad fatigue and banner blindness. Print media, on the other hand, generally has less clutter and competition. This reduced competition can help ads stand out more prominently, capture attention, and effectively convey the intended message.

5) Nostalgia and Sentiment: Print advertising can evoke a sense of nostalgia and sentimentality, especially among older generations who have grown up with print media. This emotional connection can enhance brand recall and foster a positive association with the advertised product or service.

6) Complementary to Digital Marketing: Print advertising can work in synergy with digital marketing efforts. By integrating print and digital strategies, businesses can create a cohesive and multi-channel marketing approach. Print ads can drive online engagement, direct readers to websites or social media profiles, and serve as a tangible reminder of the brand when readers go online.

7) Access to Specific Demographics: While digital media has a broad reach, print publications often cater to specific demographics, allowing advertisers to access and engage with those audiences more effectively. This is particularly advantageous when targeting niche markets or demographics that have a higher affinity for print media.

It’s important to note that the effectiveness of print advertising may vary based on factors such as the target audience, industry, and specific marketing goals. Each organization has different goals, objectives, and budgets, so we work as an extension of our partners to develop the optimal strategy.

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Why Employers Are Striving to Hire More Veterans

The reasons why employers should strive to hire veterans go way beyond the “right thing to do,” mentality we’ve seen in the past. These talented individuals bring unique experiences, perspectives, skills, and mindsets not found anywhere else, not to mention the military community is one of the truly renewable sources of talent in the world.

So why do veterans make such great hires?

First and foremost, veterans’ unique skills and experiences make them valuable assets to any organization. Through their military training and service, veterans develop a strong work ethic, leadership skills, and the ability to work well under pressure. They are also adept at problem-solving and can adapt quickly to changing situations. Sounds like a quality hire to me…

The second is pretty straight-forward, it makes good business sense. Research has shown that companies that have a high percentage of veteran employees tend to outperform their competitors. This is because veterans are often highly motivated, disciplined, and committed to achieving their goals. They also tend to have lower turnover rates, which can save companies time and money in the long run.

So, as an employer how can you reach the military community and communicate your commitment to hiring them? That’s where G.I. Jobs comes into play. With a distribution network across the globe and brand recognition within the space over the last 20 years, G.I. Jobs is where veterans who are looking to transition to civilian careers go. By advertising in this publication, employers can increase their brand awareness and reach members of the military community who may be interested in their company and otherwise, never have heard of them.

Putting a bow on this, veterans are a valuable asset to any organization, and it is in the best interest of employers to seek out these talented individuals. Fill out the form below for additional information. Connecting the military community with civilian opportunities is what we do.