The BBC has revamped the style of its newspaper advertisements and website
as part of a drive to make the company more attractive to potential recruits.
John Clarke, online recruitment manager for the BBC, speaking at the CIPD’s recruitment
conference last week, believes organisations’ marketing strategies should
include efforts to attract new staff and retain existing employees.
Clarke said the BBC has changed its job advert style to increase its impact
on the page and emphasise the BBC brand. It has done this by giving recruitment
staff, and those writing the adverts, training, style guides and access to a
copywriting service.
"We looked at visual impact, wording, key messages and making the space
sell for us," Clarke added. He said the new adverts are highly-visible and
easy to read compared to past job adverts which tended to be too long, with the
relevant bits buried.
The BBC has also developed its online recruitment site, which contains
between 50 and 100 vacancies, to highlight its employer values.
The site features interviews with staff talking about their jobs and the
opportunities for career development at the BBC. "People can see them
working, read their interviews, and see what qualifications they needed,"
explained Clarke.
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Clarke told delegates that the BBC’s recruitment offices have been
refurbished to give candidates a good first impression of the organisation.
"Their first impression should be a pretty dynamic one," he said.
