There are thousands of universities across the globe that thrive on passionate employees.
But as the number of universities continues to grow, it’s more important than ever to approach hiring thoughtfully and strategically. Nowadays, candidates are oftentimes willing to live and work abroad, and many research institutions across the globe are committed to hiring internationally. The competition for top talent is fierce.
Thanks to the popularity of social media and access to more and better digital tools, potential academic job applicants have begun to behave more like customers shopping for the best products. They have access to information about any institution—big or small—in any country. They can research practicalities like the facilities at each university as well as quality of life factors that were previously difficult to find. Consequently, it is now the candidates who pick the university as their employer.
As such, universities need to adopt new ways of searching for top talent. In order to find and attract the best researchers and academics, universities need to use many of the same tactics as businesses. This purposeful approach to recruitment is known as recruitment marketing.
Recruitment marketing goes beyond crafting a well written advert and posting it on a job board. It requires planning and an understanding of the changing landscape of human resources. The growth of the internet, social media, and digital tools has shifted the amount of information available to job candidates. They expect more and better information in order to make informed decisions about potential employers.
Recruitment marketing is the process of providing that information in the form of comprehensive landing pages, SEO optimized content, and frequent and relevant social media posts. Together, this content helps universities build greater brand awareness.
Why do recruitment marketing?
Competition for top talent is fierce among universities. As the number of institutions continues to grow, it gets harder to stand out and get on the radar of potential applicants. However, in order to fill open positions, it’s essential for job seekers to know that your institution exists and that you are hiring. This can be especially challenging for smaller schools that aren’t top ranked, as they lack the name-recognition to catch a candidate’s eye. This is one reason why recruitment marketing is imperative.
Recruitment marketing applies a funnel approach to hiring. At the top, there is the need to create awareness that your university exists. Beyond simple name recognition, universities need to move potential applicants further down the funnel by making information about your programs, facilities, and people widely available. This could be anything from looking up more about who you are and what you do, to setting up news alerts regarding your university. As they begin to become familiar with your institution and its value, potential candidates will then start to consider it as a potential employer.
Once potential candidates understand who you are and what you can offer, your focus should be to drive interest in applying to an open position. Each step of recruitment marketing builds on the previous one to ultimately lead candidates through the application process. If a candidate is already somewhat invested in your school or believes it to be a great match for them, there is a good chance they’ll continue with the long and sometimes tedious application process.
It is a fallacy to believe that candidates will apply to your open position just because you’re hiring. They often need to be convinced to apply. Recruitment marketing helps you do this because it allows you to show candidates what makes your institution an attractive employer. Through regular, proactive content creation and social media posts, you’ll generate curiosity and interest as an employer. If people can see the kind of innovative research being conducted at your school, or the benefits of working there, they’ll be more interested in applying.
Importantly, recruitment marketing helps you create a candidate pipeline. This means not only striving to reach active job seekers but also passive ones. Strong recruitment marketing allows your university to get on the radar of candidates who might not yet be ready to apply or might not be a match for any of your current open positions. It keeps academics interested in your brand, not just your available jobs. These pipeline candidates will be some of your strongest applicants because they will already be excited by your university. By showcasing your groundbreaking research, facilities, or staff, you can catch their attention and prime them, so that when you do post a relevant vacancy they’re already convinced you’re the institution for them and are eager to apply.
The goal of recruitment marketing shouldn’t just be about creating awareness of your institution. Ultimately, it needs to push candidates away from simply recognizing your school to being motivated to apply and join your community. If you’ve done some marketing work in advance, this leap from knowing who you are to actively trying to land a job, is not far.
Taking this long and thoughtful approach to marketing makes sense for a variety of reasons. First, it helps you create awareness of your university and employer brand. Second, it allows you to recruit more and better applicants for open positions, as well as create a pipeline of interest among passive job seekers. Third, it increases your chances of getting the right candidates to choose you.
Recruitment marketing is not some kind of magic formula but it is a start to finding the best candidates to fill your open positions. It cannot suddenly change the reputation you’ve built or your location but can control how you promote your university. It allows you to control your narrative and how you interact with potential candidates. In short, it puts your university in the best position to attract top talent from around the world.
Guide: 8 Key Factors Shaping Academic Recruitment in 2024
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CASE STUDY
Attracting Top Scientists and Engineers through Storytelling
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research is a space science research institute that develops pioneering technology and advanced space instruments to pursue fundamental astrophysical research, Earth science and exoplanetary research.
Case study
Background & Objectives
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research is a prestigious space science research organization known for its innovative technology and advanced space instruments. The institute conducts fundamental research in astrophysics, Earth sciences, and exoplanetary studies, advising the Dutch government and coordinating national contributions to international space missions.
Objective #1
Promote SRON as an attractive workplace for international instrument scientists and engineers, with a special focus on women.
Objective #2
Utilize a targeted and efficient strategic storytelling marketing campaign to maximize visibility and awareness of SRON.
Objective #3
Evaluate Academic Positions as a recruitment marketing partner.
Case Study
Our approach
Combining content marketing with strategic storytelling, an innovative approach was developed to attract potential candidates for the role of instrument scientist at SRON.
STRATEGIC STORYTELLING
An ambassador story was crafted to appeal to instrument scientists by highlighting the institution’s mission and featuring Lorena Ferrari, an instrument scientist at SRON. The story emphasized what drew Lorena to SRON, her role, and the unique features that make SRON an appealing employer.
Featured ambassador
Lorenza Ferrari is an instrument scientist at the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON) and a project leader for the PLATO AIT phase.
Example
Detailed AUDIENCE Segmentation
Detailed audience planning and segmentation focusing on international instrument scientists and engineers, with particular attention to women.
multi-channel promotion
International promotion strategy leveraging the Academic Positions Network and various social media channels to ensure widespread visibility.
continuous optimization
Close monitoring of campaign metrics and engagement levels led to continuous refinement of the approach, improving performance over time.
Case study
The outcome
The SRON campaign successfully reached the target audience and inspired the desired candidate group, particularly women, to consider SRON as an employer.
620K+
views of the campaign
10K+
story readers
70%
female candidates
“Collaborating with Academic Positions
allowed us to share our story and reach
relevant candidates around the world.”
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Regionally anchored in Southern Norway, which is famous for its astonishing natural surroundings, the University of Agder (UiA) offers a wide range of studies across six faculties. We spoke to Richard Lislevand, Recruitment Team Manager, and Malin Hauge, senior HR advisor, of UiA to learn more about how they’ve partnered with their municipality to help relocate and onboard international staff.
How do you help international staff relocate to Norway?
MH: For almost two years now, we have actually had a relocation service helping us with hiring international candidates, from the start of the recruiting process until they are here in Norway. They help with all the practical matters, like visas, bank accounts, tax cards, housing, drivers licences, and even applying for kindergartens and finding a job for your partner. They’re really, really good. It’s a service from the municipality’s business department, called Relocation Region Kristiansand. We approached the municipality with the idea in 2018 and now we are one of 10 partners, both private and public, helping strengthen international recruitment in the region.
Richard Lislevand, Recruitment Team Manager, and Malin Hauge, senior HR advisor, of the University of Agder
How has your international academic recruitment changed during the pandemic?
RL: Recruitment itself has not been the main challenge. When it comes to conducting interviews, doing the reference checks and these things, we have managed in a good way. The volume of video interviews increased certainly. The main challenge has been to get foreigners into Norway to start their employment and set a starting date. All the restrictions regarding travel have been challenging for us. Over the last 12 to 15 months, there’s been variation when it comes to closed borders or open borders. Because it’s unpredictable, it’s been very hard to plan. You just have to react to the situation. But we have been able to bring people into Norway in some small, narrow windows.
Can you tell us a little bit about digital onboarding and what that’s been like?
RL: We have been working over a year or so to digitalize the onboarding process. We are soon launching a digital checklist which is generated automatically for managers of new employees, the new employee, and their HR advisor. Using the checklist, everyone can see what has to be done and at what time in the process. The checklist covers the pre boarding before you start until roughly about 12 months after your starting date. So we have built a system where employees automatically get reminders about the steps to follow up on with the new employed person.
It wasn’t the pandemic that made us think to do this. It has been a subject that we have been thinking a lot over a long time. It’s important to do a good onboarding process and we take it quite seriously, because it creates loyalty to your new working place. If you do it badly, the new employee could be gone in one to three years. So it’s vital, if we want to keep the person we are hiring for a longer period, to have a welcome process that gives the new employees the information they need to do the job. And also do the things that our relocation partner is helping us with, to help the whole family settle into Kristiansand and Norway. It goes extra for foreigners, but good onboarding is also vital for Norwegians.
Do you do any kind of social onboarding?
MH: Absolutely. So there are the very practical onboarding things to fix at and then there’s the social part of the onboarding, which I’m responsible for. This includes events, cultural courses, and networking meetings, which we used to have a few times a semester. We have a monthly international networking event called Secrets of Kristiansand. It’s a collaboration between the university, local chamber of commerce, and Business Region Kristiansand that gives international newcomers a chance to establish connections in their new city.
While there have been no physical events this last year, we have organized many digital events to provide social meeting points. Additionally we have also organized colleague nature walks for Norwegian and internationals. They’re popular! It’s mostly international staff who’ve signed up for them but there have been Norwegians too. We try to match people up so that those with families can meet other families. Or PhD students can meet postdocs. Everyone has enjoyed getting to meet their colleagues and see more of the area.
Balance of the Microverse is a Cluster of Excellence at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. It is funded by the German Research Foundation under Germany’s Excellence Strategy and consists of eight participating non-university research institutes, including the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI). We spoke to Dr. Angela Köhler, the scientific manager of the cluster to learn more about their approach to recruitment.
Can you tell us a little bit about your role as the scientific manager of this Cluster of Excellence and as part of the research coordination team at the Leibniz-HKI?
I am employed by the university and have my workplace at the Leibniz-HKI. This reflects the core idea of our cluster, where the university and non-university institutes bundle their expertise and collaborate closely. I moved to Jena about four and a half years ago when the university was preparing an application for a Cluster of Excellence. They were developing the research plan so it was an exciting time. I came into a team of highly motivated scientists from different disciplines: microbiology, chemical biology, medicine, ecology, optics, photonics, material science, and bioinformatics. We were successful and got awarded this Cluster of Excellence.
Dr. Angela Köhler (Photograph: Anna Schroll)
As a central contact point for all cluster members and member institutes, I have a diverse range of tasks from organising scientific events to supporting the researchers with grant applications. I also deal with budget planning and reporting to the funding agencies and am highly involved in organizing the recruitments of researchers for our cluster, from doctoral researchers all the way to professorships. I really enjoy my work in research coordination because I can support the researchers and I have the chance to bring in my ideas to further develop this research network.
What is your approach for finding excellent early career researchers?
We advertise internationally, which is very important for us because we’re always aiming to increase our proportion of international researchers. In our cluster, 38% of the participating scientists are international, including 52% of our postdocs and doctoral researchers. Of course, we also recruit at the national level and support local talents, but internationalization is important for us. We generally spread the job announcements via our websites, on job portals such as Academic Positions, scientific associations, and social media channels. When it comes to the advanced group leader positions, we do headhunting as well. It has also been quite successful for us to contact candidates directly to make them aware of Jena as a research location and of our open positions.
With regards to the early career researchers, we are building upon the established recruitment process of the Jena School for Microbial Communication, a graduate school that was initiated under Germany’s Excellence Initiative. For example, we write out a couple of PhD and postdoc positions in a joint recruitment call to increase the visibility by offering multiple positions in a thematic area. We then have a multistep-recruitment process, including telephone interviews and recruitment meetings where the candidates and cluster members get to know each other in Jena. This of course now had to be converted to online meetings due to the corona pandemic. The recruitment decision is always made by the team and the doctoral researchers are supported by both their supervisors and an interdisciplinary committee throughout their thesis work.
How does hiring fantastic early career researchers support the overall goal of your Cluster of Excellence?
It’s extremely important because as with all top level research, you need the best minds. You want to recruit the most qualified, talented, and highly motivated researchers. That’s so important for the success of these research networks. You need excellence at all levels, starting with graduate students all the way to the group leaders. Close collaborations and networking are very important in our cluster, so getting to know each other during the recruitment process is very important for us.
What kinds of support services do you offer international researchers joining the cluster?
The University of Jena has a Welcome Point, and the city of Jena offers a Welcome Service to help integrate international professionals. The research coordination team at the Leibniz-HKI, the cluster, and the graduate school support the international researchers with visa applications, advice on finding housing, opening a bank account and so on. When you don’t speak German things can be difficult in the beginning, so this support is generally appreciated. In addition, the university has guest apartments, giving the researchers time to find housing after their arrival in Jena. It’s important to offer these services to make it easier for them to move, especially when they’re moving continents. There are also offers for German language courses available.
It’s important to give candidates an opportunity during the recruitment process to come and visit Jena and the laboratories and meet the research groups. This first personal impression is important for them and for us. It helps the candidates decide if this is the right location for them, but also helps our research groups to get a better impression of how the candidate would fit in with the team.
How have you adjusted your process during the pandemic when campus visits aren’t possible?
Recruitment is still ongoing. In terms of numbers of applications, we haven’t really seen a decline. We have had to move our recruitment meetings online and the applicants can still give scientific presentations and we do the interviews. When it comes to actually moving here, there have been some delays with people who would need to relocate to Germany. The pandemic is affecting all of us, but we keep going. Even though it is not the same as direct personal contact, online meetings offer the opportunity to arrange meetings very quickly and they save travel costs and preparation time. As a scientific coordinator, I also see my task in helping to overcome the limitations through optimism and good spirits. After all, our research topic also aims to provide novel solutions to better manage diseases and environmental disbalance in the future.
Header image: Foto Krumnow
Academic recruitment has become more complex and competitive, which has made it more difficult for universities to fill their vacancies. The applicant pool is the foundation of your hiring process, so how do you make sure the candidates you want end up in yours?
When you have to fill a vacancy, your first priority is probably to ensure that a large number of academics see your advert and are motivated to apply. If your university is looking for a new professor, for example, you might make some quick edits to the advert you used that last time you hired and share it as widely as possible. While this might get you applications, they might not be from candidates you’re interested in. In order to attract your target candidates, your advert needs to be tailored to them. So, if you’re not getting applications from the type of candidates you’re looking for, it might be time to ask yourself how well you really know your target candidates and what they look for in a job.
Who are your target candidates, really?
Whenever you sit down to write anything, the first question you need to ask yourself is, “Who am I writing for? Who is my audience?” The same applies to writing job adverts and recruitment marketing content. In order to create the most suitable job adverts, you need to know who those candidates are.
Do you know, for example, what motivates them? Sure, they want a job, but what pushes them to do their best work? What kinds of opportunities excite them? Would they be enjoy being one of a handful of basic scientists in a department of clinicians? Would they thrive in a small department at an institution focused on undergraduate teaching? Would they want to play a crucial role in developing a new flagship research centre?
You should also think about the factors that might influence their decision making. Are they going to be looking for a high salary and big start up package? Do they want to live closer to friends and family? Do they want to work alongside world leaders in the field? Demographic factors are also important factors to consider when looking at decision making. Might your target candidates value your institution’s family friendliness and flexible working hours? Are they looking for an institution where they will have peers that look like them?
Don’t just rely on your gut
When you go about answering these questions regarding your target candidates’ preferences and values, your answers need to be based on data and facts, not merely your own impressions. This becomes especially important when you aim to target diverse candidates, as many institutions do. Simply assuming you know what a specific kind of person might value in an employer is a grave mistake. It is therefore vital to seek out reliable sources to base your insights on. Your recruitment partner or applicant tracking system is a great place to start. Through this data you can gain objective, valuable insights into who actually visits your adverts.
And, why not also talk directly to the people who actually made it all the way through your university’s recruitment process? Surveying your colleagues (especially your recently-hired colleagues) will give you valuable insights about their motivations and preferences. You might also ask them about their time as a job seeker. Where did they hear about your university or find your vacancy? What motivated them to apply? Why did they choose your institution over other offers?
Your university probably already uses candidate insights to attract students for their undergraduate programs. In the private sector, hiring teams oftentimes take these insights a step further and create entire candidate personas, fictional characters that embody their targets’ characteristics. They use these to create highly targeted job ads that attract job seekers who will thrive in their company.
Gathering these candidate insights shouldn’t be a one-time activity. You should make it a habit to frequently reevaluate and update your candidate insights. Bear in mind that society is constantly evolving, and so will candidates’ priorities. The pandemic, for example, has made many employees question what they’re looking for in their careers.
What candidate insights can do for you
Candidates are not one-size-fits-all. A certain type of content or communication that motivates one candidate may do nothing to pique the interest of another. During any recruitment process, you should always have in mind what kind of candidate you are trying to attract and ultimately hire. The more you know about the candidates you’re targeting, the easier it will be for you to create content that speaks to them. Candidate insights will also help you to choose the right recruitment partners for your university, as well as the right social media strategy. Your target candidates will feel like the job advert was written specifically for them and be excited to apply.
Using candidate insights will make your recruitment more efficient and strategic. While gathering these insights certainly requires time and effort, this investment will pay. You’ll know where to advertise, and in what way, in order to get the attention of the most suitable candidates.
In 2021, over four million job seekers visited Academic Positions to look for PhD, postdoc and faculty positions, including Oldouz Nejadi-babadaei.
Oldouz is an urban and regional planner in Iran, and this September she will be moving to Stockholm to start a PhD in sustainability pathways and challenges at Södertörn University. Her PhD project, which she found on Academic Positions, will look at how people in marginalized communities are affected socially by climate change.
She talked to us about her experience using Academic Positions to find her dream PhD project. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
When did you decide you wanted to do a PhD?
I was always interested. Even when I was studying for my master’s at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, I was applying for PhDs. I wasn’t successful so my husband (who was also a master’s student) and I went back home to Iran. We thought that once we got back to Tehran we would start working and continue to apply for PhD positions in sustainability pathways and challenges. Then we both got really involved in projects in urban studies–our field of study. But still, I looked at PhD positions just for fun. However, because of the pandemic and some changes in the social, economic, and political atmosphere in my country, I had more time to think about what I wanted to do with my life. I thought maybe it was time to try applying for PhDs again, and, happily, I was successful.
Were you always interested in going abroad again for your PhD?
Yes. My priority was Sweden and I preferred to be in Stockholm because I enjoyed living there during my master’s at KTH. I know the place and I have friends there and so forth. In general, I was looking for positions in Europe where I could study in English, so countries like Britain, the Netherlands or Belgium which have programmes in English. But mostly I was focused on Sweden.
What websites did you use to look for PhD opportunities?
The main way that I was looking for them was with my list. I had a list of favourite links to universities which I knew had programs related to urban studies that I was checking regularly. But I was also receiving job alert emails from Academic Positions, I think since 2012. I never stopped them all those years. I liked to check them to see what positions were out there. That’s how I learned about Södertörn University. I didn’t know that Södertörn had departments and programs related to my field of study. My impression was that they were more focused on other areas. But then I got the job alert and looked them up and applied.
It’s great to hear that you were able to use our job alerts to not only find the type of position that you were looking for, but also discover a new university that you didn’t know was doing work in your field.
I thought that in Sweden, or at least in Stockholm, I had everything under control. But apparently I didn’t. I didn’t know about Södertörn so it was good to have Academic Positions. My keywords were sustainability, development, and urban planning. And sometimes there would be a position that included these keywords, but it wasn’t relevant to me at all, but at the same time I also learned about other positions in departments that I hadn’t thought of that were a good fit.
Oldouz on the KTH campus during her master’s.
What are some of the advantages of using Academic Positions to search for PhD positions?
Academic Positions has so many offers in one place which allows you to find positions that you wouldn’t have expected or that you wouldn’t have come across on your own, because you just couldn’t know that they exist. For example, I came across a few interesting PhD projects in Italy and France. I usually don’t look there because most of the time their programs are not in English. But through Academic Positions, I found some and applied.
Do you have any other advice to share with other people who might be looking for a PhD?
You think that you will find the research project that fits you in a specific department, but nowadays, that’s not the case. Because of the multidisciplinary aspect of research projects, it’s really good to use Academic Positions, which gives you the opportunity to discover PhD projects in a variety of departments. Maybe there’s a project in your area of interest that really, really fits you, it’s just a department you didn’t expect. Academic Positions gives you more chances to find the right project.
In 2021, over four million job seekers visited Academic Positions to look for PhD, postdoc and faculty positions, including Fabian Schmidt. Fabian is now a doctoral student in computer science at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, a position he found on Academic Positions. He’s part of a project aimed at developing machine learning methods to improve treatment adherence, efficiency, and efficacy in clinical psychology. He talked to us about his experience job hunting on Academic Positions. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Fabian Schmidt is a PhD student at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
AP: When did you decide to do a PhD?
FS: I had it in mind for some time, but it was during my master’s thesis that I decided I really wanted to do it. I worked on quite an applied research topic with Charité, one of the hospitals in Berlin. The focus was on applying deep learning techniques on medical images. My supervisors were really good and they helped me understand what you need to do research. That’s when I decided to apply to PhD positions and not go into industry.
AP: Were you always open to going abroad for your PhD?
FS: At first, I applied to positions in my home country, mostly in Berlin. But then I realized that that was quite a narrow search so it became clear that I needed to look abroad. Plus, I like studying abroad. I went abroad during both my bachelor’s and master’s so I was not reluctant to go abroad.
AP: How did you first start looking for PhD positions?
FS: I looked for positions on university websites. Back then I didn’t know about Academic Positions yet, so I was basically just Googling keywords for the position or domain that I was interested in plus the cities, which was time consuming. I would end up on university websites, which only show opportunities at one university. Plus the user interfaces weren’t always up to date. I had a few cases where I would find a position that was really interesting, but the application period had already expired.
AP: How did you find Academic Positions?
FS: When I started looking for positions abroad in Sweden, I came across a position in one of my searches that was hosted on Academic Positions. I started looking at the website and saw the advantages of using it. On the left hand side of the job search page, you can filter for which level of position you’re interested in as well as the field and location, which is way nicer than Googling. And it wasn’t just positions, the website also had tips about, for example, what to do once you arrive in Sweden and how to get settled.
AP: What was the experience like looking for jobs on Academic Positions compared to the university websites or other job boards?
FS: I really like clean design and that there are no advertisements. It’s not just that I have ad blocker on, there are no advertisements by default. Other job search websites are way too cluttered with irrelevant information. The filtering capabilities are really good too. You can refine your search as you go if you want to add another city for example.
AP: What made Academic Positions stand out?
FS: It’s great that Academic Positions is quite specific and has only academic jobs. I’m not interested in industry jobs, which might come up on Google based on the keywords I’m using. Maybe for somebody who’s undecided between academia and industry it might make more sense to look somewhere like LinkedIn, but if you really have narrowed it down to just academia, it’s so much better to use Academic Positions.
AP: Speaking as a candidate, what would you say are the advantages of advertising a job on Academic Positions?
FS: It’s a win-win for both sides. It makes it easier for students who want to apply for a PhD or any other academic position. And from a university perspective, you get more applicants for that position. There were a few times I only found a job by visiting the university website. It wasn’t mentioned on any other platform, which means it wasn’t accessible to many possible applicants. It doesn’t make sense to just publish a job in one place. There’s really no reason to not use Academic Positions.
University recruitment marketing has grown increasingly important with the growth of universities across the globe. It’s no longer enough to quickly draft a job advert and post it to free job sites. But spending hours on recruiting, managing applications, and hiring candidates from across the world can be tedious and time consuming.
What’s more, candidates are inundated with information about schools and research programs across an abundance of channels. Automating and simplifying the hiring process makes sense for all involved. An applicant tracking system (ATS) is designed to do just that.
As Technavio notes, “the use of an ATS reduces time spent on administrative tasks, provides better and faster curriculum vitae screening, improves the quality of hiring, and speeds up the recruitment cycle.” Universities can save time and money in the long run by investing in a robust ATS.
What is an Applicant Tracking System?
An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is designed to do exactly what the name suggests. It will track each candidate’s application progress from start to finish keeping both you and your hiring managers abreast of changes or updates during the process.
Because the new age of recruitment is driven by data, applicant tracking systems help you make better decisions throughout the hiring process. An ATS allows you to more seamlessly post your job adverts across all your communications channels, understand how well your advert is performing, and even automate some processes like the ability to prescreen applications.
An ATS can give you critical insights like how long it takes to fill a position, how many candidates applied, and even retention data. With more and better information, you can save time and money to effectively manage your human resources.
The Benefits of an ATS
By implementing an ATS, your university can better work with strategic recruitment partners like Academic Positions. Because you’ll have invaluable data about your recruitment processes at your fingertips, we can pinpoint areas of weaknesses and improve your hiring outcomes.
For example, having an ATS allows universities to properly track the performance of their adverts. If a job advert is not performing well, you can quickly identify it and take further actions (such as paid social media campaigns) to increase the number of applications. You can continue to track the advert to gauge improvement and adjust accordingly. An ATS also makes it easier to set up an integration with a partner job board. Your adverts can be automatically published, updated, and closed without you having to do anything.
By using an ATS, it will be easier for you to see where candidates are finding your job adverts. Access to this type of information can help you save time and resources by focusing on the channels that yield the greatest returns. If you find most applicants are finding your adverts on Facebook for example, focus on sharing more content there to engage active (and passive) job seekers.
While setting up this type of automation can seem complex, it actually simplifies the entire hiring process. A consistent, simple recruitment process will actually strengthen your employer brand. Applicants will appreciate the ease with which they can navigate the system and stay informed throughout the process.
Furthermore, an ATS can help your university remain GDPR compliant. According to Full Fabric, “because all communications between prospect and institution are transparent, an ATS is an invaluable asset when it comes to being GDPR compliant.”
A positive experience will leave a lasting impression. Many ATSs make it easy for candidates to apply for multiple jobs at the same university, further contributing to a positive candidate experience.
Factors to Consider When Choosing an ATS
Not all ATSs are created equal. They may have different functionalities as well as different price points. Before choosing an ATS, there are a few factors worth considering.
You want to choose a system that will easily integrate into your existing HR tools and processes. Is the ATS cloud based or on-site and does it require any additional technical capabilities to install and use?
Consider the sharing capabilities of the system as well. An ATS should simplify the hiring process for both you and job applicants. You want a system that will automatically post and update your job adverts, allow applicants to apply for multiple jobs, and have advanced matching capabilities. A good ATS will also allow applicants to easily share job adverts across social media platforms.
The other area to consider is reporting and data capabilities. How easy is it to collect and analyze data using the system? What type of reports are available and how are records stored in the system?
Some of the most popular ATSs are Interfolio, Reachmee, Prescreen, Varbi, and Talentech. These ATSs work well in university settings and will help you take the first step in enhancing your recruitment marketing.
As the number of universities has steadily increased, so has the competition at those institutions. Recruitment marketing is now essential for universities looking to hire the most qualified and diverse candidates.
Recruitment marketing is the practice of using marketing strategies to promote the value of working for a particular employer as a way to attract, engage, and recruit employees. It allows universities to showcase not only academic research and accolades, but also their community ideals and unique opportunities to draw candidates in.
One important aspect of recruitment marketing is building brand awareness. There are a variety of ways to do this, such as social media campaigns, email marketing, and a comprehensive career website. But one of the most effective ways to increase brand awareness is by focusing on consistent visual identity.
Your visual identity helps to strengthen your brand. According to ReviewTrackers, organizations with a strong brand awareness are “more likely to improve employee loyalty, contribute to solid brand reputation management, increase employee motivation levels…and attract and secure the right talent.”
While it may seem like your brand’s presentation and visibility are less important aspects of successful recruitment, they actually help to build the foundation for attracting talent. A branded presentation on Academic Positions can help you get started.
What is a Branded Presentation?
In order to help you enhance your brand visibility, our recruitment experts will help you create an employer profile on Academic Positions that matches your distinct brand identity. This branded presentation is a comprehensive landing page with everything a potential candidate would want to know about your university from open positions to attractive benefits to location specific perks.
Academic Positions’ nearly 4 million annual visitors are highly invested in learning more about universities worldwide. A branded presentation is the perfect opportunity to showcase your university’s strengths and benefits and increase your brand awareness among active and passive job seekers.
Can’t I Just Use My Own Website?
Universities are large, complex organizations. It stands to reason, their websites are large and complex. While your university may have a career page, it’s likely mostly only dedicated to open positions. Interested candidates have to then poke around your site to find other information that might interest them in your school like current research priorities, potential colleagues, or support services.
Our branded presentations curate the most relevant information to potential candidates. They will help both active and passive job seekers not only browse your open positions, but also understand your community and culture with powerful employee profiles, useful statistics, and a well crafted message that allows you to appeal directly to academics.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of a Strong Visual Identity
A strong visual identity is an essential, but often misunderstood, part of branding. Having a cohesive look and on-brand design language across all your communications channels, reflects and enhances your brand story.
While there is no one metric to prove consistent visual identity translates into greater brand awareness, there is plenty of evidence to point to its effectiveness. For example, the time visitors spend on our branded presentations is longer than a non-branded employer profile. The longer candidates stay on your page, the more they read and the more interested they become. Additionally, engagement is higher on branded presentations compared to non-branded profiles, since more candidates click through to view a second page.
Josh Ritchie, co-founder of advertising firm ColumnFive notes, “Strong brand communication is about providing value to the people you’re trying to build a relationship with. Whether it’s through education, entertainment, or inspiration, the content you create should be meaningful and serve a purpose in some way.” Our brand presentations are designed to help build and strengthen this relationship by giving you opportunity to create content specifically catered to recruitment.
Many universities understand that social media is no longer a “nice to have” marketing channel. It’s become a cornerstone for recruiting students. But if your administration is not also using social media to recruit faculty and staff, you could be missing out.
While we sometimes think of social media as a tool to reach younger audiences, there are several channels widely and regularly used by older individuals who are actively seeking academic positions. Utilizing these channels is one of the best ways to attract more qualified job applicants.
Universities need to be mindful that not all social media channels are created equally. Your social media recruitment strategy should not rely on a simple formula of “post everything, everywhere.” This will result in wasted resources and mounting frustration for you and job seekers. After all, active and passive job seekers have different goals and needs, so universities need to be sure they are highlighting the most relevant information on the most relevant channels.
Understanding the demographics of each platform can be the key to reaching a larger, more diverse, and more qualified applicant pool.
Facebook is a Legitimate Channel to Find and Recruit Job Candidates
What started out as a site for college kids to socialize virtually, has become a legitimate space not just for socializing but also networking and building communities. People now use Facebook for everything from finding local recommendations to shopping to professional networking – all across the globe. While some universities have taken this to mean it is no place to find and recruit potential job candidates, it’s quite the opposite.
Facebook continues to be the largest among all social media channels with 2.9 billion monthly active users (and 1.9 billion daily users). The age bracket with the most Facebook users (at roughly 31%) is 25-34, however, users between the ages of 35-54 account for nearly 29% of all users (nearly as many as the largest age group). So while it may seem that Facebook skews to a younger audience, the reality is millions of older professionals are also active users.
It makes sense that the countries with the largest populations have the greatest number of Facebook users. India is followed by the US with 329 and 179 million daily users respectively, but if you look at Europe as a whole, there are nearly 310 million daily users. Universities looking to attract a diverse talent pool need to be advertising on Facebook. To neglect using Facebook as part of your larger marketing strategy means neglecting millions of potential job candidates.
Don’t Discount Instagram Demographics
Demographics for Instagram (whose parent company, like Facebook, is Meta) echo Facebook’s. Their overall numbers are slightly lower with nearly 1 billion active monthly users and 500 million daily active users. Roughly 32% of users are between the ages of 25-34. But faculty-aged users (35-54) make up a little over 24% of users, leaving huge potential to find and recruit job applicants.
Instagram is the ideal channel for creating greater brand recognition. With the ability to post stories, short video reels, and carefully curated photos, Instagram allows universities to shape the message of who they are and their goals.
Take Advantage of Twitter
Twitter is another older social media channel that is still widely used today and should be an important part of your overall recruitment strategy. At the end of 2021, Twitter’s worldwide daily active users were about 217 million with nearly 1 in 40 scholars in the US and UK using the platform. Twitter has even more worldwide reach with over 20 countries using the platform. (India, Japan, and Brazil have the most users after the US.)
Twitter is an excellent resource for academics as it allows you to reach a much broader audience. Because the second largest age group demographic (roughly 21%) on this platform is 35-49, you’ll find users who are actively engaged in academic communities.
Unique features like retweeting allows your message to grow exponentially whether it’s highlighting your university’s research or advertising a position. The 280 character limit is perfect for grabbing attention with direct, meaningful, and relevant information.
Embrace LinkedIn
Established in 2003, LinkedIn was conceived as a site for professionals to find and post job opportunities and network with other professionals. Therefore LinkedIn is the most obvious, but arguably most underutilized, social media channel for academics.
Despite the persistent myth, LinkedIn is not just for business people. Academics are on the platform and those who use it effectively have successfully found jobs. It’s difficult to measure exactly how many academics are currently using LinkedIn but in 2014, that number was about 1.9 million. With the explosion of social media usage in academia and beyond, that number has only grown.
There are over 810 million members taking advantage of LinkedIn’s unique features like active job boards, the ability to recommend colleagues, and to list your publications. LinkedIn profiles serve almost like a CV with space to provide a quick summary of career goals making it unlike other platforms and especially useful to academics.
Nearly 18% of LinkedIn users are between the ages 35-54 but because the platform is geared toward matching jobs and talent, these users are on the platform specifically for professional purposes – whether to find a new job, network with colleagues, or keep abreast of industry news. Therefore, LinkedIn is the perfect place for your university to become more engaged.
Having a social media presence is no longer an ancillary recruitment strategy for universities. With a targeted, mindful approach towards the platforms with which you engage, you can reach more and better potential candidates and strengthen your community of academics.
