Crafting the Right Job Description for Skills-Based Hiring

In today's talent landscape, job descriptions are no longer static documents merely listing responsibilities and qualifications. A well-crafted job description serves as a dynamic instrument, communicating the essential skills and competencies required for a position. By outlining these requirements, organizations can attract candidates with the right expertise, ensuring a targeted applicant pool. Furthermore, clear articulation of the outcomes and objectives of the role aligns candidate expectations with organizational goals, fostering better performance and engagement.

The Power of Language

Effective job descriptions hinge upon the language used. Clear and concise language that avoids jargon and unnecessary complexity enables candidates to quickly grasp the requirements and assess their fit. Additionally, incorporating inclusive language helps attract a diverse range of candidates, fostering an inclusive workplace culture that values diversity and equality.

Transparency and Candidate Experience

Job descriptions should go beyond surface-level requirements and provide transparency about company culture, growth opportunities, and the potential impact of the role. This level of openness empowers candidates to make informed decisions and ensures a positive candidate experience throughout the recruitment process.

Continuous Improvement

The journey of skills-based hiring extends beyond crafting the perfect job description. We encourage hiring managers to embrace continuous improvement by regularly reviewing and updating their job descriptions. This ensures they remain aligned with evolving market dynamics and changing skill requirements. Seeking feedback from current employees can provide valuable insights that contribute to the accuracy and effectiveness of job descriptions.

Job descriptions form the foundation of skills-based hiring, setting the tone for attracting the right talent. By crafting dynamic job descriptions, employing clear language, promoting transparency, and embracing continuous improvement, organizations can maximize their chances of finding exceptional candidates. 

Your Partner in Skills-Based Hiring

At Emerging Blue, we understand the power of skills-based hiring and the critical role job descriptions play in attracting top talent. Our services are rooted in integrity, expertise, and personalized attention. Our team specializes in crafting impactful job descriptions that resonate with the candidates your brand is looking for. We can grant your team access to our comprehensive range of recruitment services, designed to streamline your skills-based hiring process and help you build out your dream team.

Relevant Articles:

https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blog/talent-strategy/why-skills-based-hiring-starts-with-job-descriptions

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecastrillon/2023/02/12/why-skills-based-hiring-is-on-the-rise/

https://hbr.org/2022/02/skills-based-hiring-is-on-the-rise

TikTok Takeover: Today's Hottest Marketing & Hiring Tool

Among all the social media platforms and channels, there is only one that has taken over like no other: TikTok. With over 1 billion users in over 150 different countries, TikTok has quickly taken center stage and is changing the ways of digital marketing as we know them.

TikTok has established itself not just as a social channel, but as a destination for all things beauty and fashion. The app has sparked and circulated some of the most popular trends in clothing styles, skincare routines, makeup hacks, and more.

Many brands are recognizing the app’s influence on consumer purchasing and have begun incorporating TikTok as a key tool in their digital marketing strategies.

“Brands can build off of trends by understanding the wider tendencies they reveal, and tap into specific trends by using them to tell stories about existing products.”

Given the platform’s algorithm, TikTok provides marketers an avenue for reach and engagement. Even without an established following or presence, as long as there is appealing content, audience engagement is bound to follow. This makes TikTok a social media platform with some of the highest engagement rates.

Brands are finding that there are two major ingredients to a successful TikTok campaign: Authenticity + Consistency

• “What defines success on TikTok is the requirement for authenticity.”

• Instead of direct sponsorships, collaborations with influencers, the utilization of popular hashtags, and showcasing products being used in real time with live commentary, increases authenticity value and leads to higher engagement rates.

• …In addition to being authentic, “the biggest thing is just remaining consistent.”

• Creating consistent content that aligns with your brand’s values and holds true to brand DNA across platforms will ensure sustained marketing success.

As brands continue to evolve their digital marketing strategies, they’ll have to add TikTok to their list of platforms. Through authentic and consistent content, brand deals with influencers, and participation in recent trends, brands can easily fast track to increased awareness, engagement, and creating a larger, loyal customer base.

In a job seekers’ market, TikTok can also be used as a recruiting platform. Many brands have shifted their use of TikTok to recruit summer interns or digital marketing related positions. By advertising these jobs through catchy reels with a link to the job application, brands have been able to take advantage of TikTok’s evolution as a creative alternative to the traditional job board or application/hiring process. “TikTok has already recognized its potential as the next big jobs platform, launching a #TikTokResumes pilot program” in 2021.

 Another trend to note is that candidates have been using TikTok as a way to showcase their creative work. For positions in the creative or artistic fields, TikTok can be an extension to potential candidate’s portfolio, providing brands with a clearer understanding of a person’s real time work.

Whether you’re a brand marketing a product, a hiring manager seeking talent, or a candidate showcasing your portfolio, TikTok demonstrates its ability as a tool to be used by nearly anyone and everyone in the workplace.

Articles referenced:

• https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/beauty/how-beauty-brands-can-take-advantage-of-tiktok-trends/

• https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/an-in-depth-look-at-marketing-on-tiktok

• https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/marketing-pr/how-to-keep-up-with-tiktoks-lightning-fast-trend-cycle/

• https://www.businessoffashion.com/podcasts/technology/the-secrets-to-sustained-success-on-tiktok/

• https://recruitingdaily.com/dear-hiring-managers-search-tiktok-not-linkedin-this-grad-season/

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2021/05/14/tiktok-is-starting-a-job-site-targeted-to-gen-z-zoomers/?sh=65401985acaa

• https://www.glossy.co/beauty/move-over-linkedin-tiktok-and-instagram-are-hot-hiring-tools-for-gen-z-talent/

The Power of Brand Storytelling

Brands are rediscovering the power that lies in their unique narratives. Following the pandemic, many fashion and beauty brands invested into marketing efforts that directly drove online sales. But in a time when the shock of the pandemic has now passed, many are recognizing the need to bridge the gap between brand building and driving sales. The solution? Brand storytelling.

Instead of seeing the two strategies as mutually exclusive, now “brands see a balance between these two styles of marketing as the key to long-term success”. Incorporating unique origin stories and brand values into marketing efforts not only garners greater trust and loyalty with customers, but can also establish a stronger stamp of brand DNA in an ever-evolving marketplace.

In addition to the appeal to consumers, brand storytelling helps to attract candidates. Most people seek out a career that they are passionate about. Share with the world the brand’s story, vision, values, and the ultimate mission. Some of the biggest and most successful brands have achieved their success because of their commitment and dedication to their roots.

Nothing compares to the feeling of finding the perfect candidate who aligns with your brand DNA. If you’re hiring and looking for candidates who resonate with the story of your brand, we are here to help. Connect with our team today.

Related Articles: Forbes, Entrepreneur, & Marketing Insider Group

Under The Influence: A New Era of Digital Marketing

With ever changing marketing trends, apparel brands are always adopting new strategies to remain relevant and competitive in the industry. For direct to consumer and eCommerce brands, the majority of marketing is conducted online through various digital platforms. The societal power of social media has created an entirely new space for digital marketing known as influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing is when brands partner with nano or micro-celebrities with large social media followings to promote their products on their personal platforms. This new marketing strategy has been adopted by many brands, especially in the fashion and beauty industries, due to its proven effectiveness and affordability.

Influencer marketing is a great strategy for brands with target consumers of Gen X and millennial age. With a consumer base nearly engulfed in social media, brands are able to meet their target customers right where they are, on the platforms that they use daily. In addition to the ease in reach, influencers tend to have more personal and meaningful engagements with their audiences compared to bigger name celebrity counterparts. When influencers promote a product to their niche community of followers, their audience tends to trust their opinion as if it were coming from a friend, and thus are more likely to purchase said product. According to Shopify, “61% of consumers trust influencers’ recommendations–more than 38% who trust branded social media content.”

Another attractive feature of brand deals is their affordability in comparison to the cost of traditional platforms and resources used for advertising. In the long run, partnering with influencers has proved to be more cost effective in comparison to other paid media tools. The influencer marketing industry is booming at a worth of $13.8 billion and doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

Click the links below to learn more about influencer marketing.

https://www.glossy.co/sponsored/how-top-dtc-and-e-commerce-brands-are-responding-to-the-shifting-creator-economy/?utm_campaign=Grin&utm_medium=Homepage&utm_source=Polar

https://digiday.com/marketing/a-cost-effective-option-why-dtc-brands-are-believing-in-micro-influencers/

Are you on trend? Peak retail hiring trends for Q3 and Q4

Hiring trends in the retail industry typically remain similar from year to year, however, as retailers rapidly approach peak seasonal hiring this year, many brands are adopting new strategies.

Brands noted that in late 2021, they struggled to staff their stores and omni channel supporting teams in time for the peak season. This time last year, brands were still battling COVID safety protocols, retail burnout, and symptoms of the great resignation, all on top of the typical retail talent fluctuation during 3rd and 4th quarter.

It’s time to start talent acquisition planning for the 2022 peak season. Here are some of the latest retail staffing trends that may be the key to securing top retail talent prior to the 2022 holiday season.

1.      Virtual recruiting: Since the pandemic, brands and talent have grown accustomed to Zoom and other forms of virtual meetings. To make the talent acquisition process more seamless, brands are meeting their desired talent where they are, quite literally, and minimizing friction in the hiring process by keeping as much of the hiring process virtual as possible.

2.      A shift in social recruiting: Social recruiting typically used to occur in-store or at hiring events and soirees. This season, to reach talent where they spend majority of their time, brands are advertising their job openings and conducting outreach via social media and other digital tools.

3.      Creating a seamless hiring process: Brands are making a seamless hiring process a priority in 2022. Convenience is key, and from start to finish, brands are improving their applicant systems, better training and developing their hiring managers, and creating an overall more efficient and effective hiring experience. Smoother processes represent an organized and secure workplace for candidates.

4.      Hiring generalists and specialists (play to strengths): Diversifying your talent team creates a healthy balance of those with broad skillsets and those who can excel within a specific area of roles and responsibilities. Help your retail team work smarter, not harder.

5.      Brands are communicating offerings for continued development, training, and education as greater incentive: Talent is often looking for the “value added” when accepting new opportunities. Many brands have started to adopt these offerings and share with talent as a draw to join with discounts, benefits, etc.

6.      Nature Vs. Nurture:  Brands are focusing more on brand DNA fit vs. the perfect skillset match during the interview process. In doing this, brands are finding that this yields greater investment from the talent, performance, and retention. You can learn more about finding the perfect fit and brand DNA on our Blog":

The Perfect (out)Fit

Brand DNA- Finding the Authentic Match 

Brands that are exploring these hiring trends and are assessing their own creative approaches to what they need talent wise for the season, are seeing great return on their efforts. Now is the time to start assessing and frontloading peak hiring talent needs to ensure a well-supported remainder of Q3 and a seamless and fruitful Q4.

AdditionalSources:

10 Future Retail Trends & Forecasts for 2022/2023 - A Look Into What’s Next - Financesonline.com

Retail Staffing Trends to Watch This Holiday Season