Companies are always asking us to advertise their openings, which we love to do, so we decided to share our knowledge regarding job advertising to help the eye care industry grow. From personal experience from talking to many Eye Care Professionals (ECPs) over the years to speaking with internal/external recruiters, we want someone reaching out to us who knows the difference between an Optician and an Optometrist or a phoropter and an autorefractor and job advertisements should be no different. The person creating your advertisements, whether yourself, your staff, or a third party, should have hands-on experience in the industry.
What are job advertisements? Job advertisements are ways to promote your open position(s), not to obtain the most candidates but the best-qualified candidates. There are numerous ways to promote your jobs, from cold calling/messaging, networking/social media, and job boards.
How do you choose which is best? Well, there’s not one clear winner; doing as many of those as possible is the best way to succeed as it is advertising your job. There are other methods to find candidates, yet this is what we feel works best based on the 3-Os (Opticians, Optometrists, and Ophthalmologists), but the more you post your opportunities out there, the better your results will be. You are selling your brand, culture, and YOU as an employer in your job advertisement to quickly get the candidates on the phone and into the office for an on-site interview.
Job Boards
Job boards are great for putting your opportunity out there for active seekers and specific positions. You can post on as many “generic” job boards as possible, but for positions requiring skills/training/licensing, you should look for a niche job board.
Therefore, we created Eyetastic Jobs, which is easy, affordable, and made for ECPs!
Don’t forget to check and see if the job boards allow job seekers to post their resumes; you could save yourself much time if your ideal candidate is already on there looking for a new job.
When someone is responding to your advertisement, keep in mind that they have probably reached out to numerous potential employers, so time is of the essence. Taking days, or even weeks, to get back to a candidate that wants to work for you doesn’t fill them full of confidence. Good candidates get hired quickly.
School career boards and associations for our industry can be handy too. Some may require you to verify yourself as an employer or have a membership to the association; however, some are free to post with and are happy to help their students/members.
Networking/Social Media
We are in the digital world, and virtual networking has allowed us to expand our reach further than attending annual meetings or conferences. People love helping people, and once they are acquainted, it makes it easier for you to ask for assistance. There are professional sites you can use, like LinkedIn or Eyetastic Social, where you can view people’s “digital resume,” see their activity, which groups or topics they are following, and exchange messages for a better response rate.
Posting your advertisement on social media sites can help you find great candidates, make a post and share it with your network, or join some industry groups and post there. Also, you do not have to put a pretty picture, although eye-catching graphics (check out canva.com) draw attention as people scroll through their feeds. Highlight the opportunity; you must think like a marketer… Are you offering a signing bonus? High hourly wage? Room for growth? What makes you different from your competitors who are hiring too? That needs to be front and center, as most people will skim through social media and not read anything unless it pops out.
Cold Calling/Messaging
I am using the old term “cold calling” to include the new ways created by the digital age; “cold texting,” “cold emailing,” and “cold messaging.” This is tracking potential candidates from your network or research, calling them up, and offering them a new opportunity. This most aggressive form of recruiting may be daunting for some employers, and it is usually done when there is a highly urgent need for numerous positions or when all other avenues haven’t worked. It comes with a high amount of rejection for single openings, but by being proactive, you may strike it lucky!
Do you screen your calls? I know that I do. It is not that we are hiding anything, but there are so many scams (even job scams as another attempt to obtain your identity, what is going on in this world?). Now, if someone is looking actively, this is perfect! They will screen, maybe even answer if you are lucky, and perhaps a bit of phone tag going on. It’s always worth mentioning where you got the other person’s contact information from, a mutual friend/colleague, their social media profile, their CV posted online, etc., as this helps to create more trust in the candidate and makes it more personal if they know you haven’t just been dialing random numbers.
Regarding text messaging and emails, be cautious that the candidates are not listing a current work email or phone number. I once knew someone who reached out to a potential candidate via text to confirm a date/time for their upcoming interview, but they sent it to the candidate’s work email, which his company had access to, and saw. That caused quite an issue for the candidate who did not end up being a successful hire. If you can verify that the phone numbers or emails are “safe,” then keep the message brief but with enough explanation to get them interested, and, same as with cold calling, give them some info as to where you got their email or phone number from, make it sound personal so it doesn’t come across like some form of scam message!
Good luck with your job advertisement. Of course, email us if you have any questions or would prefer Eyetastic Services to work as an extension of your hiring team. info@eyetasticservices.com.
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