Tell Me a Good Story…

We are in a marketplace that is dominated by candidates having so many options on where to work. Websites and job boards are constantly updated with new positions, endless InMails and voicemails are sent from recruiters about the latest and greatest opportunities… So, as an executive recruiter, the question for me is no longer “How do I find more jobs to fill?” but “How can I turn people’s heads to differentiate myself/the company I’m recruiting for from all the noise?”

A great way for companies to separate themselves and their value prop is by putting together a compelling story. According to neuroscience marketers, compelling stories with an emotional trigger alter our brain chemistry, making us more trusting and open to ideas. People are not only hardwired to love stories, but they innately want to follow what is brilliant and new – whatever STANDS out!

Check out the following tips to improve your own organization’s storytelling strategy:

1. Combine Stories with Data

As the tech industry continues to shift to data and analytics, it is important for companies to market themselves differently to prospective candidates. People do not make decisions to join companies based on just facts and logic. There has to be an emotional pull drawing them in to a company’s evolution from a tiny startup to where they are now – beyond a label of being a “Gartner Magic Quadrant leader.”

2. Include Personal Stories

As a recruiting partner, I like to ask each hiring manager why they joined their current company. Usually there is always an interesting story behind it – such as having taken a massive pay cut to join a small tech company, or relocating across the country because they believed the company had a software that could change the world.

3. Founders of the Company

Speaking of storytelling, entrepreneurs are some of the best anecdotists around. How did they initially get VC firms to invest millions in their “game-changing technology?” I can bet you it started with a well-crafted, compelling story that was later backed up with data. CEOs, of all people, know that in order to turn someone’s head they must get to their heart first. TIP: If you include a blurb on your homepage or with me on how the company got started, that could make a big difference.

4. Establish a theme in the Marketplace

Make sure your differentiators are front and center: What makes your company distinct from all the others doing the same thing? This is a question all candidates ask, so why not tell everyone from the start? You may pay better on commission, but what makes your marketing automation software different from the crowded marketplace? Maybe you have a new modern machine learning component to the software that is changing the landscape on how marketers think.

We all want to be a part of a great story and some of us even want to create one! A good narrative helps people feel connected – emotionally and intellectually. And it will lead to you hiring the best people, which equals the most money for you and your organization… So why not invest some storytelling time with me (your recruiter) so I can become your spokesperson, sharing it with the most talented people out there?

TELL ME ABOUT THE TALENT OR JOBS YOU’RE LOOKING FOR.                                                                                                    Get in touch with me today!