Don’t put the cart before the horse.
Recruiting talent has historically been led with a focus on telling the world that we have a job open. Salons post their jobs on Craigslist, Indeed, and their Facebook page and then they wait for an applicant….I call this “post and pray.”
It does not work anymore and it is a top reason that so many salons are struggling to find the right team members for their business.
The first part of recruiting talent is Identifying the story you have to tell.
The second part is actually telling the story.
If you want to be successful at recruiting, then you have to get the order of these correct.
Telling your story can only occur once you have clearly identified the story you have to tell. Once we have that clear story ~ aka our magic ~ written into powerful job descriptions and strong content messages for social media, then you can start telling your one of a kind story.
Most job postings lack the real substance needed to attract dream candidates into their pipeline. A job posting alone is not enough to compel a candidate to apply for your salon. You need that job posting to say something substantial and meaingful, while consistently showing up in the places we know salon talent is looking.
Where are employee candidates looking?
The #1 place students find their job is Instagram.
The #2 place experienced stylists find their job is Instagram.
You need to be telling your story.. all the magic of your brand.. on Instagram! Telling your story on Instagram does not look like an image you created that says “now hiring.”
What telling your story on Instagram looks like is 👇
- Pictures of your team at work captioned with your team’s “magic” written words
- Pictures of your team at play captioned with your teams’ impactful “values”
- Reels of your team that embody how working inside of your brand “feels”
Recruiting needs a strategy that has your brand showing up in multiple places and with consistent messaging. At Talent Match we have a Free Online Salon Recruitment Audit that will help you see the gaps in your storytelling- you can find it here.
But you can’t stop at Instagram – you need to be appearing on those job boards, show up with an active and compelling website careers and team page, and you need to be in the schools.
Your future employees are going to go on a hunt to learn about your brand and it’s critical that you are consistent in your messaging – both what it says and where it shows up. That way it feels easy for them to uncover if it’s a brand they should work with.
