Why aren’t you promoting your jobs on TV?

Over this long weekend I managed to get caught up on some of the shows I had on my Hulu watchlist: Shogun, The Rookie and The Cleaning Lady (don’t judge). As I was watching my shows and wondering how Thony was going to get out of her latest jam (again, don’t judge me) I noticed that Hulu had advertising. (Well, duh, what tv network doesn’t?) Let me be more specific, Hulu has self-serve ads, meaning I could create non-skippable ads that are shown to customers as they watch shows and movies, more or less like creating a Google or Facebook ad. And according to them, Hulu ads are 73% more effective than social media ads. They have over 100 million viewers on their platform and the capability to promote interactive ads which drive viewers directly to your landing page. Hmm… It all seems simple enough so, why have I yet to see ads promoting an employer brand? Maybe my demographic is not being targeted? Or maybe no one is doing it and if so, wow, what a missed opportunity. There are TONS of AI tools to help you find passive candidates online but, what about the people who don’t want to be contacted by recruiters? What about the people who are very good at what they do, yet they do not have much of a social media presence? How do you source for those people? I don’t think you can. I think you have to attract them and I think Hulu could help. For example…

Imagine having a job board on the Hulu platform dedicated to specific television shows and/or popular movie characters. Hulu could create resumes for these characters that link to current opportunities and specific schools. For example, (Smallville fans will appreciate this) Hulu could have a biography page on Clark Kent. It would include Clark’s yearbook picture, a mention of his interests in astronomy and his intention to either pursue a career as a mild-mannered reporter or, major in agriculture and assist with the family business. Clicking on astronomy, reporter or agriculture would link to relevant job openings and perhaps college websites that offer programs in those areas. If your company is hiring people skilled in astronomy, journalism, or agriculture, you could pay Hulu for the traffic generated from Smallville fans.

Or better yet, something for the CSI fans. After someone watches so many episodes of CSI, an advert appears that says, “Want to do what Gil does? Click here for more information.” Said link would lead to a landing page with a fictional profile featuring links to schools Gil attended and the jobs he is qualified for. I think it would be worth a few bucks to advertise a position to potential forensic scientists that are CSI fanatics. Why? People passionate about their work make better hires!!! (Jim Stroud’s tip of the day.)

Although this is not recruiting related, I have another idea. Well.. maybe it is recruiting related. Okay, rant incoming.

Howzabout a cross-promotional bringing awareness to the latest box-office bonanza? For example, Nicholas Cage starred in the movie “The Weatherman.” Why wouldn’t Hulu approach movie producers with the idea that a career site can market a movie directly to people looking for jobs in meteorology? Who better to generate buzz about “The Weatherman” than people passionate about the science of weather?

Furthermore, Hulu could have a message board where people could discuss what was wrong with the science of “The Weatherman?” For example, I can EASILY imagine someone saying that “…the Doppler radar used in the first scene was not the best radar to use because that model was based on a technology two years out of date. They should have used the new Doppler 3000. Blah, blah, blah…” Okay, you may roll your eyes at someone who nitpicks over details like that but guess what? This is THE person that you would want to hire. Why? Please refer to my earlier point (“People passionate about their work make better hires!!!”)

Hmm.. Let me keep this brainstorming going.

What if at the bottom of each job posting were stats that would let the jobseeker know what is going on with the job in real-time? Can you imagine the boost to an employer brand this would bring? Let me detail this idea a bit more. Okay, this is what the bottom of a job posting would look like.

We offer a competitive benefit package including health, dental & vision insurance, 401k plan, profit sharing, PTO (paid time off) & holiday pay. If you meet the above requirements, please submit your resume for consideration to careers@somecompany.com.

This job has been open for 12 days.
This job has 276 applicants.
Based on the resume itself, 74 applicants meet the basic criteria for this job.
So far, 3 applicants have been shortlisted.
Time until this round closes: 3 days, 6 hours and 42 seconds.

* Sign up for updates on this job by adding your email here:

My thought is that each job could be treated like its own little job fair. Get it? No? Okay, I’ll go a little deeper into it.

Recruiter posts a job and sets a timer for the job to be “live” for so many days.
During that set number of days, they will accept as many resumes as people can send in.
Of the resumes they receive, they will pick out the applicants that they have an interest in. #shortlisting
When the time runs out, the recruiter stops accepting resumes and will only consider the applicants they have shortlisted.
If the recruiter decides not to hire any of the people that were shortlisted, the job is reposted for another finite period of time.
To incentivize quality and not resume spam, share how many applicants met the basic criteria.

So why do it like this? Simple. The jobseeker knows where he stands and what is going on with the job at any given time. If they were among the “shortlisted” they would be notified by email. If they were not chosen to be shortlisted, then they know that as well. They also know when resumes are no longer being accepted, so they can go and concentrate on another position somewhere else.

Does that make sense? What are your thoughts? Tag @sourcecon on social media and I will reply soonest. Okay, rant over. As you were.

Jim Stroud

Your SourceCon Editor

Why aren’t you promoting your jobs on TV?

AI Tools can find passive candidates. Advertising will attract the ones you can't find.