Elon Musk’s SpaceX made non-rocket headlines beginning of August:
The spaceship pioneers were looking for a bartender – a “Spaceport Mixologist”, as they call it.
Of course, the job created a lot of attention – and likely thousands of applications.
It’s likely that, just like us, you’re no Elon Musk. But we can learn from the success of the job ad, that was featured in a number of media outlets.
How you can follow Elon to improve your next job ad campaign
1. Your brand is everything, not just your employer brand
We all know that your employer brand goes hand in hand with your overall brand strategy. But a strong brand propels not only your business forward – but also your candidate pipeline. Not investing in growing your brand will thus not only slow down revenue but also hiring.
2. The power of quirky
“A bartender walks into a spacestation…” sounds like the start of a dad-level joke. But that’s exactly what a good job ad needs to stand out. What makes your job different? Special? What can we highlight and exaggerate? We are trying to convince another human being to spend a majority of their daily time with us – what can we do beyond just a boring job description to activate them?
3. Personal CEO branding
SpaceX is as famous a brand as it gets – but it’s clearly trumped by its CEO. Elon Musk is probably the CEO most people would dream of working for. The key is personal branding. Elon Musk reaches millions of potential talents via Twitter & Co. Building up even a little bit of reach on channels such as Linkedin will help you and your leadership team generate significantly more candidates – organically.
4. Selling rockets
Even in your job ad, there’s no need to position your product as an “innovative services technology subscription device”. Your product serves a specific purpose and helps a group of clients change their life. Highlight that in your job ads. You might not build rockets, but your business makes the life or work of someone out there better in some way – and that is what ambitious candidates relate to.
