Self-selection

Are you attracting the right kind of people to your company?

What if there was a method to discourage the wrong kind from applying? What if you no longer had to go through hundreds of resumes, interview tens of applicants, and try to pick the right one, because they picked themselves?

Job postings are a kind of marketing, and just with any marketing, your audience matters. Offering the right kind of conditions and benefits, and the premise of working with the right kind of people, will keep away the wrong kind.

If you want to attract health-conscious employees, perhaps you can offer free memberships to the local healthclub.

Young college grads? How about free, catered lunches everyday? It may seem like a small thing but it makes an impression.

Older people? Offer them discounts in life insurance.

You want formal and serious-minded people? Have your recruiters wear conservative suits at recruiting events. It will send the wrong kind, the kind you don't want, packing. They will not want to apply, which is the most cost-effective method of weeding out ineligible workers in the job market.

Few companies realize that the image they project acts as a self-selection mechanism for applicants.

Marketing your services, your products, your content, and your jobs to the right audience -- instead of to the masses -- can save you significant amounts of time and money.