Winning the Battle for Biddable Talent
Sourcing paid media talent in rural Buckinghamshire
Job Title: Paid Media Manager
Role Location: Buckinghamshire
Sector: Financial Services
Function: Biddable media strategy
Level: Mid-Level
Duration of Search: 4.5 weeks
Consultant Name: Joe Misseldine
The Challenge
A large financial services business in the stockbroking space decided to save on supplier costs and move their digital advertising in house after forgoing a full-scale digital transformation. After an introductory meeting it became clear that they did not have an understanding of the significant lack of supply of suitable candidates with biddable media skills in city centres across the UK, let alone Buckinghamshire. I had to manage expectations and explain that candidates will be sent over in low volume but high quality through headhunting and the process could be longer than expected.
The Solution
Candidates with more choice can afford to be more selective. As with any role, they must have full knowledge of every perk and benefit, commercial business performance, an interest in the product / service and background of their would-be manager in order to weight up the opportunity. In addition to this, after a few years of experience placing dozens of people in to similar roles, one thing in particular always stood out with paid media talent; they often insist on knowing how the employer is investing in the latest technologies, platforms and methodologies in order to help them stay ahead of the curve. To help attract passive candidates to have a conversation, I advised the client to set aside one day per year in which the successful candidate can attend technology events along with a personal training budget to spend as they saw fit. This proved to be a good strategy for attracting talent and the client eventually adopted new tech and methods of working that help reduce business costs!
The Results
Through headhunting, four candidates were screened, submitted and interviewed. Two of which were taken forward to presentation and one was offered. It was particularly pleasing that the successful candidate was initially attracted to their commitment to investing in training and technology.
Client Testimonial
“After helping us understand the conditions of the digital talent market, Joe told us that it may take him a couple of weeks longer to source suitable candidates for the role, the honesty was really refreshing. He found an excellent shortlist of candidates and we have made an offer to someone who we can see as a future leader”