How do we attract young talent?

No, not that kind of talent!

We're having some problems attracting young, motivated people to work on our sales staff. Personally, I think that the ads we're placing in newspapers and on job sites are the problem.

Any suggestions?

 

Do you have an example of the ads that you're placing? The place I work ran this ad (clip below) on monster a few weeks back. It worked great - the applicants have all been just the type of people that we're looking for.

Required skills description followed.

I think if you want young, bright talent you have to create ads that will catch the attention of the demographic that you're after.

 

I agree.

Here's an example of one of ours. (It's almost embarrassing)

WEAK!

 

If I was young and bright (I am neither) I don't think that ad would grab my attention. Where's the challenge? Where's the potential? When I read that ad it says "boring sales job that I could get in 1 of 900 places".

Try throwing a "wild" ad out there. Spice it up and see what type of person responds. That's the nice part about ads...you can keep testing until you find the format that works.

 

I agree...very weak...it looks like every corporate job I've ever applied to

How many do you need? You should personally recruit them if you only need a couple. Bright young people can be found everywhere from high school classes to fast food restaurants.

Brandon

 

We've done as much of that as possible. We've even gone to all of the Hooter's resturaunts in the area.

We need five people at the moment. Two here in Illinois and three for locations in different states.

We're going to have my wife (a young high school English teacher ) try writing a few. I like the "wild" idea. And thanks for the sample!

 

Hey, I just realized you're in Chicago too - don't try and take all the bright young talent - we need some of them too

 

For young people Rob, you should offer a base + commission + bonus...

I have always seen that work for young, fresh sales people. Have them sell their base (based on a percentage of each commission sale eg: base = $2000 and they receive 10% of each sale, so they need 10 sales to get into their commissions). Then offer a target bonus after that. It has always motivated sales people that I have hired.

 

First of all get rid of your pictures, you probably scare aware anyone who is interested, then rewrite the ad.

LOL

 

Yeah, "LOL"- you were smart enough to post this right after I gave you a green rep.

Thanks, NC. We do offer commission programs for some of our top sales jobs. But the people we're looking for will most likely start off in a customer service-type position. They can still get sommission for add-on sales but it's not a significant portion of their pay.

 

Rob,

I'd definitely try a "wild" ad. Being a fairly young guy in sales myself your ad would be one I'd definitely skip.

Maybe something more along the lines of:

Bored with your normal customer service job? ABC Company rocks the boat in the XYZ industry as one of the top BLAH providers in the nation! If you're an energetic, Career-Minded Graduate we need you for our entry-level sales & sales managent positions. Positions are full time and earn comission on top of base pay. You'll be responsible for handling customer accounts and needs including add-on sales. So come be part of something special at ABC Company today!

=============

Granted it doesn't give all the information as your last ad, but they can find that out when they come interview/apply. The key is getting them interested. Obviously I just threw this together real quick, but maybe it can give you some more ideas. Just don't over-saturate them with info... make them want to find out more.... basically you need to sell to them to get them interested.

 

Here a great ad:

 

Funny, but I don't know if that style would attract the best of the best...

 

It might attract young people...but we're looking for young & (more importantly) TALENTED.

Good point- thanks!

Google has some good ones:
http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/sales.html#isr_la

Then again, they also have
The Top 10 reasons to work at Google

Yeah, mention "rep" and look at how they come crawling back, begging for mercy!

 

Could you include something that points to performance being appreciated and noticed? I remember being young (barely) and one thing that really pee´d me off was when I worked my guts out for someone, did something worthy and then my immediate boss took all the credit. I felt like I had been robbed but I was a peon and had no say in the matter.

It´s not only about money credit given where credit is due is a biggie.

 

Oh course I was joking.

In my experience ads do very little. Recruiting is the best way to go. Where do the young talented people hang out in Chicago? I doubt Hooters...... well, maybe a few. I'm sure if you think about it there are a few good places to go and look for that talent.

 

So Rob,

What did you come up with?

 

Have a talent show/ comp! fame academy style

 

Rob, your ad sucks, there are too many unknowns. Only the desparate will respond IMO.

That is not the sales staff you want either I'm sure. It says nonthing about what you will do for the employee, but you make it clear they will be a slave to you and your clients.

Too much info on one side and not enough on the other IMO.