Cock-a-Doodle-Do! Wake up every one - we are now officially in the year of the Rooster on the Chinese Lunar calendar and there are lots of characteristics from this fine bird that can really help your recruitment strategy in 2017.
1. Get up and get on it!
Our Rooster signifies fidelity and punctuality. The Rooster is the alarm clock of old. If you are going to beat your competitors this year and attract the best people, take a leaf out of his book and get to work on it now!
2. Exorcise those evil spirits
In with the old and out with the new. The Chinese use this period of change to their benefit. What makes this year so important is that chickens are used to exorcise evil spirits. So, stop doing things that don’t work, get rid of your bad recruiting habits and start as you mean to go on this year.
3. Set a smart budget
Roosters are trust worthy and good at managing their money with a responsibility to work. If you were born in the year of the Rooster you may have some bad fortune this year, but if you make smart budgets and save, not spend, then you can alter the odds to your favour. Think about where you are spending your recruitment budget for 2017, can you make savings? We think you can :)
4. Have a strong sense of time
The Fire Rooster (every 60 years) has a strong sense of time, it’s all about planning and making time work for you. The great news about this year, is that there are 13 months in the year of this Rooster! This is a leap month and the 2nd lunar month starts on July 23rd which means that there are 384 days in this year’s calendar. Who said you can’t create more time? Use it wisely with your advertising, your applicant process and your dairy.
5. Play to your strengths & know your weaknesses
The Rooster is independent, capable, warm hearted and quick minded. Use these when attracting candidates to your company, show them what you expect of people but also what you can offer. Think about your brand and how independent and capable this looks to your job seekers too.
Be aware of the Rooster’s weaknesses too. They are impatient, critical and narrow minded. If you are demonstrating any of these (or other negative behaviours) in your ad copy or processes, then look to review and do not put people off.
6. Write your adverts with plenty of Rooster charm
There are so many great adjectives that describe the Rooster and pretty much all of them are relevant to making your recruitment adverts really stand out. Imagine the rooster as you write your next advert:
Our Rooster is popular in a crowd, they are active, outspoken, honest, open and loyal. They appear attractive and beautiful, enjoying the spotlight and exhibiting charm at every opportunity. Above all, they are vein, boastful and like to brag about themselves. Your candidates want to know why they should want to work for you… tell them how good you are!
7. Be brave and competitive
Imagine cockfighting – our Rooster is a fighter, he is bold and ambitious. You want to win the recruitment game this year – play hard, be creative and dress up for the occasion.
8. Know your hours
Before we had clocks, each of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac signalled a specific time of the day. The Rooster hours are 5pm -7pm and this is a great time to get hold of candidates!
9. Bring a bit luck to your recruitment campaign
The word Rooster in Chinese is very much like the word luck. It is thought that the bird belonged to the same family as the phoenix with its gold plumage. We promise to give you lots of luck with your recruitment campaigns this year… grab it with both hands if you can. Don’t forget about your lucky numbers either: 5,7 & 8. These could symbolise the number of times to put keywords into adverts (5) the average number of job sites candidates look at (7) and average number of weeks to fill a vacancy (8).
10. Work hard
Our Rooster is quite an ordinary chap really, he is the most common meat to man and the Chinese feel that the Rooster works very hard to find their own food every day. They find just enough with nothing to spare. Remember the motto; the harder you work at recruitment, the luckier you will be.
Finally, in case you were wondering about who our famous Fire Roosters are? We are in good company with these fine fellows who are 60 this year: Joules Holland, Stephen Fry, Dawn French and Martin Luther King III.
If you liked this blog, you may also like:
- Debunking 6 myths of the application process
- 10 signs that you are loosing your applicant
- Tips to get the most out of your recruitment process
