The intricacies of recruiting creatives with Ad Talent

Ad Talent director Stacey Bossenger

Ad Talent is widely known for its annual industry benchmark salary survey but the recruitment agency officially started as far back as 1972, originally recruiting only freelance creative talent into advertising agencies, which led to its name, but it eventually evolved into a full-service communications recruitment agency.

Earlier this year, Bossenger was featured in the Sunday Times’ My Brilliant Career column, where she explained what her typical workday involves, what she looks for when recruiting and how much she enjoys changing people’s lives by placing them in their dream jobs.

As a spokesperson for the recruitment industry, Bossenger shed perspective and understanding about the recruitment business.

Here, she lets us in further on the recruitment trends she’s most looking forward to in 2017 and the challenges of recruiting for the marketing and advertising industries in particular.

Share your personal career highlights – you clearly didn’t follow your childhood dream of becoming a policewoman!

Before I joined Ad Talent I ran my own business for five years. I learned a lot about the challenges of hiring staff and the challenges of being on my own.

Since joining Ad Talent 12 years ago, my career has been filled with highlights – every time I give someone a better career opportunity is a highlight for me.

More specifically, one of my early career highlights was when Ad Talent placed me in a job doing promotions for the baby and toddler magazine, Living & Loving. Not only was it my introduction to the communications industry, but I was also the only representative of the magazine in Johannesburg and I got to do so much, from selling advertising space to organising events, attending media functions and coordinating shoots with babies and toddlers.

Talk us through the challenges of recruiting for the marketing and advertising industries in particular.

There’s an emphasis and shortage on digital across the board, which includes good writing skills, good copywriters, social media, digital creative, digital strategists, digital marketers and senior developers.

The Ad Talent Johannesburg team.

Finding candidates that meet these requirements can be a real challenge where there is high demand and not enough candidates with the necessary skills and experience. Roles currently are not as clear-cut as in previous years. Many clients require their employees to be skilled in more than one area.

Share a few tips for people in the marketing industry looking to advance their careers this year.

• Refresh your education with courses relative to the marketing industry with particular focus on the digital space. Digital marketing is growing and clients require the digital skills of a marketer more often than not.
• Keep on top of the industry news by following major marketing sites and influential people on social media.
• Build your own personal brand and if you want to show a potential employer that you can build their company’s visibility, then you need to show that you can build you own brand. A strong online presence could potentially be the deciding factor between two candidates who have applied for the same position.
• Sending out your CV is also your marketing document, so make sure it's presentable with no spelling errors or mobile slang.

What are the recruitment trends you’re most looking forward to from 2017.

I believe that it is largely a candidate market right now. Even though SA has a huge unemployment rate, there’s also a shortage of skilled talent. Companies will be expected to focus on their brand and embrace their mission and vision to differentiate their organisation from the competitors in order to attract and retain the skilled talent.

Jobseekers are attracted to the work-life balance, flexibility and benefits that a company has to offer. More companies are finding ways to include this in their offering to the candidate.

Bossinger’s also looking forward to the fact that companies will need to recruit faster in order to not lose the skilled talent.

For further tips and insights from Ad Talent you can visit their press office or follow their updates on social platforms: ‏Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn