Advice for Employers and Recruiters

Programmatic job advertising: The mutual fund of talent acquisition

Steven Rothberg

September 13, 2023

Minnesota Public Radio’s weekly show, Prairie Home Companion, hasn’t been broadcast since 2016. Listeners will likely remember that host Garrison Keillor’s standard line from a fictitious lake community news segment was, “That’s the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.”

There are 5.7 million people who live in Minnesota, with a little over half of those in the Minneapolis / Saint Paul metropolitan area, better known as the Twin Cities. When you have three million neighbors, it isn’t possible to know them all. But it is possible and even likely to know all of those in your industry who are active on social media, speak at conferences, and otherwise are prominent thought leaders. One of those people is Jenny Cotie Kangas, an expert in how talent acquisition professionals can best use technologies such as artificial intelligence and programmatic job advertising.

I had the good fortune to speak with Jenny earlier this week and one of the pearls of wisdom that she shared with me was the similarity between programmatic job advertising and buying stocks through mutual funds. When it comes to smart investments, whether in the stock market or in the realm of talent acquisition, diversification is key. Financial advisors have long touted the benefits of mutual funds—a way to allocate your money across various stocks and bonds without the meticulous effort of picking each individually. Have you ever considered how this parallels with programmatic job distribution technology in talent acquisition? If you haven’t, it’s high time we talk about it.

The Old Way: Manual Stock Picking and Job Posting

Let’s rewind a bit and think about the age-old method of posting jobs. You’re like a stock picker meticulously going through a plethora of data, trends, and charts to make a single choice. You select a job board, post an ad, and wait. Just as with stock picking, you may find that your choice leads to a phenomenal yield, or it could end up being a dud. Moreover, the time and resources invested in this manual process are substantial.

The New Era: Automated Diversification

Enter programmatic job distribution technology—your mutual fund in the world of job postings. Instead of posting each job manually, an advanced algorithm does the heavy lifting for you. Just like a mutual fund manager diversifies your portfolio, this technology diversifies your job postings across multiple job boards, tapping into various talent pools.

The Four Key Advantages

Efficiency: The algorithm optimizes ad placements in real-time. You’re always getting the best bang for your buck, reaching the most qualified candidates.
Scale: You’re no longer limited by manpower. Cover more ground, target more talent pools, and scale your outreach effortlessly.
Data-Driven: The technology utilizes data analytics to understand where your ads are most effective, making future campaigns even more successful.
Time Savings: Imagine not having to hover over multiple dashboards. The time saved can be allocated to strategic planning and other high-impact activities.

Smart Allocation of Resources

Financial experts often recommend mutual funds because they are managed by professionals armed with extensive research and automated trading technologies. These experts understand market behavior, are aware of economic indicators, and are adept at risk management. Similar expertise drives programmatic job advertising platforms. They are backed by data scientists and machine learning algorithms capable of making intelligent decisions swiftly and efficiently.

A Paradigm Shift in Talent Acquisition