10 Ways to Increase DSP Job Applications and Hires

Finding good, qualified applicants to fill your DSP roles is not always an easy task.

Getting more job applications only causes extra work if the percentage of applicants accepting positions and staying longer than 30 days is low. Hiring is important. Weak hiring leads to higher overtime and training costs.

Don’t focus on competing with McDonalds, fast food outlets and retail chains. Agencies need different types of employees. Agencies need someone to care about their job. McDonald’s employees don’t need that quality. Emphasize the caring part of the job!

Depict the job by providing examples of “wonderful outcomes”. Employees love to know what it is in for them. Make sure you highlight any potential growth or long term outcomes of working with your agency.

Think of your ideal candidate and write the application with them in mind. Who is your star DSP? If you want more employees like them, create an application that includes their qualities.

There is a lot to keep in mind when looking for your perfect DSP, so we did some research and put together our top 10 tips to keep in mind in the hiring process.

1. Think about the job descriptions. Avoid wordy, cold and impersonal lists of responsibilities and skills
2. Make sure your stability and “extras” are highlighted
   • Benefits
   • Paid training
   • Bonuses
   • BYOD plans
   • Overtime opportunities
   • How the job will make you feel
   • Advertise the typical weekly gross pay of a DSP after 30 days including benefits instead of the hourly rate
3. Don’t use content that creates barriers:
   • Industry jargon
   • Acronyms
   • Unspecific text
4. Paint the applicants a picture of what they’ll be doing day to day. Stress the impact on them and others. “Make a difference in someone’s life”, “Be special”, “Want to be more than a cog in a wheel”.
5. Write different job profiles for different roles – it is easier to get a response from your ideal candidate.
6. Make sure your adverts appear on all job boards. Indeed is the leading, but not the only source of DSP applicants. Employee references are very beneficial and Facebook ads work if you have a “great story”.
7. If you go to job fairs, only go to specialized job fairs. This will narrow down your search and guarantee that are you are only looking at applicants that are interested in, and qualified for the position.
8. Respond quickly to applicants. Make sure they know that you are interested in them, so you won’t lose them to another organization.
9. Work on your online content and forms:
   • Make applying easy.
   • Tell applicants what they should expect next in the process.
   • Keep it simple – name, email, phone and option to upload resume is all you need.
   • Apply to your own jobs via mobile phone – over 60% of applicants do so on their phone.
   • Don’t link the homepage of your website or Facebook or Instagram – applicants get lost down rabbit holes.
   • Don’t require driver’s license number, social security number, emergency contact, or anything the applicant might not have readily to hand at the time – this is not necessary on an application.
   • Don’t link to PDF applications – not smart phone friendly.
   • Avoid a slow loading page – Google reports people move on if it takes longer than 2-3 seconds.
10. If listing a hiring contact, do so as personally as possible.
    • Give name
    • Extension
    • Personal email address 

Learn more about applicant tracking; download the myApplicants fact sheet.