Communicating Job OpeningsCommunicating Job Openings

Home » How-To-Guide » Section 5: Linking People with Opportunities » Some Special Considerations – and Case Studies
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Below are some suggestions of styles that could be used to communicate job opportunities by employers, ASET holders or agencies. Some approaches will work better in a particular context, such as urban or rural or remote.

Styles of Communicating Job Opportunities

 Urban Rural Remote
1. Job fairs. X    
2. Consulting with local colleges and universities about new job openings (include contact information to enable applicants to ask questions). Target institutions that have directly relevant apprenticeship and educational programs. X X  
3. A media release about a recruitment program can be a useful news product. Aboriginal News media and communications media can be very effective. See Communication Vehicles in Section 3 for a list. X X X
4. Industry publications. There is no better way to reach the career-oriented workers in a specific industry than to advertise in the construction-related magazines they're reading X X  
5. Posters in Aboriginal community centres or Aboriginal organizations. X X X
6. Posters in campus recruiting centres. They're always looking for employers who are hiring. X X  
7. Government job centres. Letting them know you're hiring construction workers virtually guarantees some good word of mouth. X X  
8. Flyers for local retailers. Put some interesting postcards by the cash in local businesses – you never know! X X X
9. Street teams. Put promotional stickers – with links to your jobs page – on packs of gum or mints and hand them out near the entrances to college/university campuses. Focus on those colleges/universities with high populations of Aboriginal students. X    
10. Transit posters. X    
11. Local Aboriginal newspapers and community newsletters. X X X
12. Community meetings and info sessions. X X X
Technology-based approaches are most effective with youth and with Aboriginal people living in urban areas.1
1. Job-hunting websites: e.g. Monster, Inclusion Network.2 X X  
2. LinkedIn groups can be a good place to post job opportunities. X    
3. Homepage graphic. An icon on your company’s homepage saying “We're hiring!” linked to your jobs information will get attention. X X  
4. Government job site. It's free to post your jobs at the Job Bank. X X  
5. Craigslist, Kijiji and similar sites can be inexpensive places to post jobs. X X  
6. “Send-to-a-friend” buttons on your job posts. Your webmaster can set this up easily – and it's worth it. X X  
7. Twitter updates. Get your employees to tweet your job postings. X X  
8. Write job postings that get featured. Bloggers are always looking for creative job ads – yours could end up with a long lifespan. X X  

 

 

  • 1. For remote Aboriginal communities there exists a “digital divide.” Not all communities have high-speed access or ready individual access to computers.
  • 2. When Canada Post ran a job opportunity for a welder in Winnipeg, the response surprised everyone. “Those people in Winnipeg are just amazed,” says Dwight Powless of Canada Post. “The job offer for a welder went up and back came 17 responses. All qualified.”