Plan a recruitment campaign: from vacancy to application journey

First clarify the role and its requirements

Bring HR and the relevant department together. Which tasks will the new person handle regularly? Which skills are required on the first day, and which can be taught? In its guide, LinkedIn recommends describing duties, responsibilities and qualifications clearly, and distinguishing essential requirements from desirable ones. This distinction is a useful starting point for your brief.

Also record the workplace, working hours, possible working arrangements, contact person, and available development opportunities. Describe only conditions that have been confirmed internally. If a question remains open, clarify it before publication. A precise job description then becomes the shared foundation for advertisements, the careers page, and initial conversations.

Source: LinkedIn: writing clear job descriptions

Make everyday work clearly visible

Collect the questions applicants for this role are likely to ask: who will I work with? How does onboarding work? What does a typical week involve? Ask employees or managers to answer these questions using real processes. A clear explanation is more helpful than a list of general qualities such as "dynamic" or "family-like".

Plan images and short videos that fit the statements. Show, for example, the workplace, an understandable team task, or an onboarding step. Agree the content with those involved. Work that is largely done alone should also be recognizable as such in the communication. This allows interested people to compare their own expectations with the offer.

Connect the advertisement, vacancy information, and application

Create a recognizable message for the advertised role in each advertisement. The linked page should show the same vacancy and conditions. State the main duties, requirements, and contact options directly. Someone who first has to search the general company website receives no clear guidance on the next step.

Then decide which details are genuinely needed for the initial review. A short form can provide an entry point; other roles may sensibly require documents or evidence of expertise from the outset. Check the entire process on a smartphone: are fields clearly labeled, errors visible, and files easy to select where required? Explain what happens next after submission.

• Use the same job title and current conditions across all media in use.
• Clearly state the next step and provide an accessible contact person.
• Trace a test application from receipt to the responsible person.

Organise handling before the campaign launches

Decide who reviews new applications, who answers specialist questions and who coordinates interviews. Agree on a response window that your team can realistically maintain in daily work. Arrange cover during absences. Clear responsibility is especially important when several locations or departments are involved in a search.

Define simple processing statuses, such as received, under review, interview arranged, and closed. Record factual feedback on suitability for the role. This information helps marketing understand whether the message and approach need adjustment. Someone dropping out of the application process calls for a different investigation from a large number of professionally unsuitable applications.

Check the entire journey through to the conversation

Agree in advance what makes an application suitable for the particular role. Then examine the journey from advertisement to page visit and application through to the actual conversation. Campaign data and feedback from the relevant department answer different questions; use both perspectives to guide improvements.

Make targeted changes where possible: if the content is unclear, revise the message. If essential information is missing, add it to the job page. If inquiries remain unprocessed, the internal workflow needs attention. Based in Hamburg, anwision supports companies with recruitment campaigns, employer communication, careers pages, and suitable photo and video content. A useful project scope follows the role and the existing application process.

A decision example: several roles under one employer brand

Suppose a company is recruiting for an operational role and a customer advisory role at the same time. Both roles belong to the same employer but involve different duties, working conditions, and professional requirements. Start with a shared company foundation and then identify the actual differences. Check each benefit to establish which role it genuinely applies to.

A flexible work location might be possible for one role, while another requires attendance on site. A general employer profile should not turn this into a blanket promise for every vacancy. State the relevant conditions clearly on each job page. The choice of images should also show the corresponding workplace and help explain the role described.

Plan feedback from the departments separately. A particular qualification may be essential for one role, while initial experience with a task matters more for another. If all applications are simply categorized as “suitable” or “unsuitable,” there is no indication of which message or requirement needs a clearer explanation. Record factual reasons for the particular role instead.

At the end of a recruitment search, review which content remains valid. A team interview may still be relevant for general employer communication, while a specific vacancy needs updating. Assign responsibility for this maintenance and pass open questions to HR and marketing. This keeps shared employer statements and individual job offers aligned, even when the company's current recruitment priorities change.