Develop a talent acquisition strategy to fill this position that addresses employer branding, recruitment, and selection. How will you approach filling this vacancy, in light of two unsuccessful employees in the position over the past year? How will you attract potential candidates, in light of the financial and time constraints associated with filling this vacancy? How will you handle/balance the privacy of candidates with Jesses desire to better screen applicants before hiring? Discuss the potential limitations to your strategy, if any exist.

Case:

You are Vice President of HR of CADENCE, an athletic apparel company that designs, manufactures and sells athletic apparel to major specialty and department store retailers. Your Marketing and Public Relations department handles marketing communications functions, including branding, digital marketing, social media strategy, strategic communications such as print brochures and traditional advertising, as well as public relations communications.

There is a vacancy for a Public Relations Specialist. This is the third time in the past year you have filled this position. The prior two employees who held this position (Mick and AJ) each stayed about 4-5 months. Both left for career opportunities at other firms, citing incompatible work styles with the marketing and PR team at CADENCE. Both Mick and AJ, after their departures from CADENCE, posted negative comments about the company on social media. Jesse, President of CADENCE and your direct supervisor, was furious to discover this, and feels stung by their comments.

Jesse wants this vacancy filled within the next 6 weeks. It is evident Jesse holds you accountable for two poor hires, and suggests the talent acquisition process did a poor job of assessing Mick and AJs personalities. Additionally, angry about the negative social media posts, Jesse suggests scrutinizing the social media of each candidate prior to extending a job offer. There are no state laws to protect the privacy of employees or candidates in New York, but you realize respecting employee and candidate privacy are important to upholding the companys reputation in the eyes of the public.

There are no internal candidates ready for promotion to Public Relations Specialist, so you must select an external candidate. Since you hired both Mick and AJ, and both left after only a few months on the job, your ability to fill this position is important to maintain your reputation for hiring excellent team members at CADENCE. The job description for Public Relations Specialist is provided below.

You have a $5,000 budget to work with. You have your own personal LinkedIn profile, and CADENCE has a company profile on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is offering a 3-month trial of LinkedIn Recruiter for $3,000. You are unfamiliar with the system, and realize even if you pay for the LinkedIn Recruiter trial, you cannot rely solely on LinkedIn Recruiter to source your new hire, given your unfamiliarity with the interface.