Advertising Strategies to Recruit Young Professionals in the Public Sector : A Multiple Case Study

Abstract Employer branding is an approach to recruit potential employees, it can be significant for organizations to have the most appropriate human capital in order to increase the effectiveness and build competitive advantage. It is important for all types of organizations, equally for the private and public sector, to understand what effect advertising has on potential employees. Recruitment advertising has been ranked second in terms of its reliability when finding jobs, and nowadays happens mainly through online media, as it is cost effective and it is possible for organizations to reach a wider audience. The public sector in Sweden is responsible for about 30% of the labour market. Despite this, young professionals have negative perceptions about working in the public sector and young professionals also have a lack of presence in the public sector. However, young professionals are essential in organizations as they bring knowledge, new ideas and have a diversity of perspective and experience. Therefore, this paper aims to discover employer branding advertising strategies in attracting young professionals to the public sector. This study is done through an online media content analysis of the 10 biggest regions and municipalities in Sweden, the study also consists of three in depth interviews with employees working with recruitment in three municipalities in Sweden. The research has concluded that public organizations are aware of what young professionals value and that the advertisements are eligible for young professional. However, some shortcomings in the advertisements have been found with room of improvements, with the main focus on creating a positive image in the mindset of young professionals and therefore loose the negative perceptions