Andy Daniel: Why is Clinch sponsoring the Recruitment Marketing Campaign of the Year award? 

Sarah Callery: Clinch are proud to sponsor the TIARA Recruitment Marketing Campaign of the year. This year Clinch wanted to sponsor to support the excellence in recruitment marketing and the innovative campaigns organisations are launching. The Tiaras aligns with Clinch’s mission and values, such as promoting innovation, excellence, and ethical practices in recruitment. 

AD: Why is it important to recognise excellence in this area of Talent Acquisition? 

SC: Recognising excellence in recruitment marketing is crucial for attracting top talent, enhancing employer branding, and fostering a positive work culture. Celebrating excellence drives innovation, encourages best practices, and improves employee engagement and retention. Effective recruitment marketing contributes to organisational growth, reduces turnover costs, and sets industry benchmarks. It supports diversity and inclusion, builds trust and reputation, and positively impacts the community. By acknowledging brilliance in recruitment marketing, organisations ensure they remain competitive, efficient, and successful, while providing a model for others to learn and adopt best practices. 

AD: How is Clinch enabling TA leaders and teams to overcome challenges and achieve excellence? 

SC: At Clinch, we’re revolutionising recruitment with a focus on speed and innovation. Enhancing brand perception is crucial; we assist companies in presenting themselves attractively with engaging, informative career sites that draw top talent and leave a positive impression. 

Improving the candidate experience is at the core of our approach. By optimising career sites to be user-friendly and engaging, we ensure a smooth and enjoyable application process, which is essential in today’s competitive job market. Automation is key to our strategy, streamlining candidate engagement and building a pipeline of ‘hire-ready’ talent. This proactive approach ensures that businesses have a robust talent pool ready to fill roles as they arise. 

Staying ahead of the competition involves controlling the messaging and brand on career sites. Clinch enables companies to stand out, maintaining their edge in attracting top candidates. Our unique ‘spend once’ sourcing strategy drives traffic to career sites and builds warm talent pipelines, creating a single, efficient source of hire. This method saves time and resources while ensuring a steady flow of qualified candidates. 

In essence, Clinch is redefining recruitment by focusing on speed, enhancing candidate experiences, and leveraging innovative automation to build strong talent pipelines. Our approach helps companies attract, engage, and hire top talent quickly and efficiently, keeping them competitive in today’s fast-paced job market. A notable achievement is reducing the time to hire; for instance, one client decreased their time to fill positions from 66 days to just 45.7 days thanks to our streamlined processes and tools.  

AD: What will you be looking for in entries as a judge this year (ie best use of tech / data with good examples of impact)? 

SC: As a judge there are several key criteria I will be looking for.. The first thing I look for is originality in the approach,  unique solutions to existing problems, and innovative applications of technology.  Then I am keen to understand the measurable impact of the entry, including benefits to users, improvements in efficiency, in a nutshell the use of technology and the data showcasing the overall business impact.  

AD: What trends are you seeing in recruitment marketing / talent acquisition? 

SC: AI and automation are key trends in recruitment, with organisations using these technologies to automate tasks, increase efficiency, and improve the candidate experience. AI encompasses generative AI, machine learning, and automation, each solving specific business problems. Companies are leveraging AI for candidate rediscovery, predictive talent pipelining, and personalised communication, enhancing recruitment strategies without starting from scratch. 

The job market has stabilised, with hiring demand slowing across most sectors. The end of the great resignation means employees are more hesitant to leave their current roles. Organisations that maintain robust branding and engagement strategies will stay ahead, filling roles quickly with the right talent when opportunities arise.   

Lastly, humanising the candidate experience remains crucial. Many candidates report that employers fail to share important information, and scepticism about employer claims is rising. Authentic, personalised experiences are in demand, with candidates seeking genuine insights into the work environment. Facilitating direct Q&A sessions with employee brand ambassadors on career sites offers a transparent and engaging way to meet this need, showcasing the organisation’s culture effectively.   

About Sarah Callery – VP, of Clinch Europe: 

Sarah is strategic software sales leader with a proven track record within the Talent Acquistion space globally. She has won a variety of awards including Winner Best Software Account Director, Influential Businesswoman awards 2021, Top Ten Business Women to watch 2022 and Software Solutions Account Director of the Year (UK). Sarah brings a wealth of knowledge with over 20 years experience within TA both in direct and indirect sales and has a passion for helping organisations achieving hiring success and their strategic goals within talent acquisition. As VP of Europe for Clinch, Sarah is responsible for growth in the EMEA region and also responsible for leading the direction and strategy for our global strategic partners.