Nova Systems experience with the new LinkedIn Career Pages.

"Recruitment is about working together to
develop appropriate content that we can
push through our Career Pages."

Jason Wright

Talent Acquisition Manager
Nova Systems

Jason Wright, Talent Acquisition Manager at Nova, explains that since the company diversified into different markets, the ‘unicorns’ the organisation needs are hard to find. Given their clients’ often specific requires – from engineering specialties to security clearances – Nova requires niche technical competencies. More importantly, however, the company needs compatibility with its authentic culture and values. This combination is not easy to find, and Nova is acutely aware that finding the right people is its only growth constraint right now.

Although the company was ranked 11th in BRW’s Best Places to Work 2016 list in Australia, the challenge was getting on candidates’ radars. Almost unknown outside the Defence space, Nova needed to build a clear and authentic talent brand that would get noticed.

“We’ve got to gain trust through our brand for people to transition to work for us,” says Adam Schirmer, Group Marketing and Communications Manager. And in a competitive market dominated by household names like Lockheed Martin, it was essential to put the Nova Systems employee value proposition in front of the right candidates, locally and globally.

The Solution

Nova gets social

Nova wanted to shift from traditional recruitment channels like job boards, which simply weren’t targeted enough, to a more integrated social recruiting approach. The team saw an opportunity with LinkedIn’s branding solutions to “put Nova out there in the social domain and to make the company more recognisable,” says Schirmer.

The new LinkedIn Career Pages, which include photo galleries and employee perspectives, enabled Nova to showcase its unique culture, and give candidates a preview of what life is like as a ‘Novan’.

By personalising pages for all critical talent pools on LinkedIn Career Pages, this ensured Nova was targeting and pipelining the right talent pools for immediate and future project requirements.

Four targeted audience views make it easy for candidates to match the company’s diverse range of services with their own skill sets across: Aerospace and Surveillance; Communications, Information and Space; Maritime and Future Systems; and Transport. Each personalised talent pool view features leader profiles, highlighting Nova’s expert team and encouraging candidates to connect with their potential colleagues in similar roles.

The Results

Since beginning their journey with LinkedIn, Nova has seen more significant hires – its first LinkedIn placement helped the company land a significant contract – and says the ability to reach out and engage passive candidates is the platform’s most exciting feature.

With the next generation of LinkedIn Career Pages, Nova’s recruitment team can quickly respond to changes in the business’s strategy, updating the pages to reflect market segments the company is targeting.

For example, as the company continues to develop its presence in the Transport space, Nova can continue expanding the relevance of its brand in this sector.

Nova’s rapid growth depends on finding the right people at the right time – and the secret to this success is ensuring candidates can envision the workplace and type of projects they would be working on. By defining the right talent brand with LinkedIn’s tools, including the next generation of LinkedIn Career Pages, the opportunity to scale, yet still personalise, their story is huge.