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Find Your JAX: Website Helps Sell Jacksonville to Company Recruits

Our neighborhoods are equally diverse, so whether you want open space and a feel of the country, an established neighborhood with river views, or a hip urban lifestyle within walking distance of the newest restaurants, you can find it in Northeast Florida.

Selling Jacksonville is as much a part of a recruiter’s job as selling the company and the position. When a corporate recruiter tries to convince talent to relocate for a job, she has to persuade the worker that he/she will be making a change for the better. Workers naturally want to know about the cost of living, the quality of schools and other infrastructure, and how easily they’ll be able to pursue their interests and hobbies and find people they connect with.

That’s why the JAX Chamber built findyourjax.com. The Chamber convened recruiters and marketing staff from A-list companies like CSX, Deutsche Bank, Rayonier, Web.com, Mayo Clinic and more. They asked them how they sold the area and what would help them attract talent from across country for their positions. The feedback helped them model a single site that told a compelling story and linked to lots of information and resources about life on the First Coast.

Gabrielle Zurita, senior director of marketing at JAXUSA, worked with Burdette Ketchum on creating the right look for the site, which launched in December. Next to come is the process of visiting companies who will be using the site to provide information for out-of-town workers they’re trying to recruit. JAX USA has also designed cards promoting the site that companies can customize with their logo and take to campus or career fairs throughout the country.

Findyourjax.com aggregates resources for exploring housing, employment (the tab links to Employ Florida, CareerSource’s statewide jobs database) facts about the area, and links to more specific resources on neighborhoods, education, dining and nightlife, and culture and outdoor recreation.

The site also features stories of people who relocated to Jacksonville. “We’re always looking for more stories of people who have ‘found their JAX,’ says Zurita. “We want to hear from people who have graduated from a local college and decided to stay here to work, or people who have transferred here for a job (or the military) and made Northeast Florida their home.”

Zurita plans to meet with the military to offer the site to families who will be transferring to the area. She’s also meeting with colleges and universities to ask them to add it to their recruiting tools.

If you’re a transfer who would like to share your story, or a company that would like more information about how the site can help you in your recruiting efforts, contact Gabrielle Zurita at JAXUSA Partnership at gzurita@jaxusa.org.

 

Candace Moody, CareerSource Northeast Florida, guest blogging for Florida Times-Union

May 25, 2016